A revealing story about John Edwards

[Vox_Reason]

Greetings, all:

I got a call this morning from a friend of mine who told me a story which I think says a lot about the kind of person John Edwards really is.

Last weekend, a friend of the friend of mine who told me this story was in a cemetery here in Raleigh taking artful photos, which is his hobby. He had snapped several shots in the apparently deserted cemetery when he came over a hill and noticed a lone guy with a bucket and a scrub brush, washing a gravestone.

The photographer asked the person washing the gravestone if he minded if he took a photo of him, and the gravestone-washer consented. After taking the photo, the photographer wandered off to take additional shots elsewhere in the cemetery.

Later this past week, the photographer showed the shots he had taken in the cemetery to his wife. When she came upon the photo of the man washing the gravestone, she exclaimed, "That's John Edwards!!"

I am relaying this story through a friend of a friend, and I have not seen the photo myself, but I do know that Edwards went to the cemetery before going to Boston for the convention. I have no reason to doubt the story, as both the person who told me the story and the person who shot the photo are not political people.

I think it speaks volumes about John Edwards that he and this photographer friend of my friend were the only people in the cemetery. In modern American politics, with "image" carrying so much weight and the stakes so incredibly high, John Edwards could have turned that event into a sympathy-soliciting circus of a photo-op, but he didn't. It was a personal moment for John Edwards the bereaved father, and that was all.

I told the story just now to a friend of mine who lives in Brooklyn, NY. He told me that someone who goes to his local pub there is a former neighbor of John Edwards. I asked my Brooklyn buddy what his pub mate thought of his former neighbor John Edwards, and his response was, "Loves him. Calls him Johnny. Good, decent guy. No skeletons in his closet."

I replied that my wife would do about anything for him, and that everyone who's ever had any contact with him at all here in Raleigh has NOTHING but positive things to say about him. I've never heard a single negative word from anyone who knows him personally. My Brooklyn buddy responded by saying "Yeah, that's what Dave (the guy from the pub) says about him."

John Kerry had his pick of literally thousands of great candidates to be his running mate. I'm so proud that he picked someone with the intelligence, integrity, class, and decency of John Edwards. I think his convention speech demonstrated to millions of Americans why we should all be proud to have the opportunity to vote for such an outstanding person to be our vice president.


Edwards trivia: The circular lapel pin that Edwards wears (and that he wore during his convention speech this week) is his deceased son Wade's Outward Bound pin.

[wolfgirl]

1. n/t

:kick:

[NMDemDist2]

2. well, get those pics and BTW who's stone was he at? Wade's?

this is apocryphal at this point, but wonderful if you can back it up

[iamjoy]

3. Not To Burst The Bubble...

I am a big fan of John Edwards.
And not to cast doubt on anyone's honesty...
But, something seems off about the cemetery story. I'm not familiar with Secret Service protection protocol, however, it is hard to believe they would permit John Edwards to be completely alone in a public place.

Now, one of the news stations did go around Raleigh, talking to Edwards' neighbors and they only had good things to say about the man, although one noted she did disagree with his politics.

[salin]

4. Don't know if the detail kicks in

before he is 'nominated' and official, which would have happened at the convention.

[beaconess]

5. He's had protection since Kerry selected him

I think it's a lovely story but agree that it's likely apocryphal. First, according to press reports, he went to the cemetery with his wife. And, second, as has been previously mentioned, he would have been accompanied by Secret Service - even if they kept a respectful distance to allow the Edwardses their privacy, they still would have been close by, within clear view.