[TPM link] John and Elizabeth Edwards have finally made their endorsement plans -- or lack of them -- official.
On the eve of potentially decisive voting in Indiana and North Carolina, with political tensions at white-hot levels, John and Elizabeth revealed all in an interview with People magazine, of all outlets.
The news in the interview is that they confirmed they will not endorse either candidate in the presidential race, because they are "saving their political capital for their own causes -- his, fighting poverty; hers, fighting for universal health care," reports, um, People mag.
Thanks guys! There is no moment I can imagine when your "political capital" will be worth a fraction of what it is worth at this moment. Good luck with that. Keep that powder dry.
Seriously. I never had the Edwards love that many on the Left had. Not this time, and not in 2004. I always had the impression he was a bit of a charlatan. He reinvented himself as a populist this last time around, and certainly had moments when he was making a valuable contribution to the race, but once his window closed he took his ball and went home.
Now faced with a decision that requires risk and has unclear implications, Edwards punts. Maybe he didn't get what he wanted from either candidate? Maybe he's afraid to pick the wrong horse? Maybe he wants to endorse Clinton but is afraid of the Obama blowback?
I don't know, but this does NOT impress me a bit. There are thousands of his supporters looking for a little leadership here and he offers none. This isn't MArch when one could say with a straight face that the choices were pretty close. After the last two months, if John Edwards is unable to discern a difference between Obama and Clinton, then he is a fucking moron. One of these candidates embodies everything he was running against, and the other—while not perfectly aligned—is fighting for the same things he supposedly was. Has he not been paying attention to Hillary's non-stop pander-fest in his home state over the last week? Literally saying anything to peel off votes?
I was disappointed in Edwards the day he rolled over for Dick Cheney in the 2004 VP debate, this is far worse.
UPDATE: The TPM link above seems to be hinky, here is the PEOPLE teaser interview.
5 comments:
once his window closed he took his ball and went home.
That's kind of a bizarre way to put it. Would you rather he had stayed in after it was apparent he wasn't winning? Isn't that exactly what we've been criticizing Hillary for? (Well, among many other things.)
Now faced with a decision that requires risk and has unclear implications, Edwards punts.
Why exactly should Edwards be required to settle this? How is it on him?
Hey, man, I wish Edwards would endorse Obama too, but he's certainly entitled to choose not to. I don't hold it against him.
Would you rather he had stayed in after it was apparent he wasn't winning?
No, I mean he disappeared off the face of the earth.
It's not on Edwards to settle this, but the crap he and Elizabeth spout in that article is pretty fucking disappointing. He even trots out the "empty rhetoric" crap on Obama claiming he needs to see more substance.
If you're not going to endorse, fine, then shut the fuck up. Don't do an interview with People fucking magazine and spout out the primary equivalent of "why choose, the're both the same."
No they are NOT the same, and that should be perfectly clear to everyone. You don't want to sack up and play a part? Fine. But don't validate to the false "balance" of race, the he said/she said coverage and pretend there is anything equivalent about them.
Clinton's down in your back yard lying and pandering her ass off, and all you have to offer for leadership is your fucking smile.
I think it's gutless.
Shorter Mr Furious:
Don't piss me off Edwards.
Ya, lame. I presume he will vote. He must have an opinion. Clearly he can see their differences, and as you've said--which of the two would more likely create/support the kinds of changes he'd like to see...
Wow. I hadn't seen any coverage of this -- perhaps I should read the serious news magazines like People and stop dicking around with Vogue and Dwell, eh?
I like Edwards, and I was disappointed to see him not advance, but I agree that it was particularly disheartening to see him disappear. I assumed it was because of his wife's health. Now I'm not sure what to think, except this was a weasel's exit from a decision that I think would have earned him capital, no matter which way he went. Johnny, Johnny, Johnny... tsk, tsk.
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