John Edwards: Sigh! How could so many of us been so wrong.

[Cleita]

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-edwards-trial-as-a-lawyer-john-edwards-had-faith-in-jurors-20120412,0,4166719.story?track=rss

John Edwards trial: As trial lawyer, Edwards had 'faith' in jurors

By David Zucchino
April 12, 2012, 8:34 a.m.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Jury selection begins Thursday in the federal election corruption trial of former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, who is accused of conspiring to violate campaign laws, accepting illegal contributions and making false statements.

Edwards, 58, a 2004 Democratic vice presidential candidate, made millions in courtrooms as a personal injury lawyer in North Carolina. Now he faces a 30-year prison sentence and up to $1.5 million in fines if convicted on all six federal counts against him.

The government has accused Edwards of using nearly $1 million in donations from two wealthy benefactors to hide an extramarital affair during his unsuccessful 2008 campaign for president. Prosecutors say Edwards solicited the money to cover up his affair with Rielle Hunter, a campaign videographer who was pregnant with Edwards’ child.

Edwards’ wife, Elizabeth Edwards, who died in December 2010, was fighting breast cancer at the time. She had served as her husband’s chief policy advisor. The couple separated in 2010 after Edwards admitted the affair and said he was the father of Hunter’s daughter, Frances Quinn, born in February 2008. More at link.

I was always a Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich supporter, but when they fell by the wayside, my support went to John Edwards. I remember the days when Elizabeth Edwards posted at DU. She had DU a moniker but in the heat of the campaign, Elizabeth continued to post but under her real name until the scandal happened. Although she posted once or twice after that, her cancer and the humiliation of it made her stop, I believe.

But John, John, I really believed in you and it turns out that the real you has nothing to do with the public you that is as phony as your hair. And now on top of being a tomcat you are also alleged to be a thief. It seems it was Elizabeth we should have been supporting, not you. It's too bad the universe took her back into its bosom because she would have been one helluva first woman President. If cancer had not claimed, her I would have looked for her to move forward after the divorce and throw her hat in the ring. Such a sad ending all around to this situation that once had given us all hope for a real liberal in the White House.

[gateley]

1. Because you so badly wanted what he promised -- a better, more fair America.

[Whisp]

7. well we know what his promises mean now.

not even spit.
so I doubt very much he was interested in the troubles of the rabble at all but was just a good thing to pretend with.

anyway, I now feel sorry for him. He's not nearly as bright and swift as we once might have thought. Just a schmuck like the rest of us 99%.

[Cleita]

8. This is what is so maddening because he was of the 99% coming

from a working class background.

[gateley]

21. I wonder if deep down, long ago, that's what his priorities actually were.

The attention, money, power can really change a person.

[Cleita]

23. I don't think it's anything to wonder any more.

It's crystal clear, to me now, that those were his priorities.

[gateley]

14. Yeah, now we know, but at the time he was the only candidate addressing vitally important issues

that liberals care about deeply -- like the poor.

I never liked him for some reason, hated him as Kerry's VP pick, and never believed he was who he presented to the public. As a matter of fact someone on DU posted that at a fundraiser, Edwards was all smiles and warmth while the cameras were running, but the moment they shut down he was an SOB. Most of us didn't get to see our candidates so up close and personal.

But I feel for the people who put their trust and faith in him and what he supposedly stood for. Many of us are disappointed by our choices at one time or another, but not to such an extent, I don't think. The majority of politicians do things that let us down, but the person pretty much remains the same. With Edwards, it was like there were two entirely different people. And he was still pushing to become Obama's VP pick -- still thinking what he was doing was fine and that he could get away with it.

And surprisingly I feel kind of sorry for him, too. A comment I read said "To be cast away and shunned is probably one of the most effective punishments a human must endure." I hate to think of ANYONE being that lonely. His kids know what he did to their mother. He's got to live with that for the rest of his life.

[deutsey]

12. Yeah, I always loved what he said, but I never really liked him n/t

[Cleita]

25. Yeah, the what he said. I don't know if that would have translated into action

once he was well ensconced in the Oval Office.

[Fawke Em]

2. I wasn't wrong.

I always thought he was a sleazeball.

I was a Clark supporter back then and groaned when Edwards was picked as the VP candidate.

[elleng]

9. Hey, Fawke!

You and me both!

[Fawke Em]

10. Didn't we always call him "Breck" or something like that?

[gateley]

15. Appropriate, but only those of a certain age will get the reference.

Like me!

