Jon Edwards suspends presidential bid!

BPSCG said:
Andrew Sullivan reverses field so fast he should be trying out as a wide receiver for the Washington Redskins:

12:17 pm March 22: "Edwards Suspends Campaign":


Then, at 12:39: "Edwards Forges On":
What was that about priorities and values?
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You have to admit, it is one of those situations where nobody is going to ding Edwards for his decision. What kind of inhuman creature would attack a person after they have suffered a terrible personal tragedy? Oh yeah. I forgot.
 
Tricky said:
You have to admit, it is one of those situations where nobody is going to ding Edwards for his decision. What kind of inhuman creature would attack a person after they have suffered a terrible personal tragedy? Oh yeah. I forgot.
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Several of the "Jersey Girls" have become full-blown 9/11 "truthers". At that point, my sympathy for them has been used up.
 
WildCat said:
Several of the "Jersey Girls" have become full-blown 9/11 "truthers". At that point, my sympathy for them has been used up.
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If that is true, then I now disagree strongly with them. It does not decrease my sympathy for their loss. If anything, it increases it. Not only have they lost their loved ones, they've lost their minds.
 
Tricky said:
Well, I looked at that thread and the only link to the Jersey Girls I saw was some twoofer blog. Got anything mainstream?
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Huh? The "twoofer blog" linked to was the primary source - they did the interview.
 
WildCat said:
Huh? The "twoofer blog" linked to was the primary source - they did the interview.
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And nobody followed up? Odd.

Anyway, let's end this derail. My point was that you are pretty safe if you praise people who are visited by personal tragedy. You are in the crosshairs if you attack people who are the victims of personal tragedy. I don't think that Andrew Sullivan is alone in giving Edwards kudos for however he dealt with the situation.

I don't know if many of you watched a movie from 1995 called "The American President". One of the twists of the movie (which was actually romantic comedy) was that the President (Michael Douglas) probably was elected because of sympathy after the death of his wife. Life imitating art again? But as all students of the American political process know, personal issues are of paramount importance in elections. If Edwards uses this issue to his advantage, he is doing no different than countless other politicians. If he has his wife's support in doing so, then who is harmed? He can't run without acknowledging the situation. He can't avoid questions on the situation. His wife wants him to run. What does anyone think he ought to do? Act like it is nothing?
 
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WildCat said:
Don't worry, he has enough for himself.



I do hope his wife gets well.
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Oh for the love of god, leave it alone. How many times can one fluff one's hair? Is there any appreciable difference from before he started to when he finished?
 
bozothedeathmachine said:
If he's not suspending his campaign I question the need for a press conference. If nothing's changing then the only thing it would be used for is to announce his wife is sick again. I may be coming across as a cynical <rule 8>-hole, but that just sounds like he's trying to play for sympathy.
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He's a presidential candidate. Everything that happens to him is news. If he didn't come out and announce it, it would come out in time, and then he'd be criticized for trying to hide that his wife was sick so as not to harm his candidacy.

Best to just come out with it right away and make your position clear - my wife has cancer, we'll continue to campaign, but I'll be with her when she needs me.
 
Tricky, I know you are an Edwards fan. So at great risk of offending you I say this, whether he puts his campaign on hold or not is irrelevant.

Sympathy votes aren't going to put him over other primary candidates who are over 20 percent ahead in the polls.

At this point he needs Hillary to stumble. Like big. Like call Obama the n*word big.
 
corplinx said:
*snip*

At this point he needs Hillary to stumble. Like big. Like call Obama the n*word big.
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There is an email chain letter circulating around that bashes the Clintons for all manner of depravity while in the White House. Point #14 (last but not least) indicates that the Clinton White House was responsible for pressuring Israel to release Palestinian prisoners, including Muhammed Atta, from their jails (as part of the OSLO process), and that Atta later went ahead to lead the attack on the WTC.

Here is the exact text as it was received by me a few days ago:
Thank you Bill Clinton ---
14. The last and most important point - thank you for forcing Israel to let Mohammed Atta go free. Terrorist pilot Mohammed Atta blew up a bus in Israel in 1986. The Israelis captured, tried and imprisoned him. As part of the Oslo agreement with the Palestinians in 1993, Israel had to agree to release so-called "political prisoners". However, the Israelis would not release any with blood on their hands. The American President at the time, Bill Clinton, and his Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, "insisted" that all prisoners be released. Thus Mohammed Atta was freed and eventually thanked the US by flying an airplane into Tower One of the World Trade Center.

This was reported by many of the American TV networks at the time that the terrorists were first identified. It was censored in the US from all later reports. Why shouldn't Americans know the real truth?
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The real truth? Anyone??? (hint: the above is not even close to disclosing the actual facts)

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Here we are, in 2007, with a vast time frame ahead before the national elections, and already it appears more and more likely that the campaigns will descend into the vile muck from which nobody will emerge clean.

