Edwards Says Husband Should Not Have Run

[kpete]

Edwards Says Husband Should Not Have Run
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/04/29/2009-04-29_i_cried__screamed.html

Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities
The New York Daily News got an advance copy of Resilience by Elizabeth Edwards who writes that when she learned of her husband's affair, "I cried and screamed, I went to the bathroom and threw up."

"Despite feeling deeply deceived," she "nonetheless publicly stood by her husband's side, lending his candidacy the aura of a warm, loving family life. But she had actually wanted him to quit the race to protect the family."

Later events proved her right. "He should not have run," she says.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/04/30/edwards_says_husband_should_not_have_run.html

[Arkana]

1. If that ain't obvious I don't know what is.

[Toucano]

15. +1 n-t

[Hubert Flottz]

2. John might not love his wife...

but I do.

I wish I could give her a big hug. This is really sad...three of my good friends and two people in my family have cancer right now. How John could have done this to his family at a time like this, is beyond my comprehension. I'm glad someone that selfish never became a democratic president. I supported John Edwards and I'll admit that he fooled me for a long time too.

[BonnieJW]

7. Me, too.

I thought he would make a terrific president. He fooled my husband and me.

[October]

8. Agreed.../nt

[derby378]

19. Ditto on the big hug

The real story behind John Edwards may be more complicated than anyone's willing to admit. I was never an Edwards supporter, but I appreciated his populist approach and his emphasis on consumer protection. What a shame he threw it all away over another woman.

My wife's a cancer survivor, too. I consider myself truly fortunate that she shares her life with me. I just wish John could feel that way about Elizabeth. Maybe he does, especially now. But there's that shadow hanging over him that may never go away.

[Cha]

38. You could have knocked

me over with a feather when I learned this was really true. I didn't believe the tabloids at all.

I supported Edwards in the beginning before I learned more about Obama.

[malaise]

98. Well said

John was thinking about John only and not his family

[SoCalDem]

120. He'e very much like many guys I have known..

NO ONE knows how they will age.. Everyone's pretty cute in their teens & twenties..& most even into their 30's, but some people age better than others.

He's a cute guy who aged into a very handsome man, youthful-looking , well beyond what's considered "normal"... She, on the other hand, aged like most of us..she got heavier, as she had kids and got older..she had the misfortune to get an illness..

He probably does "love" her..but not in a lustful, hot way..like he feels when he's after some "new woman..a younger-looking" woman..

When Wade died, his fate was sealed.. he could never leave her AND stay in politics..Dems do not look kindly on a man who leaves his wife who's suffering from the tragic loss of her own (then) son... and especially after the births of the two younger ones...

So he found himnself still married to a woman he no longer lusted after, wanting a career in high-level politics..and apparently not in control of his zipper..

good riddance to him..

Bst wishes to Elizabeth:)

the shrink

[Maru Kitteh]

159. A couple points. Wade and the young ones were born almost 20 years apart.

Wade died long before Elizabeth had cancer, long before Johnny lost control of his zipper, and before the younger set of children.

He had plenty of opportunities for an honest divorce if he wasn't getting his lust thing on anymore. He was no victim of circumstance. Like too many powerful men, he started sniffing his own glue. Throw in a penis and an acute case of rationalization, and you have whatever the new extra-marital baby's name is and a nation of Democrats that is deeply grateful he did NOT get the nomination.

[alphafemale]

189. ummm...did you actually SEE pictures of the woman John cheated with?

That Lenny Bruce quote comes to mind.

The one about men and mud?

[SoCalDem]

190. Many times the women they cheat with are NOT beautiful, BUT

most of the time they ARE younger...and it's often the way they feel about themselves when they are with the other woman.. with HER, there are no "longstanding issues" that have to be trodden upon carefully.. It's just fun & games..and a trip back, mentally, to a place where they have no responsibilities..just fun & games & excitement..until they get caught:evilgrin:

[omega minimo]

192. aka "immaturity"

[SoCalDem]

195. getting older is no guarantee of wisdom & maturity

:rofl:

[omega minimo]

198. aka irresponsibility

[alphafemale]

212. I'm not really sure she was even any younger really

...certainly not significantly.

Just another warm hole to poke.

[SoCalDem]

217. I think she's about 15 years younger.. but the mistress

does not chastize or complain much.. especially when the man is a powerful, public-person.

the mistress thinks everything he does is cute or wonderful.. the wife does not think those old habits are all that "cute"..after a long marriage:)

[JSK]

211. She also lost a child

which definitely speeds up the aging process.

[Bucky]

125. I think he loves his wife. Watch "The Seduction of Joe Tynan"

There's a kind of tragedy that goes with vaulting ambition--both good men like John Edwards & Alexander Hamilton have it and flawed men like Tricky Dick Nixon fall to it, too. And of course good-flawed men like Bill Clinton or Elliot Abrams can make quite a spectacle of it. Edwards screwed up and betrayed his family when they needed him most. I hope he felt like shit for a while and I hope he's making amends to her now.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

139. I'd put Elliot Abrams in the company of Tricky Dick

rather than in the company of Bill Clinton. He was one of the slimiest people in the Reagan administration, and that's saying a lot!

[Bucky]

146. Because I'm an idiot

SPITZER -- Elliot Spitzer.

Shit, all you yankees look alike to me.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

147. OK, that's more like it

:-)

[Egnever]

161. Of course he did cause you listened to his wife,

Who was lying her ass of to you just llike he was.

Some times the level of denial around here leaves me just awestruck.

[Gold Metal Flake]

3. Elizabeth Edwards is a DUer.

I hope DUers can show her and her family some DU family respect when posting in this thread.

No, I don't mean Mr. Benchley-style respect that has persisted and spread ever since his well-deserved and long-delayed tombstoning, I mean the cordial kind.

[gratuitous]

4. I am irresistibly drawn to the cheap joke

But I will conceal it for the sensibilities of our more tender correspondents:

"My husband should not have run," writes Edwards in Chapter 2, entitled "Duh."

If you get offended, it's not entirely my fault.

[Gold Metal Flake]

20. It is entirely your fault, if I choose it to be.

I mean, if we really want to play that game. It is very popular on DU these days.

[gratuitous]

42. Dangit, nobody ever tells me

One of these days I'm going to keep up with all the rule changes. Or maybe resist the irresistible call of the cheap joke. Ah, who am I trying to fool?

[cwydro]

26. I don't think she is.

That has been debunked.

[tammywammy]

55. She posted in the past

But left when there were DUer gleeful when Laura Ingraham announced she had breast cancer. I don't think she's been back since.

[Midlodemocrat]

160. You are exactly right. She left because of the horrific display

here when Ingraham announced she was battling cancer.

Not DU's finest moment, that's for sure.

[tammywammy]

172. Yes it was appalling

Yet it happens every time anyone that's republican is sick or dies.

[JonLP24]

58. I was there during the time

Under a different user name because the user name was a reference to support of Howard Dean and when it was no longer relevant I stopped using it. One of the big 3 moderators at the time confirmed it but I don't know where the thread is to prove it to you.

[TahitiNut]

62. In what alternate universe?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2604461

ElizabethEdwards (29 posts) was active during the 2004 campaign season. AFAIK, her identity was verified by the DU administrators, just as Chris Heinz's identity was verified.

[Egnever]

162. and hasn't been back since

I don't think a few posts 5 years ago qualifies her as a DUer do you?

I also don't think the likely hood of her seeing anything posted here is very high either.Clearly the guy you were responding to didn't know she actually posted here once schilling for her cretin husband. But a DUer nah i don't think so.

You however are definitely a Duer :)

[frogcycle]

185. liklihood

[mzmolly]

99. No it hasn't.

She's been a member here. I will not share her moniker, however. I honestly think John Edwards is too, but that's only speculation on my part.

[goclark]

96. We love you Elizabeth and can't wait to read your book!

[Egnever]

163. wow

thats jim jones sort of freakish

[Adelante]

97. She's now included the matter in a book and made her part in this story public

Honestly, I don't see why she's done this at all. But she doesn't get to have it both ways. In any case, normal DU rules don't apply in favor of public personalities, even if they are or once were members.

