This is both about John Edwards and a general question.
The National Enquirer ran an article several months ago on Rielle Hunter, an alleged pregnant girlfriend of John Edwards. Nothing has been substantiated and she claims the father is her boyfriend, a member of Edwards staff, but whatever the truth the story is getting increasing currency on blogs and the like. (Here’s one) about an alleged tryst this week.
Obviously I don’t know and don’t particularly care whether Edwards has a mistress and lovechild (that’s twixt him and his wife and the baby’s mother), but if you were Obama’s campaign manager and if this story moves from tabloids to mainstream, would this be enough to keep you from wanting Edwards as a VP choice? Assume that
1- you were leaning towards Edwards
2- he was interested in the position
so it’s as much hypothetical as about this case- do you think that there would be enough public outcry over a VP nominee having an illegitimate child to warrant not including him on the ticket? I’m
I never thought John Edwards would bring ANYTHING to the ticket. He proved that in 2004, when he couldn’t even deliver a single Southern tate. Not even his home state!
So, if a mini-scandal like this convinces Obama that Edwards is bad news, that’s GOOD news for Obama supporters.
But let’s say that, for whatever reason, Obama thinks Edwards is the cat’s pajamas, a brilliant guy, the PERFECT man to take over in the event of Obama’s death. Suppose that Obama is hell bent on picking Edwards.
I’ve already said Edwards can’t and won’t help Obama, so the question becomes, would this scandal HURT Obama’s ticket?
Well, people who love Obama won’t give a damn. People who HATE Obama wouldn’t vote for him even if his running mate were an ideal family man. What about the people in the middle? Would they overlook an Edwards love child? It depends on how Edwards handled it.
Did Edwards see to it that the child was well provided for? Did he make sure the mother was financially secure? Did he confess all to Mrs. Edwards, and has she forgiven all?
If the answers are yes, yes and yes, I don’t think this scandal would taint Edwards too much.
Yeah, I think this would definitely disqualify him (no matter who he was…personally I think Edwards would be a horrible choice regardless of love child or no love child). Obama doesn’t need this kind of potential chink in his armor…but even broader, no candidate running for office would relish having a potential VP with this kind of thing potentially hanging over his head.
From a personal issue, like you I think it’s between him and his wife and mistress (if it even happened at all)…I could care less. However, realistically it’s going to make a huge difference politically with the public.
Absolutely. If he had a child out of wedlock and kept it hidden and the press found out, he’d be off my list in an instant.
If he didn’t know about it, and only found out when the press did, then I might consider keeping him. But probably not. There are too many other well qualified candidates out there.
I should add, this is a disqualification ONLY for the Vice Presidency. If Obama wants to name Edwards as Attorney General, there would be practically no public outcry, and no opposition in the Senate.
I dunno about that. If it were true he would be cheating on a wife who has cancer and gave of herself for his campiagn on what could be her last days on earth. It would look BAAAAADDDD.
It’s funny how insanely hypocritical the righty-sphere is about this kind of thing. When the NY Times reported that aides were uncomfortable about a relationship John McCain (an admitted serial adulterer) was having with a female lobbyist, they went apopleptic with rage. The National Enquirer accuse John Edwards with no evdidence whatever, and with another man claiming to be the father of the “love child”* and it’s accepted as Gospel. The Enquirer has also printed stories accusing GWB of falling off the wagon and alleging that Laura is going to divorce him when they get out of office. I wonder if these same bloggers believe THOSE accusations. I wonder what they would say if the NE accused *McCain of having an affair.
Anyway, in response to the OP, I imagine that the Obama campaign will first assertain to a dead certainty whether or not the allegations are true. If it is true, than John Edwards is off the shortlist. He might be anyway. This is the kind of of accustion where it’s all but impossible to prove one’s innocence. Even if a DNA test shows he’s not the father, these bloggers will still say that she was just sleeping with someone else along with Edwards. HNo matter what the truth is, Edwards will probably now always be an adulterer the way Obama will always be a Muslim. Funny that that mcCain’s admitted adultery doesn’t bother them, though.
*Why do they always call it a “love child?” What’s the difference bewteen a “love child” and a regular child?
Henry Cisneros had a sex scandal of his own while serving as mayor of San Antonio. That didn’t hurt him when Bill Clinton made him HUD Secretary.
I don’t say it’s logical, I just think people are far less likely to get excited about Cabinet members, positively OR negatively.
And… I rarely find myself saying this, but… Diogenes does have a point. We don’t KNOW for certain that Edwards has fathered a child by another woman. Until we hear it confirmed, it’s idle speculation.
IF it’s true, I’d still maintain Edwards is a bad choice for Veep, but could ride out the storm IF he’s treated the baby and its mother honorably and generously.
For the record, this alleged child has not been born yet. The alleged mistress is pregnant, but she’s claiming one of Edwards’ advisors is the father and that there is no affair.
If it’s true, he’s Eagleton-level poisonous and will never be chosen. If it’s potentially true it’s a big strike against him. But the National Enquirer and some blogs? This is not at that level right now. There were rumors of Kerry affair early in the 2004 election, don’t forget, and those never went anyplace either.
