Since I was an Edwards supporter early on in the primary, I guess I should say something about yesterday’s news. I agree with this:
I’m angry at John Edwards. I supported him [. . .] until he dropped out. I could care less that he had an affair. That’s between him and his wife. But he put his own desire to be President above the interests of Democrats whose most important goal has been to take back the White House in 2008.
What if he had won the nomination? What if Obama had asked him to be Vice President and he accepted? The ticket would be doomed by his having lied about this affair.
From reading Edwards’ statement, it looks like he honestly thought that he could keep this private, which was really naive. The smart thing to do would have been to come clean about the affair as soon as possible. As soon as he knew that he was going to run for president, he should have admitted the affair publicly and hoped that maybe the media fervor that would have inevitably ensued would die down. It may have doomed his chances, but that’s better than the worst-case scenario of the story coming out after actually winning the nomination (or a VP slot).
However, I also agree with this:
I realize that everybody gets excited about sex scandals. It’s human nature. But it’s important to keep in mind that John Edwards didn’t even come close to winning the nomination and this is just another sleazy tabloid story with absolutely no serious significance other than the sickening spectacle of the prurient slavering of the mainstream media now that they have finally found their hook: it’s because he lied to the press about his sex life. How could he???
(Lying to the press about the anthrax killer and WMD in Iraq, well, not a problem.)
It’s too bad that John Edwards won’t be speaking at the Democratic convention or appearing on the campaign trail for Obama. I hope Elizabeth Edwards won’t be entirely absent, since she has been a great advocate for health care reform and could be very helpful to Obama and to the country.
I agree with your sentiments. Frankly I think Edwards was a doomed candidate anyway, but this didn’t help things.
If I am forced, like seemingly every other WVian, to move to NC due to the economy by the next Senate election down there, I’d gladly vote for Elizabeth Edwards over that Richard Burr douche.
“It looks like he honestly thought that he could keep this private, which was really naive.”
The understatement of the year, my dear. If you are going to run for office in THIS day and age, you had better be prepared to have every last bit of your private life investigated, Googled, cross-referenced, and hung out for everyone to see. Privacy? Dignity? Decorum? That all went out the window YEARS ago. I remember when all Rush Limbaugh could talk about were crusty blue dresses and moistened cigars, and you could virtually hear the saliva dripping all over The Golden Microphone.
Privacy? In THIS day and age??? Feh. It doesn’t matter if you are Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, or anything in between. If you have ANY skeletons in your closet, either learn to make them dance, or avoid politics altogether.
This is bigger than the affair. There was a very obvious attempt by major media outlets to give him a pass, to let it die. Nobody wanted to cover it and had to be dragged kicking and screaming toward it.
The implications are pretty scary.
No, Bill, when you think of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s infidelity and what would’ve been had the media exposed it, that scenario becomes scariest of all. That’s not to say that Edwards is an MLK, but the new standard of having every aspect of a politician’s life made public is keeping the most qualified people out of public service.
I agree with Jay, and I don’t think the media was trying to cover up anything. There was an unverified rumor being peddled by the freaking National Inquirer that the non-tabloid media couldn’t readily confirm. That they chose not to devote time and resources to try to dig deeper seems like a wise decision considering all of the many more important issues going on in the world and in the presidential campaign. (You know, like that whole Iraq war and our economy quickly sliding into recession.)
The ombudsman of the NYTimes wrote an analysis of this whole thing, and he thinks that the media should have dug into the story. But the fact that they didn’t doesn’t mean there was some conspiracy to help Edwards cover up an affair. This is how the editors at the NYTimes explained their decision not to write about it:
I don’t agree. Pretty obviously, they were trying to let the story die. The e-mail sent from brass to the bloggers at the LA Times telling them to not mention it was sort of telling.
Also the NY Times is smoking something. Edwards was still a player. Not a presidential pick. Probably not the Veep, but possibly the A.G. He was also still part of the package to unify the party, would likely have been expected to give some sort of speech at the convention and might have helped shape the platform.
I would say Edwards was a valuable asset to the party and to Obama’s bid for the presidency. Now, he’s not so valuable. He’s dirt and it could get worse.
And if the stinking scandal and diet sheets can get Edwards after the fact, how come the none of the major players couldn’t get him before? Sneaking off with your mistress is a pretty easy way to get nailed. Since we’ve got camera phones and the internet, it’s just something you don’t get to do if you’re a high level politician running for election. Rumors supposedly went back to last fall, but there wasn’t much of an effort to follow them or watch.
The problem isn’t whether he’s a good guy if he cheated on his wife or if he’s a good leader in spite of his lapses. The problem is the folks who watch decided it wasn’t something they wanted to pay attention to. Despite what they say, his name was still coming up from time to time. They were willing to overlook a flaw of some relevance during an election year. They made a judgment call, I think, because they want to effect an outcome.
It’s creepy.
Bill thinks the national media should be using the National Inquirer as their assignment desk.
Bill, what exactly were the newspapers supposed to write? “The National Enquirer reports that John Edwards had an affair two years ago.” They can’t just printed an unsourced rumor. And how were they supposed to go about investigating whether it was true? It happened two years ago. Unless there’s some smoking gun evidence (which apparently there isn’t), what can they do? It was only when the National Enquirer described their little hotel stakeout in such detail that the story looked like anything more than a rumor. And that was just a few (a couple?) weeks ago. It didn’t take long after that for Edwards to admit it. So what the media do wrong again?
The bottom line, Bill, is: are we, as a society, better off for being informed of this. Of course not.
Jay, I think your last comment most echoes my feelings. John Edwards is a human being. He’s infallible. But because this is a juicy bit of news and he’s in the public eye, does his family have to suffer? This isn’t just about him or his infidelity. There are other people involved and I for one wish that the whole thing had remained private. I just a big slice of juicy gossip as much as the next girl, but now that he’s no longer seeking the nomination, leave them alone and let them handle things privately. It’s no secret that media bias exists anymore than it is that strong, powerful men cheat on their wifes with women who are attracted to strong, powerful, married men. I don’t accept it; I don’t condone it, but history speaks for itself. To turn this into some sort of conspiracy is asinine. The Edwards family (and I’m not talking about John) has been through enough. They’ve given up enough for his desires. Why should they have to give up more? Regardless of the reasons, I am glad the media chose to turn the other cheek on this one.
“On” John Edwards.
Heh heh.
From the discussions I’ve had with others, it’s John Edwards rather holier-than-thou attitude that doomed him on this issue. Those who had faith in him are disappointed, and those that didn’t can now point to his platitudes about family, and his condemnation of Bill Clinton and say “Hey, you’re not so hot yourself.”
To some extent, Edwards brought this on himself. I don’t think the mainstream media was interested, but the tabloids were gonna keep chewing on this bone til they got all the juice out.