[omega minimo]

193. Mr. Clenchley was not respectful

[JaneQPublic]

5. I shudder to think if Edwards had won the nomination...

...and then his affair been discovered.

We would have just witnessed President McCain's 100 days in office.

[WilliamPitt]

11. President McCain

The economy would be far worse, Iraq would be bigger, and we'd be at war with Iran over that journalist (or whatever other pretense offered itself), and Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and Georgia, maybe Russia too...

:scared:

[grace0418]

74. *shudder*

What an arrogant asshole, gambling with our country's future so he could have a little fun.

[Chulanowa]

83. Which is about the dumbest thing about this

By no means do I condone anyone having an affair... But to be perfectly honest? I see little reason why it should be a concern in politics. Yet another reminder that our country was founded by people who wore belt buckles on hteir heads and banned Christmas for being too licentious.

[defendandprotect]

84. I agree . .. however, you can't deny that had he been the candidate, it would have hurt Dems . . .!!

[Chulanowa]

88. Nope. Which disappoints the hell out of me

Everyone pretends they want the "average joe" president... Well, y'know what? On average, people have cheated on a spouse or boyfriend / girlfriend at least once. it really reminds me of the hullabaloo about whether Obama still smoked cigarettes.

In recent decades Americans have developed this need for their president to be bland and perfect. I can't imagine that the 300-poud Taft, the uglier than an old boot Lincoln, or the painfully sheltered Wilson would have ever so much as sniffed the nomination these days.

[defendandprotect]

91. Agree . . . but you do know . . .

that Lincoln is rumored now to have had at least one homosexual lover?

America has been sexually naive -- kept this way by patriarchal religion which
wants control over sexuality.

But a two-way street for males --

Imagine had a woman done any of this!!!

I love Elizabeth but I think she was aiding and abetting John in this -
she should have pulled the rug out from under him -- too much self-sacrifice on
her part!

Meanwhile, I can understand the need to try to run away from problems --
maybe that's what John was doing - he's great looking and women are going to
attracted.

But the illness of his wife makes it especially FOUL PLAY!

[JonLP24]

127. I watched a history channel examination of Lincoln

The rumor comes from that Lincoln actually slept in the same bed with some of his male friends. The historians said it was normal for that era for heterosexual men to sleep in the same bed. I really don't know if it's true one way or the other.

[defendandprotect]

151. As I recall -- and I'm behind on this issue --- weren't there letters by Lincoln . . .

suggestive letters--?

I'll have to look in my library - I think there was a book which revealed some
of this a few years ago?


Here we go --

According to a recent report in the L.A. Weekly newspaper, the book includes previously unreported accounts, including Lincoln’s stepmother admitting in a post-assassination interview that he “never took much interest in the girls,” his sharing of a bed with several men and a poem the teenage Lincoln wrote about two boys who get married

For four decades, some scholars and activists have asserted that Lincoln was gay. Many have focused on Lincoln’s long, intimate relationship with Joshua Speed, with whom Lincoln shared a bed for four years while both men were in their 20s.

Edna Greene Medford, an African-American history scholar at Howard University said there has not been much discussion of Lincoln’s supposed homosexuality at the various Lincoln scholarly conferences she regularly attends. Medford noted that many historians dismiss assertions that Lincoln was gay because sharing a bed with male companions was a common 19th century practice, Medford says.

Alan Kraut, a professor of history at American University, said males frequently shared the same bed in the 19th century because of poverty, tenement houses and the general confining nature of frontier life.

Douglas L. Wilson, co-director of the Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College, said that while he understands why Lincoln’s relationships with men lead many to think he was gay, without concrete proof the information is merely suggestive.

“He and Speed were soul mates and all the indications I have seen show they had this close relationship,” Wilson said. “They were both the same age and in the same situation. They were concerned about this transition from bachelorhood to marriage and all that.

“I can see how that is suggestive and points in other directions but it really indicates that they saw things in very similar ways and had the same emotional take on the world.”

Additionally, scholars have not found any evidence that Lincoln found these sleeping arrangements odd or taboo, something that a gay person might have experienced at the time.

“ didn’t see it as a problem,” Kraut said. “There’s none of that. This wasn’t taboo. Lincoln had dark visions, but that did not have anything to do with his sexuality. Scholars have indicated that he was depressed.”

Wilson said a lack of such evidence indicating a sense of unease Lincoln might have felt over his male relationships was not unusual as the 16th president was “notoriously secretive.”

Gay activist Larry Kramer has claimed for years that Lincoln was gay. In a 1999 Salon interview, Kramer claimed to possess letters and a diary written by Speed about his relationship with Lincoln but the activist never released the documents.

Kramer could not be reached for comment.

In his new book, Tripp notes that Lincoln would always sign his letters to Speed with the intimate “yours forever” salutation, something he never wrote for his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln.

And, according to a recent report in L.A. Weekly, Tripp credibly describes Lincoln’s ...
near-nervous breakdown upon learning that Speed was ending their relationship by returning to Kentucky.

Another of the men Tripp discusses in his book, according to L.A. Weekly, is David Derickson, who was assigned to the unit to protect Lincoln in September 1862.

A relationship between the two was common gossip in the day, as Tripp notes with a citation from the diary of the wife of the assistant Navy secretary Gustavus Fox: “Tish says, oh, there is a bucktail soldier here devoted to the president, drives with him, and when Mrs. L is not home, sleeps with him. What stuff!”

Tripp writes that Lincoln was fond of lewd stories, involving anal references. When a friend suggested to Lincoln he bring his personal stories to a book, Lincoln replied that he could not, for “such a book would stink like a thousand privies.”

I included most of the pro's on the story and only some of the con's . . .

However, as I recall it one of the letters by Lincoln was very flattering of Speed's thighs?

Unfortunately, for so very long, history has been white male propaganda --

I'd suggest that there would be a natural inclination to deny this speculation -- but
evidently the rumors have long existed.



http://www.washingtonblade.com/2004/11-5/news/national/abebook.cfm

[SammyWinstonJack]

199. Indeed!

:applause: :thumbsup:

[undeterred]

6. She should have thrown him to the media wolves.

[Fla Dem]

101. Agree..she could have said quit the race or I'll leak it to the press.

I love Elizabeth and wish her all the best. But she was in the drivers seat on this one. She simply had to know that sooner or later the truth would have come out. She did not take a long view look but merely took the most expedient path. Had she even given the consequences 10 minutes of thought this is what she would have reasoned:

-The affair will become public knowledge.
-If John is still in the race when the *hit hits the fan it will be disastrous for him, me and the children
-If by some chance John becomes the candidate, and then the affair comes out, the Dems lose.
-If I say nothing, then I am helping to perpetuate a fraud.
-I can tell John to get out of the race or a.) I will make sure the media finds out, b.) I will not campaign for him c.) I will divorce him.

Elizabeth is a strong woman, but she allowed herself to be an enabler for a man who put himself ahead of her, his childen, his party and the country.

[turmeric]

178. She was in one hell of a predicament...I don't see how anyone can fault her...

I am sure she loved John with all her heart. She wanted him to be able to fulfill his lifelong ambition. My God, why should an affair derail a candidacy? That's between a husband and his wife and has no bearing on his ability to govern, his committment to his country...What I detest is how he at first denied it. That made him just another liar.

[mmonk]

208. Do not judge a path not walked.

[woo me with science]

9. Gee, ya think? nt

[dysfunctional press]

10. well...

duh-fucking-DUH.

[Dappleganger]

12. She's a better person than I am.

[karynnj]

13. Though Elizabeth Edwards engenders sympathy, because of her health and her husband's cheating,

I question how truthful this account really is. Maybe when the book is out this will be clearer. For one, she likely wrote when she was told. If she spoke of learning when JRE said he told her in 2006, then either this is not true or her actions make no sense. It also doesn't explain Ms Hunter's continued presence in teh campaign - photographed aitting next to JRE and laughing in New Orleans at the offical announcement of the campaign - months after JRE supposedly told her.

