Monday, August 11, 2008

Edwards

A quick thought on the whole John Edwards Affair, since I was calling out The Unofficial John Edwards Fan Club for their radio silence on the topic...

I read Lee Stranahan's HuffPo piece a few weeks back, and I wasn't surprised a bit. This shit just goes with the territory of the super-ambitious and powerful. Be they athletes or politicians—a feeling of invincibility coupled with plenty of time away from home is a recipe for disaster.

But as far as John Edwards, specifically, this doesn't surprise me either. It's not news to regular readers around here that I wasn't buying everything John Edwards was selling. There has always been a lot to like about the guy as a candidate, but for me, there always remained something I didn't like, and couldn't quite put my finger on.

But this whole thing fits right in with that uneasiness. I just never felt like he was completely trustworthy—and I am already grading on a politician's curve.

Ultimately, he's not running for or sitting in a public office anymore, and it's between him and his family, but the sheer balls it took for BOTH John and Elizabeth Edwards to pursue another run at the White House with this shit ready to explode and destroy the Democratic comeback should he have been the nominee is staggering.

Like with Bill Clinton, my attitude is, "can you keep it in your fucking pants for four years, please?"

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I don't see how this does anything to hurt Obama by the way. His family life seems air-fucking-tight. And this is a discussion McCain and the GOP want nothing to do with. Even the press seems uneasy with this lest they be forced to confront their overwhelming hands-off approach to McCain's marital history. It pretty much seals the deal that Edwards won't be V.P. however.

UPDATE: This story isn't exactly helping Edwards' stock with me.
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5 comments:

Noah said...

The saving grace here, if there is one or even needs to be one, is that indeed, McSame's marital history is not a ton better. This does, however, put Edwards in the same category as Gingrich, who also found a way to fuck around on his wife who had cancer.

But as you say, this won't hurt Obama because it's unconnected to him. In fact, I kinda can't figure out why the Hell the story broke, other than the Sewing Circle/MSM conjecture that he could be a VP candidate.

This kidna stuff kills me. The amount of infidelity and general adulterous behavior even in State politics here is astounding.

8/11/2008 1:09 PM
Missives From Suburbia said...

I think you and Smitty are both dead-on that this is pretty common among politicians. Their egos are huge and their sense of immortality goes beyond that of the average 15-year-old's.

I guess I land firmly on the "it's a family issue" side of things when this kind of stuff surfaces, unless someone lies to the public about it. That's what rankles me. I was actually amused that Edwards brought up McCain during that interview, because despite McCain's having done the same thing, it was already public -- he wasn't lying about it while running for president. Clinton would have been the better comparison, but of course, THAT topic was verboten.

I liked John Edwards a lot. But there was definitely a layer of ooze to him that Obama does not project. Time will tell, I suppose.

8/11/2008 2:13 PM
angie said...

I was so sad he would do that. I liked him. I would have been happy to have him as a president. But for God's sake, your wife just got over cancer. Sometimes men really suck :-)

But what is just as sad is the scholarship/poverty link you included at the end. So he was just talking about all that stuff because it was a good campaign issue. Fucker. Glad he's not our nominee for more reasons than one.

Missives...Good point on mccain vs. clinton. But i think the reason Edwards brought up McCain is to potentially defuse the republicans attacks on him. With a candidate who cheated on his infirm wife, they can't really take the moral road on this like they usually try to do.

8/14/2008 8:33 AM
Mr Furious said...

In only two instances did Edwards show the ability to play hardball with the Republicans—and the media.

And the key here is that he is really playing the media.

He did it by mentioning McCain's marital/fidelity history the other day, and he did it in the '04 VP debate against Cheney. Edwards actually got totally rolled in that debate in my opinion, but he DID successfully point out the rank hypocrisy of the GOPs gay-bashing agenda and Cheney's lesbian daughter.

In both cases it was less about scoring on the opponent at the moment than giving the media a chance or excuse to cover it.

Until Edwards' affair broke, the media seemed more than happy to pretend McCain's sordid past never occured—they were NEVER going to bring it up. Now, it is an unavoidable part of the story.

8/14/2008 9:51 AM
Mr Furious said...

Following up...

So in many ways, I regard the Edwards Affair as a net gain for Obama. It opens a seamy side of McCain up that would have remained obscured from view.

Couple that with the shoddy treatment he gives his current wife, and the sharper focus on his phoney pro-choice rep—McCain will probably suffer among swing voting women under this new scrutiny.

8/14/2008 9:53 AM

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