[elleng]

16. Yes we did!

[sabrina 1]

43. Yes, I don't remember Democrats ever calling him that. I did not support him, but he was

a Democrat and I agreed with him on many issues, and remember the Right attacking him and usually defended him at the time.

[alcibiades_mystery]

22. You joined DU in 2011

Interesting phrasing there.

[dionysus]

68. Rush called him the Breck Girl

[teddy51]

3. Like you I supported DK until he was gone and then went with Edwards... What a disappointment,

and can you imagine what kind of a mess we would have had if Edwards had of won the Primary! Ugh That would have sucked big time.

[Cleita]

5. That truly was an odd sort of blessing.n/t

[CJCRANE]

4. The MSM pretty much ignored him

which was infuriating at the time but fortunate in hindsight.

[elleng]

6. Proves that you CAN fool some of the people some of the time.

(Sorry, joke. :hi
Never cared for Edwards, supported Bob Graham > Wes Clark > Joe Biden > Barack Obama.

[CTyankee]

53. Hi, ellen. I too loved Wes clark. But I go suckered into Edwards with his Two Americas gig.

It was my biggest political mistake in my life. I was all set to vote for him in the CT primary in 08 but he quit before then and I voted for Hillary, since I thought it would be my last chance to vote for a woman for POTUS. And the rest is history...

I regret my support for JE more than anything else in my political life....

[elleng]

54. Well, yank, we all make mistakes!

[CTyankee]

75. Well, there's a little more to it than that. I saw Clark stumble in his remarks on

some social issues in an interview at the time I was supporting him. It did bother me that he was not up to speed on some domestic issues he should have been stronger on. We can only speculate as to whether he would have improved in time to keep his campaign going...

[elleng]

79. No speculation necessary on my part, yank. I followed Wes closely,

he's a true liberal, social and otherwise, and understands fundamentally how the system works (and shouldn't work.) Unfortunately, he wasn't sufficiently connected with the Dem powers that be to succeed. (Kind of similar to Governor Dean's problems, they never trusted him.)

[CTyankee]

84. It was my impression from the interview that I saw that he wasn't that up to speed on

reproductive rights issues. Not as much as some other Dem candidates were. But that is largely because I was deeply immersed in the issue myself (I was raising money for Planned Parenthood of CT at the time) so perhaps my view was a lot more focused than most. I didn't let that get in the way with my admiration of the guy. I really liked him.

You've got a good point with the Dem powers that were at that time. They probably didn't care for his military bent, altho I thought that was a great strength myself!

[elleng]

85. I don't know that it was his 'military bent.'

If they'd bothered to understand his approach to defense, they surely would have been with him. (He VERY EARLY came out against Iraq war.) He knows more history than ANY of them, I'm sure, and he's a great leader, great teacher and student; he taught economics, among other matters, at West Point.

I suspect they ignored him (and some, I think, worse than that,) because they perceive(d) he hadn't paid his Dem Party dues. And his friendship with the Clintons (all from Arkansas, after all,) didn't do him any good. First, he's definitely not a DLCer, and second, he'd have taken $ from Hillary's pocket.

P.S., he's DEFINITELY PRO-PRO Choice.

[CTyankee]

86. I think some liberals just vaguely mistrust career military officers. Maybe more then than now.

And I, too, admired his grasp of history. He was smart, too, and truly against the Iraq War as someone who had had to wage war (he understood it).

I'm sure he was completely pro-choice, too. As I said, it was just an impression I had from one interview where he was great on everything else, but perhaps needed a little more background on the finer points of reproductive issues. But why would he? He was in other trenches, while I was in the one on reproductive stuff (and I do mean the trenches!). But, yes, he was sincerely and strongly pro-choice...

[RFKHumphreyObama]

88. "He wasn't sufficiently connected with the Dem powers that be to succeed"

Really? He had the backing of the Clintons, the DLC and several other prominent Democrats. If anything I thought he was the establishment's choice for President

That's inevitably going to be interpreted as a slam on Clark but it isn't. I think in this case the establishment got it right with their preferred pick -Clark would have been an awesome candidate and an awesome President. I think he would have kicked Bush to the curb. It's too bad he didn't get the nomination -he was infinitely preferable to either Kerry or Edwards

[elleng]

89. He did NOT have the backing of the Clintons and the DLC.

Don't know to which 'other prominent Democrats' you refer. Had he, he might very well have kicked Bush to the curb; we supporters thought he would.

