UPDATE: I'm done posting comments on this thread. I'm planning another post dealing with some of the issues here.
Before I dive in, let me get the 'objectivity' thing out of the way. As a citizen journalist whose main claim to fame is producing satirical comedy, I can be upfront about my political leanings. I'm a recovering libertarian and currently I'm a registered Democrat who is excited to be voting for Barack Obama in November. I like John Edwards and up until a few days ago, he would have been my first choice for Vice President on an Obama ticket. I'm far from Puritan - anything two or more consenting adults want to do is fine by me. I also think it's obvious a person's sexual life doesn't keeps them from being an effective politician.
I'm judging this situation using two standards; 1) what's the truth? 2) how's it going to play out in the media?
As early as this week, DrudgeReport identified Edwards as a short lister for Barack Obama's vice presidential selection. Even if he was one, the former North Carolina Senator isn't anymore, regardless of whether anyone ends up nailing the story of his affair/love child down with juicy pictures or some kind of hard evidence.
(This is actually a repost from some months ago, but I put so much time into hunting down the appropriate photos, I decided to repost it; besides, I'm depressed about not being able to make it to NN this year, so I wanted to post something light to cheer myself--and perhaps others--up a bit)
Unfortunately, the diary didn’t get much notice, but I thought it was such a fun idea that I ran with it, and came up with the following. The only rule I made for myself is to take it seriously—no cartoon characters, no dead actors; all of the choices have to be current, professional film or TV actors. Feel free to toss your own ideas into the ring; I know that I’m way off on at least some of my choices, but what the hell...
Judging from the last couple days on the site, and the endless stream of diaries about how to properly imagine other people's opinions of cartoons, or how to properly eulogize a political opponent, I think it's more proper, actually, to recognize this editorial opinion from Elizabeth Edwards on the death of Tony Snow. Edwards and Snow are linked by virtue of being diagnosed with recurrences of their cancer within days of one another in 2007, and the news of his death clearly came to her as chilling and sad. In the article, Edwards reveals some universal, human truths, which often get lost in the clatter of political warfare, not limited to this site. I want to excerpt a bit:
No, John Edwards is not raising money to stop poverty by performing marriage ceremonies, but he did influence me, and his advice directly led to me meeting my wife.
At his homecoming rally in December of 2006 John Edwards told us -
"don't wait for the next president to be elected to do something, get involved now"
So I got involved. I organized for Edwards in Colorado and started making connections with people and later, when he asked us, I went to protest Bush's vetoed war funding bill on May 2nd 2006 at our state capitol in Colorado. As luck (or fate) would have it, I ran into someone (the Coach) who I had spoken to once, a year earlier, who offered me my own radio show slot in the Denver market. (with zero experience)
And as luck (or fate) would have it, I had heard John and Elizabeth Edwards talk about the importance of Unions as the backbone of the middle class, so I started reaching out to local unions and union supporters...
(keep reading, I swear there is a wedding in here)
Yesterday we learned that the NRA will be putting some major bucks (a $40 million dollar effort) towards slamming Obama on gun control in battleground states.
Well we are returning fire. Elizabeth Edwards, already such an effective surrogate for Obama when it comes to Health Care, is headlining the group Health Care for America Now to advocate for Universal Health Care and criticize Mccain's ridiculous plan. Via Politico:
Next week, the group Health Care for America Now will unveil a $40 million effort, with the first ad buy being a $1.5 million in national print, online and broadcast advertising.
...
The group's goal is to provide "quality, affordable health care for every American," and it obviously dovetails with the Obama campaign's promise of providing universal health care. The group will spend $25 million in paid media, while also funding 100 organizers involved in events around the country.
By Donna Smith, American SiCKO, communications specialist, CNA/NNOC
CHICAGO – It’s a week of bad news for my friends and extended family. I am almost afraid to answer the phone or open the emails. Three people I care about. Three new cancer diagnoses. Bone, lung, breast. Surgery, radiation and chemo coming down the pike.
And awash in a system gone mad for money, these patients will become cancer survivors – like me – not because they’ve been born with or bestowed with the human right to be treated when ill, but because their various health coverage plans allow it. At least that’s what I pray today for them, because that's what I must pray for them.
Last week, none of these wonderful souls had any idea they would hear the words, "You have cancer." Each was ensconced in the stuff of everyday life: jobs, marriages, gasoline prices and watching the endless coverage of the presidential race. Then their worlds did a three-sixty.
In an instant. It truly could be any one of us at any time.
Elizabeth Edwards continues to smack down McCain’s plan for the "healthy and wealthy" emphasizing the fundamental flaw of the individual market, the centerpiece of McCain’s plan.
"McCain’s never been in the individual market, he doesn’t know how difficult it is, in fact, how impossible it is, if you happen to be one of the unlucky Americans who have a pre-existing condition," Elizabeth stated on MSNBC today.
Everybody seems to be upset about our "representaives. (heh) selling us down the river. Well I'll be damned who would have ever thought that we would have invertabrate/sellouts cave to the will of a man with the lowest approval ratingds evah...guess I should shut up since all he has to do is say ...damnit shut up before he hears you.
This will be a short one I promise you. I wouldn't want to give any more ground or afford the opportunity for this administration to track me down and do things they have done in ...that place, south of.... are there any borders?
hippity-hop lalalalalala....
Aw fuggit, there are serious issues that right now mean more than loyalty.
John doesn't want to do it again, and Elizabeth demonstrated her progressive credentials and fighting spirit over these past few months. Why not Elizabeth?
In a speech in Raleigh, NC this afternoon, Senator Obama announced he will be working with Elizabeth Edwards on health care.
I'm both surprised and pleased by this announcement. I believe it is yet another indication that Obama is willing to listen to those who disagree with him.
While I have posted now not one, but two different post in the past 2 days, on John Edwards as the best VP choice, I want to state a disclaimer:
I think the waiting game has helped the dems
and while I think Obama is narrowed down his choice to 2 people, he should draw out the selection process as long as possible...
Republican John McCain was deemed by his doctors on Friday to be in sufficient good health to serve as president even as they reported a long history of skin cancer, colon polyps, kidney stones and dizziness.
The Arizona senator, who turns 72 in August and would be the oldest elected first-term president, "enjoys excellent health and displays extraordinary energy," said his physician Dr. John Eckstein.
"I can find no medical reason or problems that would preclude Senator McCain from fulfilling all the duties and obligations of president of the United States," he said in a statement.
John McCain, without the help of modern medicine, would be dead:
Before Senator Kennedy was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor this week, he was working on a bill to renew the "war on cancer" that was first begun in 1971 under the Nixon administration.
A little more than a week before Ted Kennedy was rushed to the hospital with a seizure and ultimately diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, the Massachusetts senator was chairing a Senate Health Committee hearing on how to fight a war on cancer in the 21st century.
Elizabeth Edwards on Sunday rejected speculation that she might endorse New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.
"If you listened to what I said and not to what pundits said I was thinking, you would know that I was never inclined to endorse," Edwards wrote in an e-mail to Politico Sunday afternoon.
Those reading this diary know that right now John Edwards is appearing on every news channel giving his endorsement to Senator Obama for the nomination.
This New York Times articledescribes the split this way:
The Edwards endorsement, though, is singular. Elizabeth Edwards is not scheduled to add her voice to the growing Democratic chorus rallying behind Mr. Obama’s campaign.
Publicly, Mrs. Edwards has said that she favors Mrs. Clinton’s health care plan. Privately, she has told several associates she is unsure if Mr. Obama is the party’s best candidate.
