john edwards

[Phil Ayesho]

I think any man that powerful, that ambitious, and that handsome and that capable who Has NEVER cheated... is probably the worst possible choice for sensate or president.


Edwards... Craig... and all the other recent inductees into the meandering Dick club of Washington DC simply prove that the congress is people with people... just like the rest of us...just as flawed... and, hopefully, just as generally decent.

 

[justine]

What surprises me is that all these outed affairs only include women. Truly wonder how many of the gents have enjoyed male bonding. Sure wish the mistress would spell the beans about his equipment.

 

[Industrialsize]

The word is that Hillary Clinton is royally pissed. John Edwards was already embroiled in this "affair" when he began his bid for the Democratic nomination. Senator Clinton feels that Edwards should NOT have entered the race. She feels that if John Edwards was NOT in the race, she would have won Iowa and the nomination.......I'm not sure her thinking is correct.

 

[deleted15807]

The word is that Hillary Clinton is royally pissed. John Edwards was already embroiled in this "affair" when he began his bid for the Democratic nomination. Senator Clinton feels that Edwards should NOT have entered the race. She feels that if John Edwards was NOT in the race, she would have won Iowa and the nomination.......I'm not sure her thinking is correct.

Sour grapes. She thought she had the perfect little plan to win the nomination for years. And in the final hours the perfect little plan fell apart.

 

[D_Thoraxis_Biggulp]

Not that she ever showed much sign of having a plan to begin with. Y'know, aside from assuming her public clout would be enough as long as she played her opponent instead of the issues. But that's oldass news anyway.
What-ifs don't matter. It's all about the what-dids.

 

[swordfishME]

The media knew about this for months but there was no strong proof.

Imagine the chaos this would have casued if he was being seriously considered for the VP slot or he was the candidate of the Democratic Party!

He can kiss his Attorney-General hopes GOODBYE

 

[mindseye]

Sour grapes. She thought she had the perfect little plan to win the nomination for years. And in the final hours the perfect little plan fell apart.

Nah, it's a fair point. This was an exceptionally close race -- especially in the early stages before "Super Tuesday". Edwards managed to hold Clinton to a third-place finish in Iowa, but how many Iowans would have voted for him if he hadn't lied?

We have examples where news like this broke before primary voting began: Gary Hart in 1988, for example, lost 50% of his support in pre-primary polling (source) after he was photographed with Donna Rice on the Monkey Business.

Let's generously assume that voters in 2008 are more forgiving than they are now, and that Edwards's loss in support would be only half of that, and that Clinton would pick up the majority of that support (I claim this is a reasonable supposition). Clinton could have picked up an extra four or five delegates in Iowa (it's hard to say exactly, since Iowa doesn't release caucus totals), a net gain of two in New Hampshire, and five or six in South Carolina.

That wouldn't have been enough to seal the nomination for her, but it would certainly have altered the media narrative around that time and shifted the momentum going into Super Tuesday.

Not that we can go back and change the past, but it's reasonable to infer that Edwards's concealment of the truth may have been a factor in her loss.

 

[deleted3782]

Plus the Olympics are a bigger and more interesting deal.

If I had to break a story about having an affair, I would want it done on the opening day of the Olympics too. Great timing on his part for the reveal.

My mom knows Elizabeth Edwards through a business relationship they have. She is a good woman. Headstrong, and that is ok. I think the affair happened a few months before the cancer diagnosis...but this was just one more thing that she had to deal with.

Part of me admires other cultures where affairs are not a negative mark on one's soul as it is in the USA. However, I am an American and I have to fight myself in judging him as having poor character (though I'm certainly not in a position to judge him at all).

From a North Carolina perspective he seems to have set aside much interest in running for public office. He made gobs of money as a lawyer, played with a lot of it in his campaign, and now seems positioned to sit back and take a lower profile role in the world. This seems to just be the nail in the coffin of political aspirations.

 

[Ethyl]

He confessed to his family long before it hit the news. His deceit may disappoint us but at least he took full ownership of his mistake. Most people in the public eye don't confess to anything until they're caught in the act or damning evidence surfaces in the media.

 

[mattbuddy]

I have a lot of respect for John Edwards, but this affair was no good. I guess I just think of his wife with what she is going through and to also find out about her husband cheating on her during her cancer treatment. That would be a terrible feeling. :frown1:

 

[prince_will]

If I had to break a story about having an affair, I would want it done on the opening day of the Olympics too. Great timing on his part for the reveal.

It came off as a bit skeezy that he would reveal the story like that. Brilliant, yes, but skeezy. I will never respect people who cheat, so i'm very disappointed about the whole thing. Humans do make mistakes, but the fact that he was cheating on his wife who was ill with cancer when he was always in the public eye just seems totally irresponible.

Plus, he says the baby is not his because of the "timing", but he won't take a paternity test? geez. Plus, i'm sure this whole thing is heavily embarrising on his kids.

But at the same time, i'm also irritated at the Republicans for digging up the dirt. When this was just a rumor, this was plastered all over Fox News. I even remember Bill O'Reilly (mega-douche) taking about it for a little while and wondering why the story hasn't been brought to the further attention of the public. ugh....but sadly, that's what is called political tactics these days..

 

[camper joe]

I just wonder why Ms. Hunter is refusing to participate in the DNA testing now or in the future, according to this article. Something smells a little rotten in the Tar Heel State, to this guy anyway.

