I care!

I donated to him, had faith in him, adored him and adore his family, so yea, I CARE.

That said, The time frame of this whole thing with the Edwards affair doesn't add up to me.

Edwards claims the affair happened in 2006 and he told his wife about it in 2006.

He announced his run on December 28, 2006.

I don't trust John, but I do his wife. If he admitted an affair to her in 2006, don't you think she'd have told him no way in hell should he run?

It has me rethinking why he dropped out before Super Tuesday. It puzzled me back then but I'm thinking perhaps it was closer to THAT time it came out in his marriage.

I hate that my faith in him was destroyed.

Before I get bombarded with I am such a puritan and to STFU, I have no problem with any agreements consenting adults have with one another in regards to their relationships. I do hate deceit and betrayal.

probably still going on and she is getting 15,000 a month??

Dunno how I did that.

for their family, except for that part, the part I can't get my head around. Even if she was completely understanding, and they've seen tragedy together, and that can make things hard, and even if she understood or tried to understand what he did and forgave him completely--

He was going to launch a national campaign and be covered in minute detail. His wife might understand--but anyone else? It's post-Monica and post-Gennifer Flowers and post-Donna Rice--but?

The American electorate is what it is. That neither of them stopped and said, "This is recent, this will get caught out, and it could be devastating to a campaign." (I wish I was a little less cynical about the effect of the affair on the marriage versus the effect of a scandal on a political campaign, but, well, I'm not!) But also--this story is mild right now. He's not elected to anything or running for anything and it can be kept kind of private--but if he were still running when this thing broke? It would be a circus complete with media clowns and performing elephants.

How can you be in public life and not know what it would bring out if it came to light? Still having young kids at home, still being young enough himself to think about 2012--if the affair in the first place was dumb, the decision to run not thinking it would be an issue seems dumber. And that much "dumb" seems like he made the decision alone. But another thought occurs to me--

You aren't touched with the prospect of death without thinking about making the moment count. And Elizabeth has--and I don't want to speculate too much or impute motives on a person I respect--but maybe cast this in a light based on what I've seen of her. Even if she didn't know the disease would come back around, she might have taken a gamble that she wanted to be around to see him fight for the White House--because even if he did have an affair, she still believed in who he is as a politician. And a person. And that takes a lot of faith and love. I can't damn her for that.

Love and hope--the ancients saw them as curses. They might have been right, sometimes. Ambition, they saw that as a curse, sometimes, too. All three can be forces that blind a person to the flaws that can damage them. That he dropped out when he did was almost a gift, if it spared his family the worst the media circus has to offer--and I hope it has.

I am not the type to bombard you for your opinion. I believe we all have our views and the the right to express those views.

Now, I know what John Edwards did was wrong! Let me first start off by stating that. Once you take those vows, you are suppose to stick to them no matter what! I am married and I have made that pledge to my wife and God that I will remain faithful until the day one of us leave this Earth.

Now, with that being said, I also believe that no man/woman is perfect. Regardless of the title they hold, they are bound to misstep somewhere. I feel as though John Edwards puts his pants on one leg at a time just like I do, and if he does something that I do not agree with, it is not up to me to judge him.

Finally, what I do not understand is the "selective morality" that goes on. Why is it more morally wrong for John Edwards to cheat than John McCain? Why is it more morally wrong for Bill Clinton to cheat than Henry Hyde, Bob Barr, or Newt Gingrich? From what I understand all of these men cheated, but when John Edwards and Bill Clinton do it, their names must be dragged through the mud.

(or should have, if they cared). They made a decision to vote for him knowing that he cheated on his wife.

Voters also knew about Bill Clinton with Gennifer Flowers and still voted for him. By the time the Monica affair broke out he was already on his second term. And still he left office with the highest approval rating.

Had Edwards came out with the story and then declared his candidacy, we could have decided for ourselves whether we wished to vote for him and to donate to his campaign.

It is not the affair itself; it is how it was kept secret during the campaign, knowing that these days it could not have kept long and knowing that once it broke it would have ended his current campaign.

Had he been our nominee, this would have been the end of not only our chances to take the White House, but also to win more seats in Congress.

of the lying politicians. Time and perspective will show that to you.

and considered myself lucky to have met him during both campaigns and to shake his hand.

And I, too, was surprised at the sudden suspension of the campaign.

No, it is not a private matter between him and Elizabeth. It is a betrayal of all of us who supported him, gave him money, voted for him and believed in him.

It is the poor judgment - by both of them - go go ahead with the campaign thinking that no one would find out. Had he been our nominee not only will our chances to capture the White House would vanish, also local races to increase the margin in Congress.

This is something that at least one of them should have realized. Had he come out clean and then declared his candidacy - who knows? Many of us still may have supported him. But to start this campaign with such a skeleton that was bound to be found out later is a poor judgment and a betrayal of our belief in him.

Edwards back in 2004.

so what does that tell you, it tells me that they don't really GIVE A SHIT!

My mechanic had an affair on her husband, I still bring my car to her, Why?because she is a good damn mechanic and I don't really give a shit about their personal life, they worked it all out, he didn't dump her, and she is still a goddamn good mechanic.

I don't think he told her that she shouldn't be a mechanic, maybe he should have? I don't know, all I know is they worked it out.

I'm happy for them.

SHIT HAPPENS.

:)

with even less faith in his word than before. Ah well.