Clintons had been, and probably still are, friends of his, but they did NOT support him at the times and in the most useful ways, as we saw.

[MineralMan]

11. Sadly, we never really know our candidates.

We know only what they tell us, most of the time. If there are ugly skeletons, those often don't come out until later.

[PatSeg]

13. I liked Edwards

for about ten seconds in 2004. He gave a really good speech on the campaign trail, but as time went on, it was the same speech and I sensed Edwards wasn't a particularly sincere person.

That being said, I never would have guessed was a major sleaze he was. Even when he did his public "confession" on television, he couldn't stop lying.

[gateley]

18. I know! It was his "come clean" interview and he was still lying! Wasn't it Froward

who said he saw him at a fundraiser and he was an asshole when the cameras weren't running?

[PatSeg]

24. Oh yes

It was Froward and his portrayal of Edwards was very unflattering. Whenever there was a camera around, Edwards would flash that phony smile of his. He sure fooled a lot of good people.

[PassingFair]

76. "Mah daddy was uh mill worker"

How many times did I hear that! It was old the SECOND time I heard it.

His father was a mid-level MANAGER at the mill.

I never trusted him, but I thought he couldn't be ALL bad, because
I LOVED Elizabeth. I didn't think she would put up with as much
crap as she did.

[PatSeg]

78. I didn't trust him either

He came across as a con artist and I sensed he would do or say anything to fulfill his ambitions. The fact that he would drag his sick wife around on the campaign trail was a huge turnoff too. This was the mother of his children and they deserved to have their mother with them for as long as possible. What a selfish ass.

I'd forgotten about the "mill worker" BS. He had a very limited script.

[librechik]

17. except for the part about being a 2-faced little skank, Edwards was awesome

if only he had been for real.

[Speck Tater]

20. At their core, ALL Politicians are liars.

For the simple reason that while all people have things they'd prefer didn't become public knowledge, politicians have more to lose by public disclosure of embarrassing facts, and so go to greater (and more questionable) extremes to hide what they don't want known.

As an ordinary person if I get a traffic ticket and don't want my grandmother to find out about it because it would be embarrassing to me, I just don't tell her. No harm, no foul. If a politician gets a traffic ticket and doesn't want the general public to find out about it, it could turn into a major scandal by the time he's caught trying to pay off a judge to keep it under wraps.

[SATIRical]

31. I wouldn't say all

But I would say almost all.

[hedgehog]

34. Statements such as this show the extent of the damage

Edwards did to our country. When we hold all politicians and all politics in contempt, we hold the notion of government by the people in contempt.

[Speck Tater]

39. Quite the contrary

It's career politicians who stand between us and "government by the people".

[stevenleser]

26. The punishment does not fit the crime. 30 years for a crime with no violence and a far reach to find

a victim? This is the kind of thing that should result in 6 months probation.

[Cleita]

27. Well, he'll probably end up in a Club Fed prison like the Watergate perps.

[butterfly77]

28. I said he was phony..

from the beginning and I got into a lot of arguments on DU because of it. I was angry when John Kerry picked him as vp candidate.

I had enough of him during the first round the same way I guess he CONS feel about Romney..

[sabrina 1]

29. It's just a huge tragedy. So hard for his children. I wonder how many others will

be prosecuted, such as the Wall Street Criminals who collapsed the whole economy.

I was never an Edwards supporter, he voted for the war and no one who did that was ever on my list. But I did think he and his wife were an example of a truly happy couple.

While what he is accused of is bad, I'm just surprised the DOJ cares about since they don't seem to care much about the millions of lives who were affected by the Wall Street criminals or the War criminals, all of whom are living lives of luxury with no fear of prosecution. Wonder why 'looking forward' doesn't apply to everyone??

[Cleita]

30. It does seem unfair that Bush, Cheney and many other Republican crooks

and criminals are running around free. Look at Newt Gingrich bouncing checks and stiffing small business people around the country and no one is moving to arrest and indict him.

[hedgehog]

32. The irony is that for better or worse, i think if John Edwards

had not been running, Hillary Clinton would have locked up the nomination in the early weeks. I think John Edwards split the vote enough for Obama to get a foothold.

I'm glad that Obama won, but don't want to turn this into a re-hash of Clinton v Obama. I'm just positing that without Edwards, the outcome would have been different.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

33. i wonder how many on this site defended his homophobia when he was vp-nominee.

in many ways, if you did, serves you right to see that his moral failings including being a bigot, is really high.

