Who did John Edwards really cheat on?
A few thoughts on John Edwards’ admission of a much-rumored extramarital affair today… First of all, anybody think it’s a coincidence that Barack Obama just happened to leave the continental U.S. for a week’s vacation the day Edwards went public? Yeah, me neither.
Second, many people have pointed out the obvious foolishness of Edwards trying to win the Democratic nomination for the White House, given the inevitability that this affair would be revealed eventually. But then again, that might explain the oddly combative-for-its-own sake tone of his campaign, as Edwards constantly spoke of the need to “fight” entrenched interests, with far less emphasis whether he actually had a plan to defeat them — almost as if he was giving a pep talk to the voters (and the other candidates), rather than actually planning to govern the country.
And speaking of those other candidates, Barack Obama should be extremely grateful that Edwards did run, since it was the latter’s hard-hitting negative ad last November that stalled Hillary Clinton’s momentum and opened up room for Obama to gain in the polls, after months of having little to show for his overflow crowds and heavy campaign spending.
That Edwards might have intentionally sacrificed himself, either to put his choice of issues on the table or simply to prevent Clinton from winning the nomination (while saving Obama the damage of “going negative” himself), is a convoluted, almost tinfoil-worthy possibility… but one that’s hard to dismiss out of hand.
Even if this baroque notion is true, however, Edwards’ choice to run for President with a sure-to-be-revealed scandal lurking in his closet means that he essentially took thousands of hours of his supporters’ time under false pretenses — along with millions of their dollars. Including some of mine.
(Cross-posted at Firedoglake.)
August 10th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Hell, he was my candidate too, and his politics were more important to me than his sleeping arrangements. Sure it bothers me that he was unfaithful to his wife, but it bothers me the same way that it would have bothered me if he had a problem with his weight, or liked to crossdress, or some other silly thing that had minimal effect on his governing ability.
What other job has this requirement? If lawyers or bankers (other professionals with whom trust is important) were fired if they cheated on their wives I’m betting there would be very few left.
Please don’t act like it is rational to fire someone for personal issues that they don’t bring to the work place.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:49 am
First of all, anybody think it’s a coincidence that Barack Obama just happened to leave the continental U.S. for a week’s vacation the day Edwards went public? Yeah, me neither.
I actually think it is a coincidence. All kinds of things are happening now because it’s assumed that the public is just paying attention to the Olympics (including Russia’s war with Georgia).
August 11th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
At first I was feeling a bit foolish for having supported Sen. Edwards.
Then I heard Edwards’ explanation as to why he had the affair: In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic.
Now I’m thinking maybe people like me should not vote at all.
August 13th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
You sure have a fondness for candidates with a weakness for ‘the ladies.’
August 13th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Yes, just like you have a fondness for kicking people when they’re down.