I keep thinking about the Edwards scandal. (Perhaps because there was no ballgame today.) It occurs to me that what hurt John Edwards most during the primaries is that he was "same old." A white, 50-something male millionaire. Why go with the status quo when you can be part of a campaign that makes history?But what if Barack Obama had decided not to run this time around? Conventional wisdom was that Hillary Clinton was unstoppable, that she had the big money donors, the celebrity and the Washington pedigree. It would be completely understandable if Obama had been intimidated by the Clinton Machine and decided to wait until 2012.
That would have left John Edwards to represent change, and these days, change infuses the atmosphere. It's very possible that in this scenario, he would be the presumptive nominee. A nomination he would be more than happy to accept in Denver later this month.
And then this awful story comes to light, just weeks before the convention. Where would this have left the party? The country? He was willing to gamble with more than his career. He was playing chicken with the two party system.
I don't care how blue his eyes are. Handsome is as handsome does. John Edwards is defined by a monstrously ugly ego. What's the word I'm looking for here?
Oh, yeah: "Bastard."
I was an Edwards supporter and I am still taken aback by this news. It's not mine to judge what goes on in someone's marriage so that's irrelevant for me. What IS relevant is that knowing this would come out at some point, that he went ahead anyway with the campaign. As I wrote on my blog, I'm not even all that political savvy and *I* could have told you that was a monsterous mistake. I don't have a clue what goes on in some people's minds. Really I don't.
ReplyDeleteSuch a disappointment.
I do not care what's happening in someone's marriage but if this had came out like you said in a situation where Obama wouldn't have been running for president, we would have lost.:(
ReplyDeleteAt least we have Obama, hopefully nothing like this will come out.