Son of a [mill-worker]

it is beyond absurd to see the moralizing and hand-wringing about Edwards when we have witnessed the hijacking of our government that has resulted in mass murder of Iraqis & Afghanis, war profiteering, torture, corporate larceny, Constitutional betrayal, etc.

 The worst thing Edwards did was stand on the sidelines in self-imposed impotence  with the rest of the miserable Democrats while these crimes were being committed. Yet we only hear the howls of outrage for his recent bad behavior.

I was certainly glad to see Edwards beat Lauch Faircloth for the U.S. Senate seat in 1998, but I felt betrayed when he dumped us after just one term in the Senate to pursue his presidential ambitions in 2004. (Note that Kerry, Clinton, Obama and others managed to run for president without leaving the Senate.)

I was hesitant at first, but got quite sucked-in to Edwards' 2008 campaign.  Brian R and I were both impressed with his authenticity (ha ha), smart use of social media, and moderately progressive message. We were sad to see his campaign didn't do better. 

It was when he stepped out of the race without supporting another candidate that I realized he was just in it for himself. He saved his public endorsement until it was long past the time when his support would have made a difference, apparently so that he could work both sides. This was not courageous leadership.

He has now ensured that even that wheeling and dealing will be for naught. And worse: I think these actions will serve to dim Elizabeth's star. For example she is joining him in sitting out the convention (since he is no longer going to be speaking there).That's the real loss to the public here.

Finally, I want to say that I try not to judge people based on how they manage their own personal relationships, but that presidential candidates cannot have big secrets!  Imagine if he was in the Whitehouse and Ms. Hunter or an associate decided to blackmail him. It's not so much that it's morally wrong as it is just plain stupid.

Ruby has summed up most of my feelings. I too am upset that some are "moralizing and hand-wringing about Edwards". Supporting the deaths of thousands due to war is a much more grave moral failing IMHO.

I will do my best not to become jaded and mistrust politicians. I want to continue to believe that honest real people can be elected to serve. When those folks stand up and run I'll help them like the optimist that I am. Dishonest politicians can not destroy my faith in good government. But don't think just because I'm a liberal I'll only vote for Democrats...

"Note that Kerry, Clinton, Obama and others managed to run for president without leaving the Senate."

 None of those were in Edwards' situation: having a Senate term ending the same year as the presidential election. 

The only ways for Edwards to run "without leaving the Senate" would have been to (a) run for re-election in 2004 and not run for the White House until 2008 or (b) try to run for President and Senate in 2004.  Certainly once he had the VP nomination in '04 there was no realistic way to run for Senate re-election on the same ballot.

It's little consolation to me that I never really liked him all that much in the first place. Like Ruby, I was disappointed he gave up his Senate seat. However, I never really bought his populist change of heart. 

For those who haven't heard, it seems Edwards is also closing up shop on some of his anti-poverty work:

http://harpers.org/archive/2008/08/hbc-90003382

This article from Harper's quotes a June NY Times article about how Edwards used his anti-poverty foundation to support his run for the presidency. As in, it didn't so much anti-poverty work.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/22/us/politics/22edwards.html

Harper's also quotes an N&O article you all may have seen, about how Edwards is ending a pilot "College for Everyone" program.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/22/us/politics/22edwards.html

All very sad. 

The Chapel Hill News had an editorial about Edwards yesterday saying "Without D.C. beckoning, chances are he's going to remain our neighbor for a good long while. If Elizabeth doesn't kick him out of their Old Greensboro Road mansion, that is."

Do you think maybe we can finally get either of them engaged in local issues now?

I'm not really sure that John Edwards is enough of a public figure at this point to even merit the kind of scrutiny he is getting.  He is clearly not a candidate for Vice-president anymore and I really think it is better to leave off the guy for now.  He has done something really, really stupid and he needs to focus on his wife and family.  I am inclined to give him the space to do that.

There are two sides to this.  On one side it is ridiculous that people care so much about things unrelated directly to policy.  On the other side is the fact that, considering people do care so much about things undirectly related to policy, politicians are encouraged to try to milk it for all they can.  The reason Edwards caught so much grief recently isn't because he cheated on his wife but rather because he came off as such a hypocrite after trying to project himself as such a family guy.

 When you stop to think about it, the publc opinoin trend on Edwards has been to like him a lot at the start and then to slowly trend to dislike.  In NC he ran for the Senate when he was a new name and he won but when it was time to run for re-election the polls said he might not win even with the advantage of being an incumbent.  And when he ran for President he did well early in the 2004 primaries and then faded, doing no good for John Kerry by the time of the general election in 2004 and then getting nowhere in the 2008 campaign.

 I hate to diss on Elizabeth because she has been struck with cancer but assuming that what John has said publicly recently is true (and trusting anyting he says to be true is a stretch at this point), Elizabeth knew John had been having an affair and yet she agreed to go along with his presidential run.  If he hadn't run for President then none of this would have become public.  I feel bad for her that she was so careless as to make such a foolish decision while knowing their lives would be under intense scrutiny.  And now she is asking for privacy.  That is pretty much the defintion of closing the barn door after the horse has escaped.

 I don't know the details of what can and can't be done around town according to the law but just taking a common sense approach to things I can't believe that there are many things worse for the town, or at least for the environment, than one family buying 100 acres close to town and putting up one house on it.  One-third of UNC's 11,000 employees have a commute of 10 miles or more and yet we have ths giant chunk of land just a few miles from campus on which one family lives, none of which commute to UNC.  If you're going to have 100 acres of unused land that close to campus and force a bunch of other people to commute as a result then at least make the land public land that citizens can explore and enjoy too.

NC Policy Watch has an excellent commentary on John Edwards today: "If society discounted the words and insights of every person that has engaged in some form of personal or professional treachery in their lives, we would have precious little to go on.....As important, however, as honesty is in the personal life of public figures, it's critical that we not make the mistake of trashing the truths that Edwards did speak during his time on the stage. Despite his all-too-human personal behaviors, Edwards spoke the truth about the obscenity of modern American poverty and economic inequality. He spoke the truth when he shined a light on the fact that a tiny and shrinking percentage of Americans controls nearly half the nation's wealth. Indeed, the fact that he was a member of that elite group and still spoke out probably inures to his credit."