Double Standard? Just what is John Edwards saying?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298526,00.html

“We start with the president of the United States saying to America, ‘we cannot build enough prisons to solve this problem. And the idea that we can keep incarcerating and keep incarcerating — pretty soon we’re not going to have a young African-American male population in America. They’re all going to be in prison or dead. One of the two.”

I'm curious what would happen if a non-democrat said this? How would it be interpreted if, for example, Bill O'Reilly said "all African-American Males are going to be in prison or dead?"

I can't imagine the outrage.

From another angle. Clearly John Edwards is REALLY grasping for a vote. He seems to have the method of ass-kiss-pandering for votes down to a science.