[Cleita]

36. His homophobia? I don't recall that.

I, of course, realize that candidates are not perfect, and all of us sometimes overlook small flaws if we generally like the rest of the package, but I honestly don't remember any homophobia. If there is any bigotry, his attitude and lack of respect towards women would be it.

[SoCalDem]

35. I always saw him as a man who married a woman who ended up looking far older than he did, and

he probably had had affairs.

If their son Wade had not died, they might have split up anyway, but he (and she too) got bitten by the politics bug, and had two more little kids (looks good on a young-looking family guy's posters).

Who knows? those fertility treatments could have precipitated her cancer?

But once they had those two little ones, and then her cancer, he was s-t-u-c-k.

No way could he leave a sick wife and two very small kids and still have a political career.

He probably thought he could compartmentalize the whole other life he led, but another baby ruined all that.

Being on the road (or living in DC) & having a wife left behind most of the time with the kids, affords a cheater lots of time & space.

Had there been no love-child, he might have wiggled out of the whole thing.

Too bad (for him) he did not know about birth control

[Cleita]

37. I think she was older than him, wasn't she?

I've always felt that a woman, who married a younger man, would eventually be facing her replacement. It's too bad that it doesn't seem to be reciprocal, like older men marrying much younger women. Those women seem to take their marriage vows seriously.

[SoCalDem]

38. She was a little older, but not much

she... July 1949
he..... June 1953

[JDPriestly]

40. I am extremely grateful to Edwards for having had the courage to talk about the Two Americas.

He addressed the issue of poverty, something Obama apparently thinks can be dealt with in soup kitchens and with unemployment checks for the select few who have actually been employed in recent years.

I am very suspicious about threats to Obama's career like Blagojevich and Edwards and even Kucinich (in case you have forgotten) plus Siegelman seem to get into legal trouble. Funny how anyone on the left turns out to be untrustworthy and dishonest (not saying that Blagojevich is left-wing, but he did challenge Obama's authority).

Obama is nice guy, but that does not mean that everyone around him is fair-minded.

And, -- I may be seeing relationships where they don't exist. Maybe it is just a coincidence that nothing has been done in the Siegelman case for example, just coincidence. Siegelman could have carried more swing states than Obama. Of course, Siegelman was not that liberal and was done in by Rove. But Obama has not reached out to Siegelman.

Sorry, but I will wait until all the evidence is in to judge Edwards, the only person to deal with the issue of poverty in the US. I think Edwards would have tried to change our trade policy. He was the only one who saw what it is doing to middle America. Hillary is the worst, the very worst on this issue. Obama just doesn't seem to understand what is going on. Maybe Hawaiians haven't felt the job losses because they never had much industry to begin with.

[Cleita]

42. I think you are very right. Also, in the business world, Democrats

like Bernie Madoff and Martha Stewart get very strict justice served up to them when the rest of the right wing crooks go free. I don't condone corruption on either side, however, it seems justice is not blind here. I too loved the talk about the Two Americas, which is why I liked him so much and why he had turned out to be such a disappointment. It's like losing a lover, whom you found out was married and lied to you in many other ways.

[bvar22]

46. The last time "The Poor" were mentioned in Campaign 2008,

was the day Edwards resigned.

The pattern goes well beyond Blagojevich and Edwards.

*Wellstone...KIA

*Howard Dean.... discredited, marginalized, banished

*Cynthia McKinney..... attacked, isolated, marginalized, cut off from Party support, expelled

*Eliot Spitzer...... Honey Trapped, discredited, isolated, expelled

*Anthony Wiener..... marginalized, discredited, isolated, expelled

*Russ Feingold.... attacked from The Center, marginalized, isolated from party support, exiled

*Alan Grayson .... attacked from The Center, marginalized, isolated from party support, exiled

*Dennis Kucinich ... attacked from The Center, discredited, marginalized, isolated, redistricted, exiled

The downfall of some of the above can be partially attributed to their own personal foibles,
but in every case, the party leadership was quick to condemn and abandon, and made no effort to embrace or assist any of these Liberals in their time of need. There ARE politicians in BOTH parties guilty of far more serious transgressions who managed to survive their troubles because of Party support.

