Actually, yes. Of all the announced or unannounced candidates, Edwards is the only one that I believe sees it more of an opportunity for public service than a chance to satisfy a lust for power. After eight miserable years of a president who is anything but a public servant, the nation needs a president that genuinely wants to do good.
Edwards is waitimg until his wife has been hospitalized and will then insist she sign the divorce papers so he can marry the woman he’s been cheating with for the last two years?
Who knew?
I think the basic construction of political language goes like this:
If a candidate is from the *other* party, he has "selfish ambition for power".
If a candidate is from *your * party, he is "dedicated to public service".Not a doctor, but I just lost my SIL to breast-to-bone cancer last month. She didn’t catch the bone cancer until it was in ALL her ribs, her spine, her pelvis, and her thighs and she lived a full year after the diagnosis. Had she caught it early, the doctors said she could have lived another 5 years.
That said, the last year requires considerable care and emotional strength. She was in horrible pain at the end. I’m not sure he’d be able to concentrate on the duties of his office while watching her die. But they decided together that he’ll continue his run, and I think its unfair to call him selfish.
You got me puzzled. Exactly what is Edwards doing that we criticized Gingrich for?
He’s essentially running off to pursue the Presidency for two years and leaving his wife behind to die. Roughly morally equivalent. But, y’know, since Democrats are only motivated by absolute desire to serve the public in the most selfless way possible, I’m sure I’m misinterpreting the situation.
Thank you for the kind words, Cardiwen.
Nooooo, in fact the lambasting of Gingrich occured because he divorced his wife (and then married another woman) while she was undergoing cancer treatment. Not because he continued with a political campaign with her support and encouragement. So … yeah, not exactly the “equivalent” of what the Edwardses are going through.
(Actually Gingrich and his first wife were separated before her diagnosis, so it’s not as if he left her because of the cancer or anything. But the rapidity of his severing of the marriage and subsequent remarriage made him seem,less than sensitive at best, opportunistic and callous at worst.)
And on preview: again, you’re wrong, John Corrado. He is NOT “leaving his wife behind to die,” and if you knew anything about the couple you’d know that they don’t leave one another behind anywhere. Mrs. E. will be traveling with her husband, and as he has always done, when she needs to pause for treatment, he’ll be with her.
Unless you’re her doctor, I’d say you’re jumping to conclusions. Whether she dies in a week or four years, I’m not sure even they know. It just might be that she believes in him enough to sacrifice some of her remaining time with him because of what she thinks he can do for the country.
And again - anyone who thinks that they alone are so important to the country that the world can’t wait even another four years for them, or God forbid, serving the country in a lesser capacity than President of the United States, is so arrogant, self-centered and delusional that I can’t imagine them being something other than a disaster as President.
A lot of prognostic factors regarding her breast cancer haven’t been reported, but speaking theoretically, even a stage 4 breast cancer patient can have pretty good long-term survival if the tumor responds to treatment.
I can’t agree, personally. I’ve seen politicians from both parties bulldog their way through personal loss and health problems numerous times.
It is the business of them, their families, and the voters who care about the issue.
Unless, of course, you’d like to argue for the retirement of Arlen Specter and Joseph Biden solely on the basis of their significant health issues (happily resolved since for both men.)
Did he ever say anything remotely like that anywhere?
I’ve seen terminal people before. Most of the time they’re worried about being a burden and they’re horrified by the thought of their family members having to give up their goals to take care of their needs. I’m not going to fault Edwards, his wife seems to be all for him keeping his hat in the ring. Who am I to say he’s doing wrong?
Marc
What makes you think that’s his attitude? She’s the one that’s pushing him to run according to the article I read.
Actually, I think all of them, Repubs and Dems alike, have selfish ambitions for power. “Public service” is a cute canard with which politicians seek to mislead the populace, but in today’s political climate it’s an fantasy.
From what I heard at the press conference, there is a very small amount of cancer on the rib, and it is asymptomatic now. It was detected in an X-ray taken when she cracked a rib, and she said that if it hadn’t been caught until she had symptoms the situation would be much worse. She said that though the cracked rib hurt, she was very grateful to it.
I don’t know what the treatment is at this stage, but it doesn’t appear to prevent her from traveling with him, though she said she’d get tired easily.
Yeah, the New York Times is now saying the following:
We don’t know the particulars of Mrs. Edwards’ situation, obviously, but I was wondering how much of what she said about planning to live the next 40 years was bravado or put-on-a-brave-face optimism. Unfortunately, it sounds like there might have been a lot of optimism.
Why so negative towards Obama? I think he is as likely to be running for public service as Edwards is. Even Rudy gives me the impression he wants the power, but he wants it to make the country better. If Gore runs, I am sure he will be doing so (in his mind and mine) try to save the world.
Please do not slam all the other candidates to promote your favorite. Of course, if we are talking only about McCain and Clinton, I completely agree that they want the power more than anything else.
Caridwen, I apologize, when I made my post, only Weirddave was doing any twisting, it now looks like he is not alone.
Jim
What a tragic turn.
I hope that the Edwardses do what they need to for their own peace of mind and their own happiness. That could be withdrawing from the race. That could be pursuing it.
I’m very sorry to hear it.
God, but people are vicious.
Ever think that maybe Elizabeth Edwards is much happier fighting cancer and believing that she will live long enough to see her husband in office than for him to quit the campaign, which would effectively be telling her ‘let’s sit around and wait for you to die’? If I were just told that I had incurable something, the hell I’d just go crawl back into my hole and wait for it to get me. I’d want to wear the pretty dress at the inauguration and be First Lady, even if it were for just a couple of years.
My mom lived another three years after the cancer invaded her spine. There’s no reason why Elizabeth Edwards can’t also, particularly if they pursue an aggressive course of treatment every time a new tumour is discovered.
ETA - and there are new discoveries in cancer treatment every flippin’ day. Something could turn up that will help her after all.