John Edwards Redux
June 17, 2013 - by
It took the critics no time to pounce on the news that John Edwards is opening a new law firm.
A Republican friend e-mailed: “Is it a coincidence that Edwards reactivated his license, set up a speaking engagement, and leaked the idea of a new firm all within weeks of Mark Sanford’s return to Washington?”
That’s a good one. But it’s time to give Edwards a break.
Yes, he screwed up royally. And he still is paying the price. He blew a good chance to be President. He has been publicly shamed. He was hounded by federal prosecutors and tried by jury. Every time he pops up his head, he gets tabloid-bashed.
But he did right by staying out of sight for a year. He has a lot to offer, especially if he helps people who have no voice or other recourse. Edwards had the courage as a presidential candidate to talk about issues that no other presidential candidate has since Robert Kennedy in 1968: people in poverty, people without health care and people without jobs and hope.
Looking back, perhaps Edwards should have taken more time to absorb the death of his son Wade. Wade died in April 1996, and Edwards started running for the Senate in December. For 10 years, he ran for office. Maybe he tried to run away from grief. In the end, he ran into trouble.
Then he had to stop running. He had to walk the path of grief, suffering and reflection – on Wade’s loss, Elizabeth’s death and his own mistakes. Now life has given him a rare gift: a second chance.
I bet he’ll do well with it.
Posted in General, North Carolina - Democrats
John Edwards Redux
June 17, 2013/
It took the critics no time to pounce on the news that John Edwards is opening a new law firm.
A Republican friend e-mailed: “Is it a coincidence that Edwards reactivated his license, set up a speaking engagement, and leaked the idea of a new firm all within weeks of Mark Sanford’s return to Washington?”
That’s a good one. But it’s time to give Edwards a break.
Yes, he screwed up royally. And he still is paying the price. He blew a good chance to be President. He has been publicly shamed. He was hounded by federal prosecutors and tried by jury. Every time he pops up his head, he gets tabloid-bashed.
But he did right by staying out of sight for a year. He has a lot to offer, especially if he helps people who have no voice or other recourse. Edwards had the courage as a presidential candidate to talk about issues that no other presidential candidate has since Robert Kennedy in 1968: people in poverty, people without health care and people without jobs and hope.
Looking back, perhaps Edwards should have taken more time to absorb the death of his son Wade. Wade died in April 1996, and Edwards started running for the Senate in December. For 10 years, he ran for office. Maybe he tried to run away from grief. In the end, he ran into trouble.
Then he had to stop running. He had to walk the path of grief, suffering and reflection – on Wade’s loss, Elizabeth’s death and his own mistakes. Now life has given him a rare gift: a second chance.
I bet he’ll do well with it.
Posted in General, North Carolina - Democrats