John Edwards 4.0

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[Icy]

John Edwards is back.  From the Los Angeles Times:

John Edwards, remember him? -- tiptoes back into the public spotlight tonight.

Well, not actually a spotlight. His appearance and remarks at Indiana University are closed to all cameras and media. We'll see how long it takes someone to Twitter from inside.

This could be the first move in the attempted public relations rehab of the man who was once a senator, was once his Democratic Party's candidate for vice president and, this election season, was given a shot at the top nomination -- until Democrats actually started voting.

[Obamanos!]

I really think he's done. For two reasons,

1. He is so handsome, but people chose to believe that he wasn't slick or too good looking to be honest. Bummer. He was too good-looking to be honest.

And

2. You just don't cheat on a dying spouse. It's bad form. Especially with a new age goofy woman who had a baby that looks just like you.
Extra bad form.

He's done.

[Steve]

2. You just don't cheat on a dying spouse. It's bad form.

Newt Gingrich divorced his first wife when she was dying of cancer.

He's done.

Nah. He only needs to join the Repugs - they forgive their own.

[peter d]

Don’t think it get any colder than that.
 

[Obamanos!]

2. You just don't cheat on a dying spouse. It's bad form.

Newt Gingrich divorced his first wife when she was dying of cancer.

He's done.

Nah. He only needs to join the Repugs - they forgive their own.

Well, I think the problem Edwards has, he was "soft" and "sincere" and people actually believed that he cared about the poor. I used to support John Edwards and actually thought he would be a great President. But here is where Newt and Edwards differ. Newt is a smarmy mean ass Republican. You just accept that and assume he has done awful things in his past and will continue to do awful things. Cuz, he's Newt.
But Edwards was supposed to be different. And his wife is highly visible. Her death will be a huge event in media. The children. The sadness. The spectacle, frankly. And the caveat that nobody will ignore will always be...."The struggle in the marriage when a terminally ill Elizabeth Edwards learned of her husband's infidelity during his quest for President".....
He's done. His wife is too visible and too smart. And he can't hide because of the inevitable chronic sad news coverage to come.
John and Elizabeth Edwards were a team. He the handsome one. She the dumpy, but smart wife. And now she's dying and he's cheating and it's too ugly for voters to ever forgive.
It's just too much.
He's done.

[Steve]

@Obamanos!

I agree - Edwards is a lot less than he first appeared and made himself out to be. It's time for him to disappear.

[Jaime from Wasilla]

I don't agree Obamanos. Human beings behave badly.  It is not a surprise when we do.  Without forgiveness we are all lost.  I cannot put myself in a position to judge John Edwards.  I don't begin to know enough intimate and detailed information about his marriage to say anything relevant about his choice to have an affair. Lot's of people have strong opinions about it, but their opinions are based on their own stuff, not him.

I do know that John Edwards has done a lot of good for a lot of people, and if he chooses to continue to do that good, I will continue to support him.  I feel sad for him and his wife, but as much as I prefer sexual monogamy in my own relationships, sexual infidelity is not big deal in my perception of reality or belief system.  As long as they are consenting adults - i don't care who he sleeps with. It is none of my business.

I also believe a marriage is not between two individuals, but is between the couple and a community. If a marriage fails it is less the fault of the couple, and more the failure of the community that is supposed to be supporting the couple.

I think the only thing that can really determine whether John Edwards has any future in politics is John Edwards himself.  Whatever choices he makes, he has made it more difficult for himself.

How long it takes the electorate to forgive him is a different question.  He doesn't need the electorate to still have a fulfilling and useful career.

[Obamanos!]

You're a kind and good human being. And I agree with everything you said, but I don't think the voters will ever support him again.
I hope he can do wonderful things with his life. But a career in politics is over for this guy. I hope the best for him because he is a Dad and his children will need him desperately in the coming years. It's a sad story, but I believe his final political chapter is written and with a big fat THE END.

[Erin]

You just don't cheat on a dying spouse.

What about John McCain?  Didn't he cheat on his spouse (not dying, but severely crippled)?  They seem to have forgiven him just fine.  Wait long enough and no one remembers.

Also, because Edwards is handsome, there is a good chance that people will be more forgiving.  I mean, look at Sarah.  If she looked like Lyda Green or Elizabeth Dole, she never would've gotten as far as she has.  "You can be stupid, as long as you're pretty." -Republicans

[judi]

oh Erin I agree on John McCain...I had just read an interview with the first Mrs...it was sad, though she supports her husband.  did you know that Ross Perot paid all of her medical bills while John was a POW...found that interesting...also when she said that he wanted to be 25 again and she just was not that...a trophy wife with money and power..that is how he got into politics!

I dont know about Edwards...it does show some poor character, and yes Jaime I am basing this on me and how I would feel if this had been done to me or someone close to me,....but I am not them so true.  How they deal with it is up to just them. 

Oh I know this sounds funny, but I long for the days when a personal life was just that personal...so many before, starting with Ben Franklin, Eisenhower, Kennedy, etc...we were all just kept in the dark on what they did on their own time... 

[Icy]

As part of his re-entry into the public and political scene, Edwards has agreed to debate Karl Rove in San Francisco. 

