You’ve seen the news as our feature for almost a day now and no doubt at every other news outlet in the country. So I thought I’d share a few thoughts about the Edwards matter. His personal failing speaks for itself. And I don’t think I have anything to add to the obvious. Fundamentally, it’s between him and his wife and their family. And I wish them the best.
But this decision on his part involved several overlapping betrayals. And the one that is very much a public matter is his betrayal of his supporters and, really, all Democrats nationwide — one that continued at least until he dropped out in the spring. Edwards made a strong run for the presidency knowing full well that he was carrying on an affair, at least in the early stages of the campaign, which could come to light in the midst of the general election and fatally damage all Democrats’ hopes for regaining the presidency. Just think how fun this weekend would be if John Edwards had won the nomination. Indeed, it seems clear that the aftermath of the affair was such that the chances of its coming to light were substantial. It’s a level of recklessness and selfishness that I probably shouldn’t but still do find shocking.
One can only hope that the scrutiny into such unfortunate matters will now be applied on a bipartisan basis, as it has not been heretofore.
