Edwards redux. John Edwards redundant. August 11, 2008
Posted by WorldbyStorm in US Politics.trackback
Well, that’s a disappointment, although for those of us put off (or envious) of his full head of very well washed hair John Edward’s declaration that his rise in US national politics made him “increasingly egocentric and narcissistic” hardly came as a surprise.
In a way I was a bit more surprised by how little response this slightly cryptic post gained a couple of weeks back when the story lay in the limbo land between one edition of the National Enquirer and the next. Still as the IT notes:
This week, [the NE] published a grainy photo it said showed Edwards holding the baby at the hotel.
A baby he continues to deny is his. Indeed in a remarkable twist one of his aides stepped forward to fall on that particular sword.
What a mess. What a waste. And what a strange thing to do. The context of his marriage, with his wife suffering from a terminal condition merely makes it all worse again.
So, that’s it for Edwards in national politics. There are no second acts, no comebacks from this. Or none I can think of. As the Irish Times also noted:
The acknowledged affair seems certain to kill any role for Edwards in the Democratic National Convention, set to begin on August 25th in Denver, and to eliminate him from consideration as Barack Obama’s running mate or a member of his White House cabinet, should he win.
“I don’t think he’s going to be making a living in politics any time soon,” said John J Pitney jnr, a political analyst at Claremont McKenna College.
It’s another object lesson about human life and politics in a week awash with them. For Edwards was regarded as the standard bearer of the more traditional, union inclined base of the Democratic Party. A sort of more bouffant version of John Prescott if you will. The reality was that the ideological strand he represented (even in its most insipid form) was nothing to him – as it clearly wasn’t if he was willing to take such enormous risks and that he was just another pol, prey to all the usual conceits and vanities is a useful lesson about the dangers of personality. But then, without charismatic figures how do leftists in particular win broader groups to programmes. And we’re not without equally contradictory figures representing us either…
Incidentally, a further thought on the matter. How does this play out in the Election? Does Edwards undermine the Democrats as a political entity or does he – by comparison and contrast with Obama – make the latter look better…
This story has been in the tabloid press (I think the Enquirer) for weeks before the mainstream picked it up. Looked a lot like a conspiracy of silence.
Well there wasn’t proof, and the Enquirer took a long while to publish that photo. But yes, and part of that I suspect was that people didn’t want to believe it…
I thought they had him leaving hotels she was at etc but maybe not
Ah, they did, but… no photo of the two together… not sure is there even one yet…
fair enough. though they usually run stuff with less than that, especially in the states where you can effectively say whatever you want about someone. I definitely think there was something else going on – be it not wanting to be seen to interfere in the political process, or a collective desire to ignore this.
That’s also very possible.
“…or a collective desire to ignore this.”
Yeah, a sort of reverse schadenfreude.
There are holes in this story, what struck me was if Elizebth knew about it in 2006 why was she allowed to continue filming in the campaign up until the early primaries? Some of the language he used was stomach churning too, in particular taking care to point out Elizebeth Edwards was in remission when the affair started.
The story will live on Slate and their ilk, but the news media will largely let it fade away thanks to some masterful timing on his part (Olympics, pre-Convention).
It won’t be an election issue, given McCains numerous infidelities.
What’s also amazing is that he went forward for the Presidency knowing that all this could come out.
Good point re election issue, but… what of electoral resonances?
Chasing ambulances, chasing skirts…
Talked about “class” on the campaign trail, he should have practiced a little “class” in the campaign…
WBS — a waste??? Please, apart from the hair, there was nothing there. He was a political blackhole.
Hopefully, we will not have to deal with him ever again.
Garibaldy, you could be right about the conspiracy of silence, but the Enquirer does have a reputation of making stuff up.
What’s also amazing is that he went forward for the Presidency knowing that all this could come out.
I don’t see anything amazing about it. It strikes me as a dog-bites-man story. You really think they aren’t all at it?
Bakunin, a waste from a human perspective, or indeed his, but not mine
Wednesday, I lack in no way a sense of cynicism about these matters having seen similar behaviour here and there amongst our own set, but amazing in the sense that he thought a) he could get away with it b) while a contender for US President. No doubt other contenders are/were involved in such escapades… but at the very least his covering of his tracks was abysmal and again the context with his pronouncements on ‘family’ made him a wide open goal.
No doubt other contenders are/were involved in such escapades
… which is why I don’t think there’s anything amazing about his expectation of getting away with it. I assume most of them do it and do get away with it.
Imagine though if even higher profile contenders… nah! Never…
Contender? Edwards was more vacuous that Obama.
We don’t have politics in the US, but we do have the National Enquirer.
Thank god for small miracles.
Fair point Bakunin
Hillary Clinton thinks had the press reported the John Edwards matter earlier she would have carried Iowa, making her the Democratic choice. Hillary may also think that had the press failed to report the Monica mess, that that might have helped her chances. Adulteries in Washington, DC? Rove is hot in this berg. Monica was hot enough. Lisa Jo Druck, alias Rielle Hunter; how hot is that? I believe these people could all use a lot more fiber in their diet. Castor oil might help to relieve the constant constipation, cramping and bloating from which Washingtonians suffer. However, thanks to the Web the average Joe need no longer wait until the sun burns out to learn what the “mainstream press” declines to report: http://theseedsof9-11.com
There should be no doubt that Hillary will blame the Edwards’ love child for her campaign disaster.
I’m sure that Bill Clinton’s foreign money making, Bush’s stupidity, Obama’s skinny legs, and McCain’s skin cancer all had a negative impact on her campaign as well.
This will be the third presidential election in a row that I write in a cartoon character. I have narrowed it down to either Jimmy Neutron or Timmy Turner.
I’d heard that too about HC’s thoughts. I think Slate reported it today. I guess whatever helps…
I know its hard to trust a man who pays four hundred dollars for a haircut and I would agree with Wednesday on this one. Though I do think that this is a loss for the blue collar vote that rallied behind him. Forget Hillary doing shots. In West Virginia he polled seven percent, well after leaving the race. His positioning himself as champion of the working class (however shaky his stance) meant that the other two followed suit, at least in rhetoric. Without Edwards, the Democratic party is quickly jettisoning the working class as they feel that we have no where else to go,electorally speaking.
Which is a crushing indictment of the Democrats in its own way. BTW, you live, you breathe… where’s that post?
Don’t blame me, blame the British. But I’ll try again.
Ah. Them again!