She did far more than campaign as the supportive wive, as she did in 2004. in 2007, Elizabeth Edwards actually functioned as an unassailable "hatchet man" for her husband, attacking both Clinton and Obama. To me, the worst time was when, on the eve of the Iowa caucus, she told an audience very dramatically that Obama's healthcare plan would not cover her because her cancer would be a pre-existing condition. This was part of her prepared remarks, healthcare had become her big issue - this was designed as a last minute way to gain people on the fence because there would be no time for Obama to get out that it was not true.

In addition, in April 2007, when her cancer was found to be terminal, that campaign should then have ended. Per the book, she had earlier wanted it ended for the sake of the family. The family became even more at risk with the emotional and physical stresses of dealing with the medical reality.

[Cha]

45. I had forgotten about

all of that. You're absolutley right..not only ending it because of Elizabeth's "terminal" condition but the Lie could not have been helping her heal.

Thankfully, Obama won Iowa anyway.

[jbnow]

130. She said the pre-existing condition thing about McCain

I didn't hear about her her saying it about Obama. That would be strange since it would be an outright lie. (I know she didn't like Obama's plan because it didn't mandate people buy insurance. She called John's and Hillary's universal coverage but I don't want to return to that crap. Dennis K was the only one that really offered it in his plan)
I wasn't very attentive to our candidates long before the primaries because I was hoping for Gore...and just started researching the candidates at the end of the year. If she said that I am glad I didn't hear it then...I hate lies.

It was early 2008 when they had that press conference about the return of the cancer, after the primaries had started. Had they actually learned a year before that or did you type it wrong?

It would have been horrible had he gotten the nomination and it is surprising she'd go along with that

[karynnj]

152. It was true in Mccain's case - but she said it on the eve of the election about Obama

and I included the link on a different thread and meant to here. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=3929807 Sorry for forgetting it.

Her cancer returned, but she was still seeing doctors to monitor her remission - I probably should have said 2007/2008 as when she was an attack dog.

[jbnow]

156. Thanks for that link. Oh Elizabeth! Geez, Obama had her

lying about his health plan and isn't that the same time Clinton was sending out the mailers about Obama not supporting abortion rights? That might have been NH.

I hated the primaries, I really did.

[karynnj]

171. That was in NH - and in both cases it was dirty politics

There is a line. It is legitimate to make as much out of anything real about your opponent as you can, even if that distorts your opponent, but outright lying is wrong. The Dean/Gephardt war was more like the former - Dean took Gephardt votes out of context and Gephardt defended himself by explaining and returning the "favor" by twisting Dean actions as Governor to put them in the worst light. Here, it was earlier and Iowa voters responded by moving away from both of them.

As to Edwards and HRC, HRC at least had some confusing votes (not confusing to Il planned parenthood or Obama, but to others not knowing what they were about); Elizabeth just made this up. What floored me at the time was that this was in prepared material - not a question to which she gave an ill informed answer. That both of these came on the eve of their respective primaries when it would be hard to refute makes it worse. It would be interesting to know if JRE, Trippi, or some other campaign person pushed her to do this.

Until those actions are severely punished by the public - they will continue as they appear to work. The Obama team did an excellent job in making things like those ads public knowledge - creating a cost to the Clinton's reputation for doing it. After NH, the Obama team gained, along with his endorsement, John Kerry as a fantastic attack dog, coordinating with them to quickly blow various Clinton attacks out of the water by countering them with whatever facts they had. Kerry's gentlemanly demeanor, the difficulty in painting him as vindictive (though they tried), and his reputation for honesty, that even Democrats who didn't like him conceded made that type of campaigning less effective. In fact. a case could be made that had the Clintons not gone negative, she would have won. All you have to look at is DU or Daily Kos for January 2008. Many people who loved the Clintons in the 1990s were not happy with what they saw. To me, they took a lesson from 2004 that swiftboating worked and failed to notice that by 2006, it failed badly as people were disgusted by it.

[Egnever]

181. Awesome analysis

I agree had Clinton campaigned on her merits instead of going negative she would have likely won.

[JI7]

137. wasn't the news that she was the one who wanted the campaign to go on ?

and they even asked people who wanted to send flowers or other things in support of her to donate to the campaign instead.

and then of course the comments made towards Hillary's marriage and some comments about Michelle Obama.

[turmeric]

177. I don't understand why being a hatchet woman has anything to do with the price of eggs

Even if she criticized Hillary, etc. and knew about John's hound-dogging ways, does that have anything to do with public policy? Universal health care is something which affects ALL of us. John's weiner action just affects his family.

[MasonJar]

14. It is one thing to have an affair and another to do this to a wife so ill and to

continue to run, while perpetrating a lie. He has lost all my respect. Elizabeth Edwards is the one who should have been the candidate, not John.

[DS1]

16. Fine. I want my fifty fucking dollars back

[Fumesucker]

17. Guy is very wealthy, very good looking..

And has an ego big enough to think he should be the POTUS..

I'd have been astounded if he *wasn't* having an affair, the news came as no shock whatsoever to me.

I like a lot of what Edwards had to say but I never particularly cared for the man himself.

[EFerrari]

22. An inventory of the affairs of American politicians would go into several

volumes. I guess I don't get the shock or anger or betrayal on all of these threads. It's like collective amnesia or something.

[Fumesucker]

40. And that's only the ones we know about..

I agree regarding collective amnesia..

[Nye Bevan]

18. John Edwards = lying, selfish, betraying narcissistic worm

who was willing to risk a McCain presidency if he had won the nomination. Sarah Palin could have been VP because Edwards could not keep his penis in his pants. *And* his wife had cancer. This guy is worse than Gingrich. :puke:

[earth mom]

21. Edwards made a mistake & people need to get the hell over it. He would have made a great President.

Better than Obama for sure.

I am really sick to death of people crucifying Edwards for a mistake that had nothing to do with anyone but his family. :argh:

[Shell Beau]

24. That mistake could have possibly cost him the presidency

if he were the candidate. So while for most it would be a family problem, this could have been much more.

[Dappleganger]

29. That's what angered me the most.

His selfishness could have cost us the presidency, which was NOT acceptable.

[Lugnut]

68. Yes.

What he did or does in his personal life is of no concern to me.

[cwydro]

25. Better than Obama???

He has been in office for just over 100 days and you're already writing him off?

Maybe find another website where you can spew that garbage.

Ask anyone from NC what kind of public servant John Edwards is.

[earth mom]

30. I'm not impressed with Obama and I'm entitled to my opinion about him just like you are. nt

[cwydro]

31. True dat.

But I think it is stretching to say that Edwards would be a better president when 1) he has already been caught out lying to his constituency and 2) Obama still has a long road to travel before we can judge him and his presidency.

I was an Edwards supporter. I was also a Hillary supporter, so I am not a blind Obama fan.

Just sayin'.

[Cha]

I don't care if you're "impressed" or

or not..there are tons of people who are very impressed and grateful that he's our Prez. And, that's what's important.

[earth mom]

65. And there are tons of people that are not impressed. Deal with it. nt

[Cha]

69. Yeah, the republicons don't

like him, either. But, you all are in the minority..this time the Majority wins.

[earth mom]

102. There are plenty on the true LEFT who are not impressed either. Don't fool yourself. nt

[cali]

143. actually, I love to disappoint you and

polls show that the vast majority of those who identify as liberals, support him and think he's doing a good job.

[grace0418]

73. Your opinion of Obama is perfectly valid. However, John Edwards would've never had the chance

to be a better president than Obama even if he'd won the nomination. McCain would've easily won the election once the news broke, and John Edwards was willing to risk that so he could cheat on his wife. That's the epitome of arrogance and poor judgment in my opinion. Do those qualities make a good president?

[Dappleganger]

27. It is particularly deplorable...

because of his wife's return of breast cancer. We had an image in our minds of the faithful husband standing by his wife during that difficult time, while running for office all at once. People put him up on a pedestal he obviously never earned nor deserved.

[earth mom]

33. I don't have him on a pedestal. Edwards is a politician just like Obama & the rest of them.

Edwards made a mistake and he hurt his wife and family badly-but who the hell are any of us to judge when he did nothing to any of us personally?