*Maxine Waters... currently under attack

*The Congressional Black Caucus..... admonished by the President to quit whining, "Take off your bedroom slippers. Put on your marching shoes" and get behind the President's agenda.
(When has he EVER spoken to the "Blue Dogs" like that?)
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-tells-blacks-stop-complainin-fight-015928905.html

*The Progressive Caucus.... no seats in the cabinet, almost none appointed to positions of any power in the Executive Branch, the White House doesn't take their calls.

*Supreme Court.... Liberal Judges replaced with "Moderates", making the SC more Conservative overall.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/justices-side-police-warrantless-search/story?id=13613343



*Democratic Primaries 2010.... Strong pattern of endorsing and supporting Blue Dogs and Big Business Conservatives,
even including one "former" Republican running against more Liberal, Pro-Working Class challengers.
(See: Arkansas, Pennsylvania and others)

The pattern is clear.
I don't believe in coincidences.


You will know them by their WORKS.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[Art_from_Ark]

61. You have identified a very clear pattern

And people who were mainstream Democrats in the '60s and '70s are now labeled as "fringe"

[JDPriestly]

87. Thanks, bvar22

I worked for around 8 years for a homeless project that served the very poorest and most needy. My father did similar work way back when. Jane Addams was one of my childhood heroes. She was awarded a well deserved Nobel prize in 1931, I think.

Not in my lifetime have the injustices of wage disparity and wealth inequality been so evident. Never have they been so ignored.

I would like to be able to hope for a reawakening of our concern for poverty, but I am beginning to doubt that it will happen in my lifetime.

It is so terribly sad.

[spanone]

41. in politics, the slick look just like the sick

[Tom Rinaldo]

44. Sadly it is not enough to back someone for his/her positions on the issues.

Because positions can always later change when it is convenient for them to for one thing. Also it is fairly easy for anyone lacking a true committment to their professed policies to later give them all the right public lip service while either holding back the political capital needed to ennact them, or even actively working to block them in private. Ultimately there is no one who can sell us out with the most devestation than someone who the public identifies as being "on our side".

There is a big upside for anyone lacking rooted core convictions to tune in closely to what the people whose support they are courting and counting on want to hear, and then telling them whatever they want you to say. It is a time true route to gaining Power. It always has and always will be this way.

Character matters. Inconsistencies should not simply be brushed aside and disregarded because we want to believe any excuse that is given for them. Patterns matter also. Excuses like "I joined a hedge fund to do research on how they opereate" and "I needed to build a new personal palace because of the stress we are under" and "that charity we set up to help fight poverty is doing lots of great work behind the scenes with all the money we are raising - how dare anyone think it's a political slush fund even though we haven't been giving away any money" etc. etc. might individually seem to hold water, but patterns are harder to obscure.

It is the secret of all great con men to convince their victims that they are there to meet "your needs." The bigger the potential pay off, the slicker the cons who play that ciruit. In politics they don't have to be souless leeches to be con artists - they may simply be unworthy of your trust.

In 2004 I was backing Wes Clark - who I also liked on the issues. What really sold me on him though was 1) researching the life choices he made and why he made them and how he did or did not personally profit from them relative to other obvious choices he could have made and 2) following up on the opportunity to get to know him personally (granted that is not always possible) and observing the respect he equally personally showed to those with power and impresive titles, and to those with none of that. Wes was always the same on and off camera. His personal interest in the grassroots people who gravitated to his candidacy was continually displayed in dozens of ways the larger public would never see - ways that didn't lend themselves to spinning for greater political capital.

I supported Clark over Dean in 2004 but EVEN while I did so I saw many of the same positive qualities in Howard. If you train yourself to look for them you will see them if they are there. If you can't get to know the candidate personally usually you can get to know others who do, or at least look for those who support him who you can respect who are in a strong position to vouch for their personal integrity - not just the political correctness of their positions.

All of this is easier said then done - but it is at least as important as researching a candidate's stands on issues.

[GeorgeGist]

45. Being a 1%er ...

might have been a CLUE.

[DonCoquixote]

47. I tellpeople

That I voted for edwards in the 2008 primary, and I am still proud of that, but frankly, what Edwards did betrayed us all. If these were revoulationary times, I would glady have him hung from betraying the people's trust.

[Cleita]

50. I did too.

I had such hope.

[TheFarseer]

48. it's because of him

I don't contribute to political campaigns anymore.

[Cleita]

49. I still do, if it's a tried and true politician like Barbara Boxer,

but even if shortage of funds weren't the reason that I donate very sparingly, yeah it left a sour taste in my mouth.

