Edwards Disappointment

Have had a couple emails about John Edwards come in asking why I've been so quiet in commenting on this. First, I've been kind of quiet in general. Second, I've been in a bit of a personal funk of sorts. Seems like since my weight loss competition ended I lost a bit of purpose.

Feel like I have started a ton of blogs and then just discounted them as bad or left them unfinished. A bit of a case of writers block and a bit of a case of the 'stuck in a ruts'.

The regular readers of this blog know that I think highly of John Edwards. One of the better and most sincere articles on this blog was "17people's Tribute to John Edwards" written after he dropped out of the race in January.

My reason for connecting with Edwards hasn't changed with his admission of his affair with a former campaign staffer. He fought for and brought the issue of poverty to the national campaign and forced both Obama and Clinton to address the issue in the primary. The poor and homeless in this country are forgotten and treated as inferior not just by politicians, but by too many people. In recent years this has become an issue that fires me up more than anything and Edwards spoke to my passion on the subject and it related to me.

We both may not have been poster boys for the impoverished and homeless. Like Edwards I come from a solid family that never worried about shelter or food. Well our parents might have, but we didn't. Yet it didn't mean that we didn't care about their plight.

I admired Edwards for this stand and his consistent dedication to the cause. I hope he continues to fight for it in the years ahead, but think that the effect of his adultery will lessen his credibility to do so.

Watching and reading about Edwards admission of guilt has made me very disappointed and angry with him and above all made me feel for his family.

What he did was shitty. When you run for office and know the intense scrutiny you are under why can't you control your urges? Edwards is just the latest to let his lesser judgement get the best of him.

I am most upset because of my immense respect for Elizabeth Edwards. I think she is a total class act and feel she would have been a wonderful 1st lady. My heart goes out for her that her personal life is now being dragged through the media.

More importantly, I feel for the Edwards children that they have to go around their friends and classmates with everyone knowing about their dad's terrible mistake. They never asked their dad to run for office or become a celebrity. Many families have issues like this that are never known publicly. The Edwards kids are the truly unfortunate victims to their dad's mistake.

What I am saying is that I can care less about John Edwards political career. Yet am madder than hell about what he is putting his family through.

Yet, the way Edwards handled his admission deserves some credit. Did he deny the reports initially calling them 'tabloid trash'?

Yes.

But his admission was the classiest we have seen in some time.

Unlike Eliot Spitzer he didn't force his wife to stand by him in public.

Unlike Bill Clinton, he didn't deny the news both in public and to his wife. If reports are true, Edwards admitted the affair to his wife long ago before the '08 campaign.

His adultery was a mistake, but he handled his admission like an adult.

While it sounds crass I am very thankful that this news came out before he was offered the Vice Presidency. There were a lot of rumors in recent months that he was on the short list to be Obama's running mate. This news hurts the Democratic brand a bit, but it's impact is far less because the ticket didn't already say "Obama-Edwards".

Hell, if I had my way, Edwards would have been the nominee.

The USA is a forgiving country and comebacks are very common. I don't know where John Edwards will pop up, but its a shame that a guy who showed political courage in taking on one of our country's biggest and most difficult problems, is going to be known in the short term as just another 'typical' politician you can't trust.