The historic 2008 election: without John Edwards (Crowther / The Independent / NC)

[struggle4progress]

Cast away
29 OCT 2008 • by Hal Crowther

... The irony, of course, is that it only matters in America. The day the bad news about Senator Johnny began to make the rounds, we were eating lunch with a Chilean businessman, husband of an old friend of my wife's. "In Chile, anywhere in Europe or Latin America, no one would have known about this," he said. "And if they knew, no one would care" ...

You may intuit that I'd prefer Edwards, Rielle, Pigeon, Snuggles and a whole harem of fortune-hunting party girls at the White House, rather than surrender it to the cranky old flyboy with the long-suffering rich wife who looks as if he wore her out 20 years ago. I'm not attempting a defense of Edwards' character. But remember that the presidency is not an appealing job; thanks to George W., it may now be a hopeless one. People who want to be president, including even Barack Obama, are not like you and me. When you think of your life, and whether it was satisfying or successful, do you ever think in terms of history? I'm sure I don't. But Nixon did, the sub-mediocre Bushes did, the Clintons do. No matter how badly you botch it, the presidency guarantees you a piece of history, and the people who covet it are a little off center, a little deformed in a way that isn't always attractive. To aim so high you have to see yourself in a certain light, a flattering radiance that often precludes perspective and humility ...

... in the context of North Carolina's recent senators, you understand that many of us bitterly regret Edwards' demise. Our arcane politics haven't produced a lot of national figures who swell our breasts with pride. In 2008 we bid a tearless farewell to our perpetual senator Jesse Helms, last of a terrible tribe of racialist demagogues who manipulated bigotry to their political advantage, an incorrigible fool who served as Washington agent and virtual ambassador for Latin American death squads and for the apartheid government of South Africa ...

Jesse's senate seat is now occupied, allegedly, by Elizabeth Dole, wife of the second oldest Republican to run for president. Out of 100 senators, Dole is regularly ranked in the low-to-mid-90s in effectiveness, with no one much below her who isn't senile, under indictment or Larry Craig .... nothing but an automatic rubber stamp for the serial blunders of the most hopeless president ever inaugurated ...

http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A267926

[question everything]

1. I supported Edwards, too, however, as many of us said: it was not about the affair

but about judgment.

Yes, in Europe and other countries no one would care. But in this country we do - some of the time. And Edwards (and Elizabeth) should have known this. They should have known also that this was not going to remain a secret for long. After all, the National Enquirer was hinting about this back in December 2007.

And had Edwards been our nominee and the story would have broke when it did, this would have been the end of any attempt to capture the White House as well as increasing the majority in Congress.

I cringe every time when Obama talks about Jesus, or when asked how he spent those few days away, he was talking about Easter service and Easter Dinner. But, as many pointed out to me, he was seeking votes among the church crowd.

If you are a good politician and want to attract as many votes as you want, you have to know your electorate and how to approach it. And having a secret affair is not the way to do it in this country. Not yet, anyway.