I save my contempt for those who exploit and hurt great amounts of people because of greed and ambition.

[Triana]

64. great amounts of people would have been hurt because of his greed and ambition...

...had he been the nominee (after his affair was found out) - because Dems would have lost.

That would have hurt a LOT of people in innumerable ways.

I supported Edwards before Obama. I switched to Obama only after Edwards dropped out in Jan 2008. Then, the affair came to light.

No way would I have liked for Edwards to be the nominee (and I liked him for the same reasons you do) after that.

We'd have been even MORE screwed and in a MUCH worse way because McSame would have won - and PALIN?

OMG. Talk about exploiting and hurting great amounts of people. I'm sorry but that's JUST what Edwards did by running and keeping this whole thing 'secret' and it would have been even worse had he been the nominee.

I don't LIKE that fact, but that's the way it is. I believe there IS a lot of good in the man. But he BLEW IT for himself and his family when he had that affair. And that does make one question his judgement and his priorities. I STILL think he can do a lot to help with poverty and that he SHOULD.

[earth mom]

106. People on both sides of the aisle loved Edwards. McCain & Palin would have lost against him.

I think many people voted AGAINST McCain & Palin in the elections instead of FOR Obama.

The "anybody but" vote.

Everyone knows that McCain & Palin were a nightmare waiting to happen.

[NYCGirl]

173. Then how come he couldn't win a primary? He campaigned in Iowa for nearly

four years and couldn't win it.

[cali]

115. that would be little johny hedgefund.

[JonLP24]

28. I don't care about the personal lives. But I did hate the way he blasted Clinton

for the same thing he did. Hypocrite. Not you, Edwards.

Better President, I'm sure. He co-sponsored a war. Never was a fan even before the affair.

[NorthernSpy]

32. "Better than Obama"?

That's bull, and you know it.


John Edwards seems to be all about himself. He knew he had this horrible liability, and yet he apparently decided that his desire for the big shiny prize was so important that he was willing to blow OUR one big chance to get the country on the right track. Screw him.

[earth mom]

35. And Obama is getting this country on the right track?

Yeah, Geithner and Wall Street and the bankers love him don't they? :eyes:

[NorthernSpy]

39. Yeah, he is.

In spite of your carping from the sidelines.

[earth mom]

44. You mean speaking the truth you don't want to hear. nt

[Cha]

53. Is that all the sniveling

ya got?

[earth mom]

107. Are you done whining yet that everyone doesn't agree with you?

:eyes:

[cali]

116. bwahahaha.

yeah, your opinion is the truth from on high.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[earth mom]

121. No that's your department with a zillion & one OPs proclaiming your opinion on every subject

known to man.

:eyes:

[cali]

124. bzzzt. I don't proclaim I know the truth like you do, dear.

and I rely on facts. the facts are that your adored johny hedge fund had a centrist record in the Senate and is a liar. deal with it, honey.

[earth mom]

133. Yeah and Obama was supposed to be on the left-yet all he's done is what the right wants him to do.

Truth hurts doesn't it?

[JonLP24]

134. That's a lie

Why is the right constantly complaining? Did the right want him to release the memos? Did the right want him to shake hands with Hugo? We can go all day with this but you're wrong in declaring Obama is only doing what the right wants him to do then go on to say 'truth hurts'.

[cali]

145. nah, it's a delusion, not a lie.

[cali]

144. that's so delusional

it's amusing, but then you often appear to confuse facts with delusion. the right couldn't be more unhappy with what he's done. duh.

[earth mom]

148. What's so delusional and fake is to pretend that Obama is anywhere on the left. nt.

[cali]

149. lol.

Obama is a left leaning centrist, and he's done far, far more for society and people than that sleazy creep Johny Hedge fund ever did. Unlike Johny corporate greed, he didn't go for making a quick buck. He went and worked as a coumunity organizer in a desperately poor community. He taught conlaw. Johny is and always has been, all about Johny. And his record is a fuck of a lot more in line with the right than Obama's. Deal with it,don't continue choking on it.

[Egnever]

165. ouch!

that one is gonna leave a mark

[earth mom]

176. Said by someone who can't stand Chavez-one of the biggest lefties of all time...

:eyes:

I don't think you know what being on the left really means.

It's certainly not about padding the pockets of Corporate America that's for damn sure.

Obama is a right leaning politician through and through and he's proved that by siding with Corporate America and by hiring that crook Geithner.

Yet, you rail on ad nauseum about Edwards who didn't have the chance to prove himself as president.

Edwards was the only one during the primaries to have the cojones to stand up to the status quo and call them out for their exploitation of the working class, middle class and poor.

Obama has NEVER, and will NEVER do that.

And you know it.

[cali]

194. wrong again, earthmommy.

I don't dislike Chavez. I don't terribly care one way or another about him. He's the president of Venezuela, not the U.S.


And sorry, records speak louder than election year rhetoric and hedge fund johnykins has a for shit record. Obama's is better.

And I'm a Bernie Sanders Vermont dem. Tough shit for you, earthmum, if that's not far enough to the left for the likes of you who worship a corporatist hedge funder.

[WI_DEM]

34. Obama is doing great. I don't see anything so stellar in Edwards career that would have made him

such a great president. To me he always seemed like an opportunist.

[Name removed]

36. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[karynnj]

43. Was it the good Edwards who voted for the bankruptcy bill?

His words and actions didn't match.

Why would anyone be jealous of Edwards at this point - especially someone who supports the President? Edwards at this point has no power, a badly damaged reputation, a great family shaken by his actions, possibly legal difficulties and a baby he doesn't claim, and likely no political future. In addition, he has lost the support of many who trusted and admired him.

His "political stock" has had a steeper decline than the stock market last year - and, unlike Edwards, it is starting to regain some of what it had.

[MadBadger]

51. I-W-R

nuff said.

[earth mom]

66. Obama authorized Drone Bombing in Pakistan. 'Nuff Said. nt

[cali]

117. and johny was one of the biggest dem cheerleaders for Iraq,

[earth mom]

119. Maybe back then, but I bet Edwards would have stopped the war by now. nt

[cali]

123. yeah, because johny hedge fund war cheerleader liar has such

a grand record. pathetic that anyone can be so eager to be deceived.

[earth mom]

131. Do you have a crystal ball? You don't have a clue whether Edwards would have been good or not.

FYI-I don't worship Edwards or any politician.

Say what you will, but Edwards warned us about the status quo aka as Corporate America which still, under Obama, has a stranglehold on this country.

And Obama is doing NOTHING about it.

Not with Geithner still working for him.

If anyone is eager to be deceived, it is those on this board who refuse to read the writing on the wall about Obama.

[JonLP24]

135. Appearently you have a crystal ball in declaring Edwards would've been a better President

[cali]

142. fI have his lousy record. duh.

He actually made money off of the most afflcted in NO. Yeah, the creep was sorry about that too.

He's disgusting. He's disgraced. He's irrelevant. Have fun with your adoration.

And Obama has made and will make mistakes, but as most historians will point out, he's achieved more than any prez since FDR. We'll have to see how well the decisions he's made work out. It's way too early to tell.

I'm glad that fucking phony, little johny hedge fund, is politically dead as a door nail.

[Egnever]

164. Edwards told you what you wanted to hear

he tried it three different ways. You bought hook line and sinker his third atempt... when he felt it in his gut!

Warned us... LOL yea that was real rocket science there wasnt it? You coulda come to DU 4 years or more earlier when he wasdoing his I love war and patriot act stint and gotten the clue in then if you were paying attention.

He is and was as fake as they come its pathetic that you bought into it so fully.

[ecstatic]

78. Is it the "good" shining through Edwards,

or the "white?" Things that make you go hmm... :eyes: So far, none of your posts have been supported by facts. Makes me wonder what your true problem is.

[Name removed]

103. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[TahitiNut]

87. Uh-huh. And Dubya saw into Putin's heart. Yet again you smear people who disagree with you.

For you, it's not just a matter of opinion. It's a disability -- a "blindness" -- of those who have a differing opinion.

