Edwards: Consultants? I Don't Need 'Em. But I Pay 'Em.

By our count, Ex-Sen. John Edwards's presidential campaign is paying more than a half dozen political consultants (media, polling, communications, fundraising, Internet) to.... well, do nothing of substance, according to Edwards himself. And he writes his own speeches, so the campaign doesn't apparently need a speechwriter.

MyDD's Jonathan Singer scored the Edwards interview that produced this gem of an exchange:

Singer: Realistically, you're going to have consultants on your campaign.

Edwards: Not doing much.

Singer: I mean there are going to be polls taken…

Edwards: Sure. My pollster doesn't… I decide what I'm going to say. The speech I gave today – I wrote it. Nobody else wrote it. I have to admit that we did have a speech written that I didn't give. I gave my speech. And that's what I do now. Anything that matters I do it myself.

I had a town hall meeting in New Hampshire Wednesday and I talked and answered questions, and every word that came out of my mouth was just me. Nobody told me what to say or suggested what I should say. I don't do that anymore.

Singer: Expanding on that, inherently in a campaign you're giving a stump speech, though and you get into a rhythm

Edwards: That's true. But where does the stump speech come from is part of it. Every word of my stump speech came from me. Every word. Nobody has written a stump speech for me. Every word came from me – the one I'm doing now.

Staffer: That was true in the good stump speech.