Thursday, March 22, 2007
Edwards Presser
I missed all the hub-bub today, apparently. Busy earning a paycheck and all that, but apparently Politico.com reported Edwards was suspending his campaign before Edwards got up in front of the microphone and stated the opposite.
I'm not quite sure how to address this situation without getting macabre, but I'll just let it fly anyway. I'll start with the political side of today's events, and get to the more meaningful stuff afterwards.
The Edwards campaign is over. Done. John Edwards has absolutely tarnished his career forever. Heck, even Time agrees with me, though they do it by asking questions rather than stating the obvious (their political allegiances prevent them from being too blunt, I presume).
Edwards stands up in front of a slew of cameras and tells the world that his wife has incurable cancer. He then says that his primary responsibility is--wait for it--to get elected President. That's right, not to provide his dying wife all the support he can (remember, this guy's a multi-millionaire, who has the means to spend a few years not working and providing his dying wife with companionship). And if he's too busy shaking hands and kissing babies to help her out, well, that's just too bad, 'cause you know, duty calls. If we didn't already know the guy was a trial lawyer and professional hair model, you'd almost think this presser was a joke. Could his ego be any more out of control? It's hard to find the right word to describe John Edwards, but there's an old Latin term that really captures his essence:
douchebag.
As for the important part of the story, one can't help but feel terrible for Elizabeth Edwards. She's spent years dealing with a devastating illness, the bulk of the time in the public eye. It's hard enough wrestling with death when you don't have a reporter asking you "how does it feel?" about twice a month. And even when she thought she had it kicked and wrote her book, you always know you have a high chance at recurrence once you've had cancer before. She's handled it all with grace.
I also feel bad for John, despite his douchebaggery. I have no doubt that he actually does care about his wife and is devastated. He was knocked off his saddle by the medical news, when push came to shove, he couldn't get his bearings fast enough to make the right call.
But this wasn't just any decision. Some decisions, like, "do I hold the elevator door for this guy who is half way down the hall when I'm in a hurry," you can get wrong and scold yourself later. Chalk it up to "a lesson learned." But when you reveal your lack of judgment to 300 million Americans, when the right decision is so obviously staring you in the face, what is there to say?
The silly part of his decision, from a political standpoint, is that he didn't have to deep six his career. He could have cared for his wife, and still run for President in 2012 or 2016. He's a young man, and Americans would have remembered him and respected him for doing the right thing. Instead, he's going to have to cope with the tradgedy of a serious family illness (an occurence that was completely out of his control), while at the same time dealing with the destruction of his political career (all of his own making).
I'm not quite sure how to address this situation without getting macabre, but I'll just let it fly anyway. I'll start with the political side of today's events, and get to the more meaningful stuff afterwards.
The Edwards campaign is over. Done. John Edwards has absolutely tarnished his career forever. Heck, even Time agrees with me, though they do it by asking questions rather than stating the obvious (their political allegiances prevent them from being too blunt, I presume).
Edwards stands up in front of a slew of cameras and tells the world that his wife has incurable cancer. He then says that his primary responsibility is--wait for it--to get elected President. That's right, not to provide his dying wife all the support he can (remember, this guy's a multi-millionaire, who has the means to spend a few years not working and providing his dying wife with companionship). And if he's too busy shaking hands and kissing babies to help her out, well, that's just too bad, 'cause you know, duty calls. If we didn't already know the guy was a trial lawyer and professional hair model, you'd almost think this presser was a joke. Could his ego be any more out of control? It's hard to find the right word to describe John Edwards, but there's an old Latin term that really captures his essence:
douchebag.
As for the important part of the story, one can't help but feel terrible for Elizabeth Edwards. She's spent years dealing with a devastating illness, the bulk of the time in the public eye. It's hard enough wrestling with death when you don't have a reporter asking you "how does it feel?" about twice a month. And even when she thought she had it kicked and wrote her book, you always know you have a high chance at recurrence once you've had cancer before. She's handled it all with grace.
I also feel bad for John, despite his douchebaggery. I have no doubt that he actually does care about his wife and is devastated. He was knocked off his saddle by the medical news, when push came to shove, he couldn't get his bearings fast enough to make the right call.
But this wasn't just any decision. Some decisions, like, "do I hold the elevator door for this guy who is half way down the hall when I'm in a hurry," you can get wrong and scold yourself later. Chalk it up to "a lesson learned." But when you reveal your lack of judgment to 300 million Americans, when the right decision is so obviously staring you in the face, what is there to say?
The silly part of his decision, from a political standpoint, is that he didn't have to deep six his career. He could have cared for his wife, and still run for President in 2012 or 2016. He's a young man, and Americans would have remembered him and respected him for doing the right thing. Instead, he's going to have to cope with the tradgedy of a serious family illness (an occurence that was completely out of his control), while at the same time dealing with the destruction of his political career (all of his own making).
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4 comments:
According to cnn.com:
John Edwards said tests this week had shown his wife, Elizabeth, had cancer in a rib on her right side. He said the cancer is treatable but not curable.
"We are very optimistic about this," he said, noting that the tumor is small in size and has a "relatively minimal presence."
Elizabeth Edwards, 57, said she was "incredibly optimistic" and said her expectations about the future were unchanged.
"I expect to do next week all the things I did last week. And the week after that, and next year at the same time," she said.
Dr. Lisa Carey, the oncologist treating Edwards, categorized the cancer as metastatic Stage 4 cancer, which is largely confined to the bones. She said the prognosis was good.
..........
Elizabeth and John Edwards on Thursday described her cancer recurrence as a chronic condition that she'll have the rest of her life.
How long that will be, her doctor said, is unknowable.
"We're incredibly optimistic," Elizabeth Edwards said at a news conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. "I don't expect my life to be significantly different."
The breast cancer, which has spread, is "no longer curable but completely treatable," said Sen. John Edwards, a North Carolina Demeocrat. He added that doctors had likened the situation to living with diabetes, which can be managed but is a lifelong condition.
I guess I feel less douchey about him running if his wife is not "dying", but it seems like they should have been clearer about his wife's exact condition and prognosis when they announced that he would continue running. I think the way this whole thing was handled will be a big hit to him and his campaign for sure.
This is a bit like new Gov of MA, Deval Patrick. He recently announced that his wife is suffering from depression and something else I can't remember, and he is going to really lean on 'flex-time' to spend as much time helping his wife. While I applaud his decision to spend as much time as possible helping his wife, I can't help but think he never should have run for governor in the first place. I doubt her conditions started only after he got elected; surely she was showing symptoms while he was running. In which case, knowing that he couldn't simultaneously devote himself fully to his wife and his public office, and given the millions of dollars he's already worth, he never should have run. He should have sat out a cycle, helped his wife, and then run in the future at a more appropriate time when he could fully serve the public.
I sincerely feel for both Elizabeth and John Edwards. Cancer is a very difficult thing to deal with for anyone. I wish the best to both of them in dealing with this.
There is another aspect to this story that amazes me though: the complete hipocracy of the libs/Dems when it comes to single-source reporting and getting something wrong. Where were these standards when the AP reported about the burning six?
SHK,
I pray for both their sakes that the characterization of bone cancer as being "like diabetes" is, in her circumstance, accurate.
Could John be such a political animal that he would understate his wife's situation so as to maintain a rationale for continuing his campaign? I really hope not.
Here's hoping Mrs. Edwards enjoys a long life and that her condition is easily manageable.