Golly. Never let a chance to turn a difference of opinion into a personal attack.

Sheesh!

:puke:

As a fella who supported (and voted for) Kucinich first, Edwards second, and Obama third, I nonetheless find such personal attacks appalling on DU.

[earth mom]

104. WTF?! Where in the hell did I attack anyone here on this thread?!

I posted MY opinion and I got hell fire breathed down upon me and some serious smears and insinuations along with it.

And you say I smeared someone-you don't have a clue. :crazy:

[TahitiNut]

112. Look. See. Your post, to which I replied, was removed - assuredly for the personal attack.

I find it remarkable that you engage in such attacks and then claim innocence on top of victimhood. Wow! You then attack me ... saying "you don't have a clue" ... which is almost laughable for the projection you display in such a short exchange of posts. Wow!

:eyes:

[earth mom]

122. I did NOT attack you or anyone in this thread. So quit making shit up. nt

[TahitiNut]

128. That's a falsehood. Your post contained a personal attack of WI-DEM.

That's exactly why I replied as I did and, I'm pretty certain, why it was removed by the moderators.

When you call someone "blind" or "clueless" ... it's a personal attack. Period.
When you accuse someone of "making shit up" ... it's a personal attack.

Your denial of that fact is laughable.

:eyes:

[karynnj]

37. What in his entire career did he DO, not talk about, that was better than Obama

His entire platform demanded that you trust his words over his actions. He voted for the bankruptcy bill.

It looks to me that Obama is doing better than could have been expected. The most amazing statistic is one I initially thought was dumb. That was that 81% of the country like him as a person. But, this does indicate that a very large percent of the country has moved past the anger and divisiveness of the last 16 years. A laudable accomplishment on it's own.

In addition, some of the things predicted by people like Kerry in saying that electing Obama would change things in an instant are real. That doesn't end 2 wars and a huge numbers of crisises, but it does help in moving forward.

[earth mom]

41. I don't buy into polls and I don't watch the fake news on t.v.

I make up my own mind by connecting the dots.

There are many things I don't like about Obama's presidency so far and I'm not going to list them here except to say that Obama would gain a ton of my respect and support if he kicked Wall Street, the Bankers and Geithner to the curb and stopped allowing Corporate America so much control over the majority of the people of this country.

As for Edwards, I like him and feel like he cared much more for the working class and middle class than Obama or Clinton.

[JonLP24]

46. Voting for the bankruptcy bill is not caring for the working or middle class

You should've seen the lines of people filing for bankruptcy before the deadline of the change.

[karynnj]

47. which is why he and not Obama voted for the bankruptcy act when each had the chance?

Does it bother you that he might be indicted for using campaign money illegally? Does it bother you that he won't acknowledge the child who is very likely his?

Call news fake all you want, what was fake was Edwards' image.

[jbnow]

132. You mighht be right about Edwards or it might have been a

campaign ploy. His voting record didn't show that concern...and he was less than honest about his vote for the war.
Yes he apologized but also explained he thought the threat was real but he didn't trust bush...
But he voted against very single amendment that would have limited bush's power on that. Hillary voted for some of them, Kerry for most of them, John for none of them. None.

People can change and maybe he did
Maybe working for a hedge fund would give him more insight into this financial crisis too, though remember he said he didn't know they owned a company that was heavy into sub prime and predatory lending?

I don't know. Never saw anything but his words that showed he cared, nothing in his history.

[JonLP24]

48. Can't forget about the Iraq war resolution

Edwards said that ``almost no one disagrees with these basic facts: that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a menace, that he has weapons of mass destruction and that he is doing everything in his power to get nuclear weapons, that he has supported terrorists, that he is a grave threat to the region, to vital allies like Israel, and to the United States, and that he is thwarting the will of the international community and undermining the United Nations' credibility.''

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=apXyrHjc4RSs&refer=us

We know how that turned out. :eyes:

[earth mom]

63. Yeah, and I can't forget that Obama authorized drone bombing in Pakistan.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=3816510

[JonLP24]

75. I understand Obama has a lust to kill Bin Laden

He wasn't my first choice for President but the Iraq war was a litmus test for me back in 2004 and in 2008 my choices were based on his/her support for it and I did not forget. But Obama's overall record is better then Edward's who has appeared to be a hypocrite on more then one occassion.

[earth mom]

105. Bin Laden is long gone and Al Qaeda is bullshit. Innocent people are being killed

but it's all good for all of you when Obama does it. :puke:

[JonLP24]

110. Thanks for typing for me

You know I did not say that. Isn't it obvious? Obama says "We're going to find him and we're going to kill him." True quote. Popular belief says Bin Laden is in Pakistan, I think he is dead but it is a mystery. I don't want ANY civilians to get killed. Kucinich is my first choice who would NOT being do this. Kucinich is saying NO to this and so am I. Obama was the lesser of two evils in the election but overall he is pretty damn good. I'm sorry I did not lie to you because you twisted my words for telling you like it is. Why do you think I said Obama wasn't my first choice but overall he is better then Edwards after telling you I know(would've been a better word then understand which is where I made my mistake) Obama is doing this and has expressed desire to go into Pakistan. The mistake you made was twisting my words and making shit up.

[earth mom]

126. What I was addressing are the excuses everyone on this board makes when Obama does

something they would have been outraged about if * had done the same thing a year or two ago.

[Inuca]

94. Great point

I hope your interpretation is correct, and that we are starting moving away from all that rage and poison on BOTH sides. The 81% shows that we should not be blinded by the virulence in Congress or poisonous and raging right-wingers in the media. The republicans in Congress are confused and hopefully they will find their way, a way that looks more like an Olympia Snowe or even a McCain (when he is not running for anything) than a De Mint or Kyl. I am sure there are examples in the House as well, I just know way less about what's going on there. I heard a couple of times that Ryan (wisconsin I think) guy with his alternative budget, I disagreed with almost everything he was saying, but he sounded rational, informed and smart, somebody you can disagree with but still discuss things over with, and sometimes maybe even reach a compromise acceptable to both sides. And the Limgaughs and Hannitys out there are preaching to the shrinking choir who still pays their bills royally.

[karynnj]

150. If the 81% is not a statistical fluke

which I don't think it is because the other numbers in the poll look in the right range.

What I hope it means is that the angry talk radio is spinning its wheels as fewer people buy its bile. I think that the first sign of that was in 2006. In 2006, the Republicans targeted 3 new candidates for Congress, who were veterans with personalized swiftboat campaigns. Senator Kerry himself and a group aligned with Kerry which had a charter of protecting veterans from swiftboating. In spite of the fact that one might have been defeated as he was against a pretty moderate Republican - all three won. That I think was one of the untold things that happened in 2006 - the country turned against swiftboating.

That point was I think missed by the people like Penn, Carvelle and others. Wolfson, a Clinton strategist had in 2005 said that what they learned from 2004 was that swiftboating worked and concluded it should be done. That attitude backfired in 2008 - I really think that had HRC run a 100% high road campaign that responded graciously and humbly when asked about some minor mistakes they made, she would have been unbeatable.

[Cha]

49. Bullshit. You need to "get the hell over it".

Edwards was campaigning when he knew his secret could be revealed at any moment and he had an affair when his devoted wife was sick.

Elizabeth was wrong to help him perpetuate the Lie and she admits he shouldn't have run. I think she's in a position to know better than you.

President Obama is the best president we could have gotten and we're lucky to have him.

[earth mom]

50. Wow, 8 replies so far. Too bad if you don't like what I have to say. nt

[Cha]

54. Too bad you can't or won't address the

issue of saying "Edwards would make a better President than Obama".

Too bad all you have to say to stick up for your proclaimations is "too bad you don't like what I have to say":silly:

Are you so ignorant you didn't realize you'd get "8 replies" for making a comment like that?

[earth mom]

61. I already said why I like Edwards and why I think he would have been better than Obama.

I think Edwards cares more about the working class, middle class and poor.

Sure, Edwards voted on some shit bills. Just like Obama did. Just like Clinton did.

They are politicians-I never ever forget that. Although many people on this board seem to forget that in regards to Obama.