[FrenchieCat]

51. I was right about him all along.....

But folks just put me on ignore.....
and kept up their love affair with him,
most to the very end.

[Yavin4]

52. His Message Was, And Still Is, Correct. He Is Just An Asshole.

Believe in the message, not the messenger.

[Cleita]

55. I hope somebody else comes along with that message.

It's way overdue. We need a liberal in the White House and a liberal majority in Congress to take charge before this country implodes and the world with it.

[Raine]

56. I was supporter of his going back a long ways

I guess I should've known, but I didn't ... I wanted to believe.

[Cleita]

57. Don't beat yourself up. He really spoke to us about the issues that were important to

working class and middle class Americans. He had a message that appealed to us.

[LisaL]

58. I always had a feeling this man was phony.

[Horse with no Name]

59. I was in the love with the message...not the messenger

Personally, I think he fell for some of the oldest RW tricks out there--and that is to his discredit.

I loved Elizabeth then and I still love what she was about in her person.

As far as John--he should be the poster boy to any Democrat who dares to carry the Populist/Grassroots/Progressive message....keep your nose clean and your dick cleaner.
There WILL be attempts to take you down by our forces or theirs (some of them DO coincide).
If you are not STRONG enough...don't pick up the mantle and carry it--we need strength, not scandal.

As far as these charges? Republicans have done MUCH worse without any reprimand. This smacks of a witchhunt.

John's fault was that he was not strong enough to resist the traps set for him. He is a weak man. AFAIAC...that is his ONLY fault.

[Odin2005]

60. I think he's a sociopath.

That's the only explanation I can think of for his lack of visible remorse for what he did.

[Cleita]

62. There definitely was a personality flaw there.

He seemed to have no concern about what he would put his family through, just because he wanted something on the side.

[ellisonz]

63. I wasn't wrong the whole time...

In 2004 he treated Dean better than the other Dems and I thought he sold well, so I gave him the fair shake. - my old SN - hellhathnofury. But after he went to work for a hedge fund “mainly in order to learn about the relationships between financial markets and poverty,” and started playing political games against Obama that were not truthful, I gave him no break:

Edwards is such a phony.

---------

You know where Edwards lost me...

When he ardently supported our invasion of Iraq and then turns around apologizes for it while running for President in 2004 and then when that's not enough and he loses with Kerry then he suddenly comes out of the gates calling for the Senate to stop funding the war after he's left the Senate! Real courageous <snark>

I don't care about his haircut. What I care about is the extent to which he uses rhetoric to try to sell himself as some sort of miracle boy. You can't just demand something and get it, success in politics is the art of compromise, not the art of being compromised!

And Hillary has never done an honest day's work in her life!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3847081#3848945

Yeah it was the primaries...

I would also add that the motto in 2004 for the loyalty test was ABB (Anybody But Bush), as a Deaniac I did not like the fact that John Edwards had voted for the war, but I believed the quickest way to end it was to boot Bush and elect a Democrat (even if they were flawed)

I'm going to hide now before the gasoline tank explodes!



P.S. "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!"

[Cleita]

65. Heh! The primaries. Those were the days.

I'm kinda glad we aren't going through them this time. But there's 2016. I'm getting my wits sharpened for that when the time comes.

[ellisonz]

66. Come reminisce:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/124075756

[Zax2me]

64. Eh, It happens.

So he said the right things.
Anyone can do that, even creeps it appears.
No shock.
There will be more.
Nothing is ever 100% in politics.

[dionysus]

67. smoove johnny, we hardly knew ye...

[catchnrelease]

69. I still wonder

what exactly it was about him or his message that appealed to me so much that I fell for his candidacy. I consider myself to be pretty skeptical and wary of politicians. I had been a Dean supporter and I guess I believed Edwards was not just another mainstream politico. Or just wanted him to be different I guess. I donated money to his campaign, the first time I'd ever done such a thing. I even took time off of work to go and see him speak when he appeared at the union headquarters in LA, also a first for me. Wow, I feel like a real sucker! I don't expect a person running for office to be perfect, but Edwards really went off the rails imo, with the lying and refusing to admit the affair. Ego? Sociopath? Con artist? I still don't know and pretty much ignore anything involving news about him now. It definitely has made me even MORE cynical about all of them. I don't see any politician as inspiring or appealing any more, rather just a necessary evil.

