Elizabeth Edwards, wife of presidential candidate John Edwards, has more than a recurrence of her cancer to worry about. It appears she is frightened by the “rabid, rabid Republican” who is her next-door neighbor in North Carolina.

Ms. Edwards says she has never met Monty Johnson, the 55-year-old self-described Rudy Giuliani fan, who owns a 42-acre tract across from the Edwards estate. But she doesn’t want to.

“I wouldn’t be nice to him anyway,” Ms. Edwards told the Associated Press, explaining that once Mr. Johnson chased away workers investigating a right of way on his property by brandishing a gun.

Mr. Johnson says there is no reason for his neighbor to be upset that he appeared with a gun to investigate intruders on his property.

“I use the gun for protection, and I considered that an appropriate time,” he told the AP.

But Ms. Edwards believes that Mr. Johnson refuses to clean up his “slummy” property just to spite her family, which occupies a lavish new 28,000-square-foot estate that features an indoor basketball court and pool.

For his part, Mr. Johnson replied: “I have to live within my means. I don’t have millions of dollars to fix the place.” He also said he has no use for the Edwardses and their fancy ways.

“I thought he was supposed to be for the poor people,” he told the AP. “But does he ever socialize with any poor people? He doesn’t speak to me.”

Source: Charlotte Observer