Edwards isn't perfect and Obama doesn't walk on water either.


So what part of "I like Edwards better than Obama" don't you get? :freak:

[Cha]

71. Edwards is a cheat and a

liar. Good taste you have.

[earth mom]

108. Obama broke many campaign promises. But lying is all good when Obama does it, right?

:puke:

At least Edwards didn't lie to me.

[karynnj]

92. He continued even after the NE had the true story

Although it was discounted by almost all of the MSM, Edwards knew it was true. At that point, the likelihood that it would be heavily investigated by the Republicans if he became the nominee was 100%. It was not for lack of trying that he never became a really serious candidate.

[grace0418]

67. Are you kidding me? Whether or not it's anyone's business outside the family is not the point.

Whether you like it or not, it IS an issue, and a HUGE political liability. Anyone who has even a fleeting memory of the Clinton administration should know this. John Edwards sure as HELL should know this, and should have known it would look even worse in his case because his wife is terminally ill. But he went ahead and made his "mistake" anyway. That either signifies stunningly poor judgment or the audacity to think he's so good at lying that he won't get caught. Or both. Neither quality is something I want in a president. Not that John would've gotten within a mile of the presidency once this news broke. We would've had McCain/Palin, and John Edwards was willing to take that chance with the future of our country all so he could have his "mistake."

And, fyi, I was initially leaning towards supporting Edwards because I thought Obama needed more experience.

[ecstatic]

77. Wake up. He betrayed his wife AND the voters/democrats

Your way of thinking is definitely a little off.

[earth mom]

111. No. I don't feel betrayed by Edwards.

I feel sorry for Elizabeth and the kids.

But affairs happen everyday across this country.

I think that the affair could have been a reaction by Edwards to extreme fear of Elizabeth dying and leaving him alone.

He'd already lost a son and probably was dreading going through the grieving process alone.

[Egnever]

166. wow your excuses for them are stunning

please continue its facsinating to watch.

[TwilightZone]

82. Well, that explains a lot.

[Inuca]

86. No, he would not have made a great president

the affair is but a symptom of deeper character flaws. There are quite a few other examples (inconsistency of positions, etc., etc., I am sure others have a better list, I never paid enough attention, I just did not think he was worthy it, nor that he had an actual chance). The comparisons with Clinton are obvious, but I do not think Edwards is as brilliant as CLinton is to have been able to be (relatively) effective in spite of these flaws.

[earth mom]

113. No politician is perfect. Not even Obama. People need to remember that. nt

[AspenRose]

183. I don't see anyone here claiming Obama to be perfect.

I don't see anyone here saying they think he walks on water, as you have inferred.

[TwilightZone]

93. Here's a mistake he made that had nothing to do with his family.

He crucified Bill Clinton for having an affair.

Kind of makes him look a little hypocritical, doesn't it?

[earth mom]

118. Who cares? I could have cared less at the time when Bill cheated on Hillary.

I remember at the time being pissed at Hillary for not leaving him for humiliating her so publicly.

And I remember being extremely annoyed that such a fuss was made about the whole thing. It was a joke.

I'm sure Edwards feels foolish now for criticizing Clinton for doing the same thing he did later on.

Would you feel better if Edwards called a press conference to apologize publically to Clinton so the whole world would know? :eyes:

[TwilightZone]

129. I presume that you mean that you couldn't have cared less.

Oh, please. You think that Clinton's affair should have been private, but you're also obviously quite OK with Edwards making it an issue.

It was hypocrisy, pure and simple. Sorry that your blinders don't allow you to see that. Funny how you accuse everyone else of being blind about Edwards, when it is obviously you who has the problem.

It's called "projection". You're loaded with it.

[earth mom]

136. I'm not OK with anyone's personal life being held up to public examination.

I think Hillary should have left but understand why she didn't.

I also think Elizabeth should leave if she already hasn't.


But that said, I still think Edwards would have been a good president, but we'll never know will we?

Where the hell is the hypocrisy in that?


And BTW, why in the hell is it fair to crucify Edwards for doing the same thing Clinton did? Clinton, who is defended all over this board about his affair, mind you.



As for projection, you make no sense. :wtf:

[demokatgurrl]

95. but he never would have gotten there!

Surely, surely, if the affair hadn't come out before the primary election- which is just unfathomable with the moles and worms we have in politics- it would have been out IMMEDIATELY after he won the nomination.
We'd be looking at McCain and Palin in the White house today and the country would be far worse for it.
That's what Edwards risked, let alone his personal life.

[earth mom]

109. Edwards had a HUGE amount of support on both sides of the aisle.

I already said it upthread but I think many people voted AGAINST McCain/Palin instead of FOR Obama.

[karynnj]

154. No he didn't

Even on our side, he never polled over 15%. The media overhyped him in 2003/2004 and in 2006/2007 - but he never won over that many people.

[cali]

204. he had very little support at all- except in your alternate universe

he didn't win a single primary. duh.

[cali]

114. I never gave a fuck about his affair except that had he won

the nom and had it been revealed subsequently, we likely would have had McCain and Palin. What I did care about was that JE was the biggest centrist lying fuckwad phony I could imagine. And I said so contemperaneously and took a lot of shit for it. Asshole who was one of the biggest cheerleaders for the Iraq war, who went to work for a sleazy ass hedge fund and lied about why he did, who built a grotesque honking huge energy sucking house, who voted for a terrible bankruptcy bill, who didn't give a shit about poverty. Disgusting corportate pig is what he is. Oh and don't forget his support of Yucca Mtn.

He's an asshole. A phony. And anyone who thinks that sell out ever would have made a decent president is a sucker.

[earth mom]

138. FYI:

FYI:

Edwards admitted he was wrong about the Iraq War:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/04/AR2007020400892.html

Edwards admitted he was wrong about the bankruptcy bill:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/bankruptcy/archives/2005/04/#168306

Edwards publicly apologized for his affair:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/08/1256915.aspx


What the hell more do you want, blood?!



And another FYI, Biden voted for the Bankruptcy bill.

But, I don't see you calling him a fuckwad.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jackson-williams/joe-biden-true-friend-of_b_120776.html



It's all good when someone on Obama's team does it ain't that so Joe? :eyes:

[cali]

141. yeah, years after, when it was deeply unpopular he admitted it.

how convenient, just like everything else he's done.

No, I don't want blood. I have what I wanted: a disgraced and irrelevant John Edwards, who means nothing in the political discourse.

[TorchTheWitch]

197. No blood, just getting it right the first time

and not having any need to apologize. A leader with a long list of things he has to admit he screwed up on and apologize for does not a leader make.

Face it, Jonny doesn't a didn't give a flying fart in the wind about the poor or he would have DONE something when he was in a position to do something and DONE something after he dropped out of the race. What's Jonny done for the poor since he finally figured out he wasn't going to be the President? Not one damn thing. All that crying for the poor was just empty rhetoric and he's PROVEN that by what he did when he had the opportunity and what he hasn't bothered to do now that he doesn't need that slick lying talk to further his own personal ambitions.

You've just been enamored by his empty lying words and utterly blind to his hypocritical actions.

[Egnever]

167. +1

[Common Sense Party]

157. Edwards was as phony as a 3-dollar bill.

I don't think he was sincere about a thing. He knew how to emotionally manipulate people and pretend he was on their side--he mastered it in years of high-income lawyering. He was a congenital liar, and we don't need ANOTHER one of those in the White House.

Your mileage may vary.

[SammyWinstonJack]

200. We are in agreement!

:thumbsup:

[Clarkansas]

207. Edwards never would have been President even if he were our nominee

Thankfully he wasn't, and thankfully Obama was. Regardless, there is still a lot Edwards can still do for America.

[we the tweeple]

216. When he was confronted with his weiner activities and denied it

he showed a huge lack of integrity.

(On second thought, cheating on his wife wasn't exactly a stellar character trait, either...:rofl: )

[cwydro]

23. A self involved conceited ass.

That is what he is.

And he fooled me too; I was a supporter for quite some time.