[DefenseLawyer]

70. If you're talking about his personal life

I think he got what was coming to him and will most likely be shunned from public life from here on out. I say most likely because Newt Gingrich and David Vitter to name two, are still around. But if you're talking about the criminal case against him, it's a political vendetta brought by a Bush appointed Republican U.S. Attorney that is a real stretch, to say the least.

[Cleita]

72. Is it? That makes me feel better about him. It still doesn't exonerate his personal behavior

although yes, there seems to be two sets of standards and punishment here. Republicans seem to have a different set of laws and social mores that apply to them than liberals. Look at what happened to Anthony Weiner as contrary to Larry Craig, et al.

[slipslidingaway]

71. Well I tried ... and tried ... and tried ...

just a small sample.

The REAL difference between Kucinich & Edwards' health plans
It's the leader!
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/slipslidingaway/54

Who said this on 9/12/02???
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/slipslidingaway/55

The 9/5/02 Intelligence Committee Meeting with George Tenet
He was wrong on more than just his vote, I posted some of the following information to several of Edwards' supporters, each time the answer is the same, silence.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/slipslidingaway/48

Hasn't he changed his position on the missile defense system?
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/slipslidingaway/420

‘Made in China’ hazards began with ‘Made in Washington, D.C.’
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/slipslidingaway/51

Russ Feingold -- NO on Edwards
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/slipslidingaway/49

Edwards: Garnish Wages If Needed to Cover All
Democratic Presidential Candidate Edwards Might Garnish Wages, Withhold Tax Refunds To Enforce Health Insurance Mandate
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/slipslidingaway/50

Edwards Video... We MANDATE preventive care & check-ups
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/slipslidingaway/73


Clinton, Obama, Edwards on ‘the same page’ on health care reform, ‘the wrong page,’ says Kucinich
Clinton, Obama, Edwards, on the wrong page
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/slipslidingaway/30

[EmeraldCityGrl]

73. I have the utmost respect for Elizabeth.

I hope her memory is never tainted by John Edwards.

No amount of jail time or fines will ever be restitution for what he did to his family.

During a very busy time during the campaign, Elizabeth took several days to appear
at a conference for an organization that supports bereaved parents having lost her own son
Wade. A friend of mine was at that conference and was amazed how much time she took
to speak to parents one on one.

I couldn't agree with the OP more, Elizabeth should have been the candidate.

[BlueIris]

74. I don't think we were entirely wrong.

At least, not about what he wanted to do in government. I see nothing from among the scandals that makes me question his seriousness about his stated goals.

We were apparently wrong about his character, what kind of choices he would make in his personal life. Those are two different things.*



*I am actually not an Edwards "supporter" and never was. But I can't condemn him utterly because I don't think anything he's done is all that much worse than anything other politicians, and yes, even some Democrats, have done.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

77. He had a great message on poverty, still resonates today. I don't regret my vote at the time.

Unfortunately, he had some personal demons that hurt his wife, his family, and himself. But it doesn't make the things he said on poverty any less true.

[Cleita]

82. He did. I hope someone picks it up for 2016.

[cali]

80. Man, did I get a lot of shit for pointing out what a phony fucker he was.

[Cleita]

81. Now you are entitled to gloat.

Really, you were right.

[Spike89]

83. The lesson here isn't just that politicians lie

The part I couldn't understand about Edward's support here in the 2008 primaries was how his words totally overshadowed his deeds. Of the three early viable candidates (Obama, Clinton, and Edwards) he easily had the deepest voting record. It was not a good one. He not only had votes he'd cast in direct opposition to his primary positions, but he'd been a sponsor or leader in the senate for those (he was a big part of the anti-poor bankrupcy bill and a co-sponsor of the Iraq war authorization).
It was weird seeing people without a hint of irony say "Well, if Obama had been in the senate, I think he'd have voted for the war, so therefore, I'm voting for Edwards." He also got undue credit for his undeniably well-delivered "two americas" speil, but never, ever had to answer why his voting record in the senate only helped create and widen that split.
If all people get from the Edwards tragedy is that politicians lie--they are missing the bigger lesson. Actions speak louder than words, no matter how compelling and well-delivered those words are.

[DiverDave]

90. I voted for him, bought the message

felt miserable that he turned out to be just another phoney.
I also mourned the message being lost.
He was speaking to ME, and I don't think another will ever do that.
I had such high hopes that poverty would be addressed, but no more.
Now we have Democrats giving away the store to the felons on wall street.
So much for 2 Americas