 

[Ethyl]

It came off as a bit skeezy that he would reveal the story like that.

He didn't reveal anything. They tried to keep this a private matter within the family but allegations were made after he was seen leaving the hotel where his ex-mistress stayed last month and he was forced to address them.

Plus, he says the baby is not his because of the "timing", but he won't take a paternity test? geez. Plus, i'm sure this whole thing is heavily embarrising on his kids.

He's stated that he's willing to take a paternity test. His family has already dealt with this matter privately and they said they would stand by him

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=5441195&page=2

 

[visualalert]

He confessed to his family long before it hit the news. His deceit may disappoint us but at least he took full ownership of his mistake. Most people in the public eye don't confess to anything until they're caught in the act or damning evidence surfaces in the media.

I've scanned these posts and gotta say, this is the most staggeringly naive example of "in denial" of the batch, and there is plenty of competition.

The "it's really nothing" comments from folks who scream with glee when similar peccadillos are revealed about a Repub. are no contest. The "it's OK because <fill in the blank on the other side> did a nasty too" comments are no contest.

"Took full ownership"??? I literally laughed out loud. "Most people in the public eye don't confess until..."??? That's hiliarious too, but scary in that there's a possibility that you haven't yet realized he confessed ONLY WELL AFTER DAMNING EVIDENCE SURFACED IN THE MEDIA.

Anyway, congrats on not getting it yet, and probably never. Edwards' deceit may disappoint the faithful, but to many of us it comes as something of an unsurprising yawn. This guy has never been anything but a very slick, but very empty suit.

 

[Dave NoCal]

I scream with glee when republicans get busted for sexual behavior, usually gay, that they vehemently denounce. What adults do together by mutual consent (within reason) should be a private matter. It's the exposure of the blatant hypocricy that is so delightful. Craig, Foley, Haggard...

And as long as people are beating up on Edwards about this, what about the fact that McCaine was still married to the first Mrs. McCaine, who was being treated for cancer, while dating the second Mrs. McCaine. And that's not even going into the suspect relationship that McCaine had with whoever she was while married to the second Mrs. McCaine

Dave

 

[D_Percival Puddleford Pukehorn]

go dave!

 

[Ethyl]

I've scanned these posts and gotta say, this is the most staggeringly naive example of "in denial" of the batch, and there is plenty of competition.

Why? Because I stated what's obvious to everyone but you?

The "it's really nothing" comments from folks who scream with glee when similar peccadillos are revealed about a Repub. are no contest. The "it's OK because <fill in the blank on the other side> did a nasty too" comments are no contest.

I'd say the same if he were Republican. You talk as though you know what my political affiliation is. You don't.

"Took full ownership"??? I literally laughed out loud. "Most people in the public eye don't confess until..."??? That's hiliarious too, but scary in that there's a possibility that you haven't yet realized he confessed ONLY WELL AFTER DAMNING EVIDENCE SURFACED IN THE MEDIA.

He did not confess to the media until after the news broke. He DID confess to his family two years ago. Do you really think the former is more important than the latter? Get a fucking grip.

Anyway, congrats on not getting it yet, and probably never. Edwards' deceit may disappoint the faithful, but to many of us it comes as something of an unsurprising yawn. This guy has never been anything but a very slick, but very empty suit.

My post wasn't about his politics but how he dealt with his personal issues. I never claimed that what he did was admirable but I was glad to hear he confessed to his family before the media found out. If you don't know that already, it's old news btw. Keep up with current events if you want to start an argument.

 

[vince]

I scream with glee when republicans get busted for sexual behavior, usually gay, that they vehemently denounce. What adults do together by mutual consent (within reason) should be a private matter. It's the exposure of the blatant hypocricy that is so delightful. Craig, Foley, Haggard...

And as long as people are beating up on Edwards about this, what about the fact that McCaine was still married to the first Mrs. McCaine, who was being treated for cancer, while dating the second Mrs. McCaine. And that's not even going into the suspect relationship that McCaine had with whoever she was while married to the second Mrs. McCaine

Dave

She didn't have cancer.

The first Mrs Mccain, Carol, was a model who married John in the 1960's. She was seriously injured in a car accident in 1969 while he was a prisoner. When a returned from Vietnam, he found she was 4 inches shorter and on crutches, and she had gained a good deal of weight.

He spent the rest of the 1970's playing around on her and eventually divorced her in 1980and married Cindy two months later. He moved to Arizona with his young, million-hairess wife, where her father helped catapult McCain into politics.

If John Edwards political career is finished, then McCain's should never have started.

 

[invisibleman]

I wonder why people expect their politicians to be sexually faithful. Why not get a eunuch to be President? Why not have the Pope be President or Vice-President-- if people are so dang concerned over which President or Vice-President is fucking?

 

[swordfishME]

I wonder why people expect their politicians to be sexually faithful. Why not get a eunuch to be President? Why not have the Pope be President or Vice-President-- if people are so dang concerned over which President or Vice-President is fucking?

You seem to have missed the point. It is not that Edwards was cheating on his dying wife but that he choose to LIE about it and deny it when asked point blank if he was having an affair. Infidelity may be an unadmirable trait in our politicans but dishonesty is an UNACCEPTABLE one.