[mikelgb]

52. I'm sorry to those of you who were deceived but, Edwards?

I could see through him like a window.... a total fake.

I am disappointed so many were actually duped.

[Skittles]

57. I could see it too

not quite as obvious as bush but still high in the phoniness factor

[defendandprotect]

89. Interesting . . .

I just looked at him politically -- never thought about his private life --
naturally I knew about Elizabeth and actually thought she'd be the better
candidate!

But, no . . . I didn't sense that phoniness, about which you were both correct.

One of the things that swayed me to him was a friend who lived in his state
and had good things to say about him.

I think for everyone we talk about we really have to get into the records and
make sure we know what they've actually done.

Re cheating, however, it's common -- it will happen -- and I think America
has to have some rules about it and grow up.

Not rules that would so harm an ill wife, however - IMO.

[jillan]

56. She's right - it's Elizabeth that should have ran.

I just love that lady!

[JonLP24]

60. Hell, she might've even got my vote

I remember the documentary of following the Dem candidates during the 2004 primaries. She had incredible patience when dealing with the children who wouldn't sit still during Johnny's campaign speeches. Never raised her voice but she took them aside and talked to them.

[mikelgb]

80. I believed and still do....

that ALL of the democratic field's spouses would have made better presidents.

though I am not that familiar with the non-front runners except Elizabeth Kucinich who is not eligible.


Elizabeth Edwards would have made a better president than John for sure and I always thought more of Michelle than Barack, and Bill more than Hill

[krabigirl]

59. Meh. In other countries, it would have been no biggie for him to have had the affair.

They almost expect it.

[Shell Beau]

81. With a dying wife at home? Lovely.

[NorthernSpy]

169. Then those other countries suck.

:shrug:

[Djinn]

187. yes we all suck

because we care what a politician does to us not his/her spouse, I guess we should have all taken a leaf from the obsession America has with what other people do with their genitals and spent millions investigating whether or not someone got their dick sucked.

You're joking right?

[SammyWinstonJack]

201. Not all of us feel that way. I could not have care less about Edwards' personal affair. I liked

and supported him as a candidate and a very good one, at that. Too bad some are so obsessed and feel the need to politically assassinate good candidates over personal affair(s).

[Djinn]

203. I know

I should have added the proviso "many" and not used sweeping generalizations - bad habit

[bvar22]

70. I didn't care when Clinton got a Blowjob.

I don't care that Edwards had an affair.

I am glad that Edwards was in Campaign 2008.
He was the only major candidate who openly talked about the American Double Standard (Rich vs Poor) that divides our country.

Edwards also injected the idea of a Non Profit Public HealthCare Option into the HealthCare debate. Edwards forced Hillary and Obama to at least talk about this. While I support Kucinich's MediCare for All, I believe that the Edwards option may be possible if Obama will pick up the ball and run with it.

While I was (and am still) a supporter of Kucinich, I easily moved to supporting Edwards as the next least conservative candidate. I was disappointed when the news broke, but not shattered or outraged. I guess that is because I vote Issues and not Personalities. My disappointment was because NOW I would have to choose between the two most conservative candidates left in the race. At that point, I fully realized that Campaign 2008 was a huge defeat for the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.

I still like Edwards, and still support him. I wish he would make more public appearances and talk about the Two Americas, the Poor, and the basic injustices of our Corporate run system. THAT is The Message that needs to be discussed openly in America today. I will support ANYONE who is willing to speak THAT message.

"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans. I want us to compete for that great mass of voters that want a party that will stand up for working Americans, family farmers, and people who haven't felt the benefits of the economic upturn."---Paul Wellstone

[JonLP24]

72. The thing about Edwards is, he cared about Clinton's blowjob

“I think this president has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter,” Edwards said in 1999. “It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen.”

[Uzybone]

79. Edwards = Hypocrite/Liar/Phony

anyone who still believes Edwards the president would have stood up for anything he said on the campaign trail is in full denial.

[earth mom]

140. Your post sums how I feel about it all perfectly. Thanks for a great post!

:thumbsup:

[Egnever]

168. Why do you think it is he isnt making those apearances?

I'll tell you why. Cause he couldnt give a damn about those issues he as fillling your head with happy talk telling you what you wanted to hear is why. Why did herun on a completely different -platform in 2004 if that was his burning issue.


It amazes me how many people will just suck up what a politiian says when its what they want to hear with no regard whatsoever to what they have done in the past that is the total oposite if the line they are spoinning now.

If he really gave a rats ass about any of that he would be out there fighting for it. He could walk onto the news any time he wanted to but he doesnt does he?

[bvar22]

174. You obviously missed the point, so

I will repeat it.

"I am glad that Edwards was in Campaign 2008.
He was the only major candidate who openly talked about the American Double Standard (Rich vs Poor) that divides our country.

Edwards also injected the idea of a Non Profit Public HealthCare Option into the HealthCare debate. Edwards forced Hillary and Obama to at least talk about this. While I support Kucinich's MediCare for All, I believe that the Edwards option may be possible if Obama will pick up the ball and run with it.---bvar22, Post#70

Now, if you care to dispute these observations, please do so.
I really don't care about your personal problems.

[cali]

170. Mr. Hedge Fund epitomized deceit- and not because of his cheating

He was a corporatist center right Senator. It was clear as day that he didn't give a fuck about poverty and that it was a shtick adopted for political expediency. He's disgraced and irrelevant. Thank goodness. I cannot think of a dem politician I've ever thought less of. There's a reason why the real liberals in the Senate wanted nothing to do with the disgusting charlatan.

[bvar22]

175. You missed the point.

I will repeat it.

"I am glad that Edwards was in Campaign 2008.
He was the only major candidate who openly talked about the American Double Standard (Rich vs Poor) that divides our country.

Edwards also injected the idea of a Non Profit Public HealthCare Option into the HealthCare debate. Edwards forced Hillary and Obama to at least talk about this. While I support Kucinich's MediCare for All, I believe that the Edwards option may be possible if Obama will pick up the ball and run with it.---bvar22, Post#70

Now, if you care to dispute these observations, please do so.
I really don't care about your well documented personal problems with John Edwards.

[karynnj]

180. Every Democratic candidate has made comments about the problem

with the increasing income gap. Edwards was nowhere near the first - not even the first I heard - which was likely people citing the Kerner report in the 1960s.


As to healthcare, their was a public option in Kerry's and I think Gephardt's 2004 plans, both far better than Edwards' 2004 plan. The fact is that the BIG difference was that ALL the 2008 candidates went for universal health care plans - because Kerry was able to sell the idea as workable in 2004. (Though JRE disagreed in the primaries.)

Backup on 2004:

Edwards' Healthcare Shift
Edwards wasn't always a fan of having the government provide universal health coverage. In 2003 and 2004, during his first campaign for president, he backed a far more modest proposal that was estimated to cover about half of those who lacked health insurance -- and criticized rivals who had universal plans for what he portrayed as fiscal irresponsibility.

"What we ought to be doing is something that number one is achievable and number two is responsible," Edwards said in July 2003, in reference to then-rep. Richard Gephardt's, D-Mo., universal healthcare plan, according to The Washington Post.

Late in the Democratic primary fight, when Edwards was trying to topple Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., he contrasted his plan with Kerry's by pointing out that it was less expensive. He said at the time that his $53 billion healthcare plan would cover about 21 million people, including all children under age 21; Kerry's plan was pitched as costing $72 billion, to cover 27 million people.

"We will be able to attract the support we need to get my plan actually done, so we don't spend 15 or 20 years debating the issue," Edwards said in February 2004.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/09/edwards-healthc.html

The fact is that all the plans were close enough, that the actual legislation was likely to be nearly the same. The President doesn't completely design the plan - Congress plays a role.

[bvar22]

182. You are confusing....

...Mandatory For Profit Health Insurance with Public Non-Profit Health Insurance.

Big, BIG difference.

[karynnj]

184. No I'm not,

Kerry's plan included one option of buying into medicare early. I fully understand the difference and No, Edwards was not the first to propose it, nor were any recent candidates. I think Bradley had it. I also know that Truman wanted a universal health care plan, but in that case I don't know.