Just sayin'
 
corplinx said:
Tricky, I know you are an Edwards fan. So at great risk of offending you I say this, whether he puts his campaign on hold or not is irrelevant.

Sympathy votes aren't going to put him over other primary candidates who are over 20 percent ahead in the polls.

At this point he needs Hillary to stumble. Like big. Like call Obama the n*word big.
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Oh, you're not offending me. I know he's currently a long-shot, yet stranger things have happened. I do regard it as sort of a shame, though, that so many primarys have moved up their dates such that after "super Tuesday", there is little chance for a realignment.

...
ETA: I regret that I have given the impression that I am offended by people giving an honest, non-rancorous political assessment.
 
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wolfgirl said:
He's a presidential candidate. Everything that happens to him is news. If he didn't come out and announce it, it would come out in time, and then he'd be criticized for trying to hide that his wife was sick so as not to harm his candidacy.

Best to just come out with it right away and make your position clear - my wife has cancer, we'll continue to campaign, but I'll be with her when she needs me.
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I think the fact that he had a press conference rather than a simple press release shows that he's using this as an opportunity to get a few headlines for his flailing presidential bid.

In addition, during this conference, he didn't actually announce that he would continue with his run until somebody in the audience actually asked him. Why did he wait for someone to ask? Seems minor but I think it is very telling.

He actually seems to be a decent guy, but sorry, politics as usual.
 
corplinx said:
Tricky, I know you are an Edwards fan. So at great risk of offending you I say this, whether he puts his campaign on hold or not is irrelevant.

Sympathy votes aren't going to put him over other primary candidates who are over 20 percent ahead in the polls.

At this point he needs Hillary to stumble. Like big. Like call Obama the n*word big.
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I think it's awfully early in the campaigns to be declaring anyone either in or out of the race. We've still got over 19 months, for pete's sake! Polls are rather meaningless at this point.

Remember 2002? Everybody almost assumed that Howard Dean had the Democratic nomination locked up. Then along came Iowa and suddenly everyone was looking around, blinking, going, "Wait a minute, John Kerry? Who's he?" I honestly hadn't even paid any attention to him until then, and I think a lot of the country felt the same way. And all Dean had to do to go into a downward spiral from there was "the scream heard 'round the world." He didn't have to do anything big like call anyone the "n" word.

So let's not get carried away with who's going to win already. There's a lot of time and a lot of stuff that can happen along the way.
 
hgc said:
Now, if it was Gingrich's wife, there'd be a nasty surprise in the recovery room... :D
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Let's keep personal lives out of Presidential politics!
--Gingrich 2007

New heights of hypocrisy have been reached. Newt raises the bar.

Maybe he'll offer a contract with America to bring honor and dignity back to the White House.

But when was it there before?
 
wolfgirl said:
I think it's awfully early in the campaigns to be declaring anyone either in or out of the race. We've still got over 19 months, for pete's sake! Polls are rather meaningless at this point.

Remember 2002? Everybody almost assumed that Howard Dean had the Democratic nomination locked up. Then along came Iowa and suddenly everyone was looking around, blinking, going, "Wait a minute, John Kerry? Who's he?" I honestly hadn't even paid any attention to him until then, and I think a lot of the country felt the same way. And all Dean had to do to go into a downward spiral from there was "the scream heard 'round the world." He didn't have to do anything big like call anyone the "n" word.

So let's not get carried away with who's going to win already. There's a lot of time and a lot of stuff that can happen along the way.
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John Kerry was actually the early favorite. Howard Dean was a shooting star who went from unknown to leading the polls. He peaked early, lost Iowa, then then an unfortunate representation from him firing up his supporters went out and his campaign was basically dead.
 
DoubtingStephen said:
Let's keep personal lives out of Presidential politics!
--Gingrich 2007

New heights of hypocrisy have been reached.
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Actually, go back and study when and why Newt got involved in Clinton impeachment and you will this isn't the case at all.
 
All politics aside, I don't wish this on anyone. Edwards and his wife clearly came to a decision, and he's going to keep moving on his campaign. I think he'd make a better candidate than Hillary, (then again, who wouldn't?), but as to this being played on the sympathy angle, I don't see that happening, or if it's tried, working.

As to Ann Coulter, I thought she should have been gagged ages ago, but that's just me.
 
Tricky said:
ETA: I regret that I have given the impression that I am offended by people giving an honest, non-rancorous political assessment.
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I am deeply offended by your lack of rancor, Tricky. This is the Politics forum, man, have you decency? :D

DR
 
DoubtingStephen said:
Let's keep personal lives out of Presidential politics!
--Gingrich 2007

New heights of hypocrisy have been reached. Newt raises the bar.

Maybe he'll offer a contract with America to bring honor and dignity back to the White House.

But when was it there before?
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When George Washington was president.

DR
 
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