The Commercial Finance Association said the two will hold a point-counterpoint discussion Thursday in San Francisco. They will discuss the election and the economy.
It will be Edwards' second public event since he acknowledged in August that he had an affair back in 2006. His appearance in Indiana on Tuesday did not address the matter.

Thursday's meeting puts an odd and perhaps contentious pair on the same stage. During his presidential campaign, Edwards repeatedly called for President Bush to fire Rove.

When Rove resigned from the White House in 2007, Edwards issued a simple statement, saying "Goodbye, good riddance."

From the AP via WRAL.

[futurexpat?]

He was my choice, too. While I was definitely disappointed to hear about the affair, I don't think anyone on the outside of a marriage can judge very well what goes on in someone else's marriage. The entire family has lived under extreme tension and heartbreak. My marriage has had its ups and downs, like anyone else's, but I've never endured the death of a child or the prospect of the death of my spouse.

I wish him well, but I'm sure he's paying for his lapse, as he should. It's between him and his wife.

But I agree that, at least for the time being, he's done in politics.

[Obamanos!]

Whether it's deserved or not, I really think he's done. Mainly because his wife is so visible. And her passing will be an all-out media event. The sad pinnacle of the marriage won't be his running for President, it will be the affair. When I worked in media, we would have the Obits written months, if not years before a terminally ill person actually passed. It's just the way it's done. So, once her diagnosis and prognosis was in, trust me, media outlets from the NY Times to CNN to local affiliates have it in the "can" and video and mentions of the mistress are smack dab in the middle of the stories. It's "fresh" now and it will revive it's ugly self when she passes. And for that reason, I believe he can't save his career. At least not his political career.
Not that it matters, just from a media perspective, they won't let it go.
It's too rich.

[WV Democrat]

I think all men will cheat if given the chance. It's in the male genetic make-up. And no, my husband has never cheated to my knowledge. We seem to be the only country in the world that doesn't understand this.

[PoliticalAmazon]

2. You just don't cheat on a dying spouse. It's bad form.

Newt Gingrich divorced his first wife when she was dying of cancer.

He's done.

Nah. He only needs to join the Repugs - they forgive their own.

Indeed, a GOPer can do the most heinous things the claim they've been Born Again and--bam!!--it's like it never happened.

[PoliticalAmazon]

I think all men will cheat if given the chance. It's in the male genetic make-up. And no, my husband has never cheated to my knowledge. We seem to be the only country in the world that doesn't understand this.

Did you see the study published about a month ago where they cliaimed that some me who fool around are genetically programmed to do so?  There was a lot of "Oh boy, we're in the clear now!  It's genetics!"

At the time I thought, "Hmmm...I wonder if women who marry these men who are genetically programmed to cheat on their wives are themselves genetically programmed to cut off their cheating husband's johnson?"

[PoliticalAmazon]

Whether Edwards had an affair is something for he and his wife to sort out.  I wouldn't not vote for him for having had an affair. 

Even the fact that he used his wife--who, battling cancer, must have had to expend quite a bit of effort at times to continue on the campaign trail--as a campaign prop while he was having an affair wouldn't be the defining factor...although it would make me doubt the reality of his campaign props in the future.

What makes him unacceptable as a candidate for me is this:  he ran for president even though he was having an affair and, indeed, was still having the affair when he launched his campaign.

After what we suffered through with Bill Clinton, you KNOW that the GOP would have been on that like a duck on a june-bug, especially because of E's cancer.   If Edwards would have won the Dem primary, the GOP would have sprung that in the 11th hour, right before the election, and the Dems would have lost.

For me, that indcates a level of narcissism that is nearly breath-taking.  He full well knows what a mess our country is in, yet he took the risk, and put us all at risk, for losing the election anyway.

[LJP aka Revolver Trooper]

I agree with Political Amazon. What I'm still disappointed about is that he took the risk of an affair in spite of the pressing need for a change at the White House. Had he won nomination, and then the scandal had broken, it would have been lights out for the Democrats.  Now, I am not a rabid partisan;  I will vote for a competent, honest Republican (should I run across one) instead of an incompetent, corrupt Democrat.  But the only hope for the country that I could see this time around was a chance to sweep clean the bureaucracy and get the Karl Rove-bots out of there, especially the Justice Department.  And Edwards was playing with fire while all of us were working hard, sending money, etc. to get those people out of the government.

The other issue is that people really like his wife, especially women.  She is smart and genuine and brave.  Right now, he appears to be none of those things.  My prescription:  Eight years in the wilderness, working hard to alleviate poverty and improve education for the poor and disadvantaged.  He needs back up the talk with some solid work.  He needs to come clean about the baby so he doesn't need to sneak around to see the child.  And he needs to figure out why he has an urge to put everything he claims to value at risk for the attention, admiration, or sexual favors of a woman with a dubious moral compass herself. 

[Alex]

Interesting how the media won't let go of sex scandals involving Dems... but seems to shy away from sex scandals with Repubs...

[ds55]

Maybe this deserves a whole new thread.

Code:

http://www.wral.com/news/local/politics/story/5791651/

John Edwards to admit that he is the father of his former mistress' 18-month-old daughter.