My point is STILL that it will likely be determined by Congress and what can get passed.

[bvar22]

186. You still missed the point.

I will quote from my original post #70 in this thread:

"I am glad that Edwards was in Campaign 2008.
He was the only major candidate who openly talked about the American Double Standard (Rich vs Poor) that divides our country.

Edwards also injected the idea of a Non Profit Public HealthCare Option into the HealthCare debate. Edwards forced Hillary and Obama to at least talk about this. While I support Kucinich's MediCare for All, I believe that the Edwards option may be possible if Obama will pick up the ball and run with it."

Was John Kerry a presidential candidate in 2008?
Was Bradley?
Was Truman?

Neither Hillary nor Obama supported the Public Non-Profit Option.
Do you think they would have brought it up for discussion.


It WAS John Edwards who injected the Public Non-Profit Option INTO Campaign 2008.

My post is factual, and can be easily checked.
Do you still wish to argue with these documented facts?

[karynnj]

213. My point still is that the plan would be developed by the Congress

- any other process - see Clinton 1992 - is completely unlikely to succeed. I agree that Edwards went further than the others in 2008, but that was a GIGANTIC shift from where he was in the 2004 primaries. But, it was NOT an idea that was not already in play - Kennedy and others were for it. I also realize that what I am reacting to was what I saw as an underlying honesty issue - and it involved Elizabeth as much as John Edwards. In 2008, he had a think tank give him liberal progressive positions that he had never taken before. This would have been ok if they said that. In fact, they could have used their shift by explaining why they changed - possibly moving others who still agreed with the 2004 Edwards' positions.

For example, I didn't like Elizabeth Edwards rewriting history that even before she had cancer she and John pushed for universal health care - which she wrote on Daily Kos last fall. That is not true unless you count the fact that they were supposed to sell Kerry's plan in the general election --- but, in her passive aggressive comments in Saving Grace, she wrote of not having known the plan as a criticism of the Kerry team. (My reaction is that it says more about her than the Kerry campaign - it was on the web site and many of us here easily found it -certainly an intelligent woman like her could do so or ask her staff to - and she could have asked for a briefing by the experts who worked with Kerry on it, which we couldn't do.)

On many issues, they consistently were rewriting what their positions were rather than explaining the process that caused the change. (For health care, that would be easy, including meeting people on the campaign trail, her own situation, or even the fact that they saw Kerry was right in 2004 are a few of the possibilities.) The fact that it was not JUST this issue they did that on made it unclear that they EVER really believed in any of their 2004 positions and if that is the case, why should we think they believed in their 2008 ones. To me, it seems that Edwards politically decided that the only opening for him in 2008 had to be on the left, because Clinton controlled the center and even parts of center right where he was in 2004. So, you have a man screaming about corporations who earned 500,000 for almost NO work - a "few days a month" was what he claimed - by a hedge fund and who had voted for the 2001 bankruptcy bill. You had a man whose first campaign was mostly funded by lawyers screaming about "lobbyists".

The fact is with Edwards, we had no real idea what he would become if he was elected - he was a charismatic chameleon.

[bvar22]

219. Since you have failed to offer any contradiction....

...or coherent rebuttal specific to my post, any rational person must conclude that you agree 100% with my post.

"I am glad that Edwards was in Campaign 2008.
He was the only major candidate who openly talked about the American Double Standard (Rich vs Poor) that divides our country.

Edwards also injected the idea of a Non Profit Public HealthCare Option into the HealthCare debate. Edwards forced Hillary and Obama to at least talk about this. While I support Kucinich's MediCare for All, I believe that the Edwards option may be possible if Obama will pick up the ball and run with it."

Thanks for your support,
and thanks for supporting the inclusion of a viable, well funded NON-Profit Public Option to any Health Care Reform Package.

[cali]

191. His gross hypocrisy render his rhetoric meaningless

it's that simple.

[twitter quitter]

209. I don't care that Clinton got blown, either, but for the love of Jah

don't lie about it! That's when I start to get disgusted. It's like--you wanna fool around? Then have the balls to admit that you did it! Same with Edwards.

[jmondine]

76. Sorry to hear this, it is sad, but ultimately his sex life is none of our business

[Garbo 2004]

85. Except according to Edwards, before his affair became public, it was the voters' business.

He publicly stated in interviews that a candidate's personal conduct and morality was a reflection of character and trustworthiness. And it was fair for the voters to consider that. He was the most moralizing, "family values" candidate of the Dems, directly linking private personal conduct as a measure of public trustworthiness.

[defendandprotect]

90. Agree, basically - however, politicians have long understood the havoc

caused by a guy with a zipper problem -- in back rooms they knew this and avoided
that type, supposedly. Not entirely believable because some were just better able
to keep it covered up -- LBJ, for instance, had mistresses life long!

Look at Nixon and Rebozo -- !!!

Hoover -- J. Edgar "Mary" Hoover --- !!!

Strom Thurmond having had a "black" child when he was still living at home!

Rumors flew but still he managed to keep it covered up.

Some very powerful men have been able to keep this stuff hidden.

But I'm sure it's quite common and they all help one another keep it quiet.

I think really we have to be more realistic about marriage -- children -- money.

And much of that hangs on acknowledging that marriage often involves unrealistic

expectations.

HOWEVER, I think most of us know on the one hand that has to be the desire to

escape from illness at home -- but never a time when more loyalty is expected and

warranted!!!

[DemBones DemBones]

179. Nixon had a zipper problem with Rebozo???

[MiniMe]

210. I agree, and you see where that got Clinton

If he had been elected, it would have been a lot like Clinton's term, with the press and the RW spin machines going at him from all angles. One good thing about Obama is that they have tried to go after him on whatever they can find, but so far, none of it has really taken hold.

[mzmolly]

100. Of course she's right, but I'm certain she was in a state of shock at the time.

Not to mention she was dealing with more than enough, sans the affair. My heart continues to go out to her and her children.

[Booster]

153. I adore Elisabeth and always will. John was an idiot. EOM

[conflictgirl]

155. What bothered me about his affair was different than Clinton

I genuinely didn't care about Clinton's affair because I knew about his history of womanizing very early on in the election, so it was no surprise at all when the Lewinsky scandal went big. I figured that if he was that well known as a womanizer then Hillary presumably knew about it too and wasn't being deceived, and therefore I didn't feel sorry for her.

The difference with Edwards was that he seemed to be genuinely in love with his wife. The Edwardses never came across to me as the smarmy churchy sorts who held up their marriage as perfect or as something everyone should aspire to, but they did seem honestly happy together and in love with each other after so many years. *I* never in a million years would've believed that he was cheating on her. I almost felt betrayed, myself, just because I thought that they had a rare example of a lasting, honest love for one another that stayed true through so many tragedies. I felt very disillusioned when I realized that was a lie all along.

[Common Sense Party]

158. Is she still with him? n/t

[bridgit]

188. She's right period

[cornermouse]

196. Yet another "hate Edwards" thread on DU.

What a surprise...

[SammyWinstonJack]

202. Shocking, isn't it?

:-(

[cornermouse]

205. It used to be.

Sad to say it isn't any more.

[cornermouse]

206. And even sadder that it wasn't locked on sight.

[cali]

214. why should it be locked?

because YOU don't like Edwards being criticized? It's a legitimate topic of discussion and Elizabeth is the one that made it so. She's the one discuassing it publically.

[cornermouse]

215. George Santayana

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
— Life of Reason, Reason in Common Sense, Scribner's, 1905, p. 284

“Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.”
—Life of Reason, Reason in Common Sense, Scribner's, 1905, p. 13"

"“The mediocrity of everything in the great world of today is simply appalling. We live in intellectual slums.”
—To Victor Wolfgang von Hagen, 6 November 1934, The Letters of George Santayana, Book Five, 1933-1936, MIT Press, 2003"

'Nuff said.

[cali]

218. I'm quite familiar with Santayana

familiar enought to know you're misusing those quotes. but continue deceiving yourself about the sleazy phony.

[cornermouse]

220. Poor cali...

'Nuff said.