Kennedy was so telegenic and it was a big difference from Britain where the presidents were all so stuffy and aloof. There was the whole Camelot image and the idea that, for the first time, politicians were not separate from everyone else. So, while working on his doctorate at the University of Kent in Canterbury, Edge applied for a grant to study for a year in the United States. He attended UC Davis for a year, researching the relationship between the federal and state governments. He met his future wife here, and she went back to England with him afterwards.
Edge laughs at how the word has since taken on such a pejorative connotation.
All the rules people put in place cancel each other out. Although Edge believes the middle ground, especially on SLO County issues like land use, can only be found through political debate, he cautions that too much debate resolves certain problems while turning a deaf ear to others that are developing simultaneously. We need to focus on changing the mindset of government. We have to allow government employees the freedom to fail. We need to encourage adventure and risk taking, and if we want to do this, we can't spend time in public meetings crucifying our employees for making mistakes.