How John Edwards Almost Weinered America

At last someone has written what I have been thinking about John Edwards for a long time: this perfidious clown might really have captured the Democratic nomination in 2008. Steve Kornacki in Salon:

Hillary Clinton would be the overwhelming front-runner for the 2008 nomination, everyone knew, the favorite of many of the big donors and pragmatic establishment types that Edwards had cultivated in '04. The only room would be to Hillary's left, where grass-roots Democratic voters and activists remained infuriated by the role their party's national leaders had played in authorizing the war. This was the turf Edwards would seek out. And for a while, it worked…

As the summer of 2006 wore on, a very real path to victory emerged for Edwards: Defeat Clinton in Iowa's activist-dominated caucuses, survive New Hampshire, then win again in Nevada with union support, and finish Clinton off in South Carolina, Edwards' native state.

Who knows what would have happened if at this same moment Barack Obama, then less than two years removed from the Illinois state Legislature, hadn't set out to help a few of his party's candidates in the '06 midterms and been overwhelmed by the size of the crowds that greeted him?

All this is speculation, of course, but it's not unreasonable. If Obama had not emerged, doesn't it seem possible, even likely, that the same portion of the Democratic electorate that was desperately seeking an alternative to Hillary Clinton would have drifted towards Edwards? Kornacki doesn't consider the fact that Edwards would not have enjoyed the disproportionate support of Black voters. I suspect that would have given Clinton the edge. But he still might have ended up on the ticket, if the Clinton people had chosen as Bill Clinton did in 1992.

Edwards on the ticket in either position would have been a ticking bomb for Democrats. It might have put John McCain in the White House with Sarah Palin a heartbeat away. Instead, we got Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Now I ask you: is this really the best we can do for candidates?

We need leadership in the White House now more than we have needed it since the Second World War. Were any of those people above, Senator Clinton included, the kind of person we should have taken seriously for the post?

There is also the Weiner factor. At least Rep. Weiner kept his junk in his boxers when he failed to keep the image off the net. John Edwards is an appalling person, yet he was a serious contender for the presidency. To put it mildly, there is something wanting in our political culture, and it isn't starch.

Comments

[larry kurtz]

President Obama will waste the sacrificial GOP boar next year. Thanks for the schadenfreude; it's so you.

[Billl Fleming]

KB, what's up with this pecker thing you got going on lately? Spring fever maybe? LOL.

[Billl Fleming]

...maybe it's time to break out the Boehner jokes.

[Ken Blanchard]

"What's up with this pecker thing?" Am I really supposed to answer that question? Don't ask me, ask the Weiner. Or Strauss-Kahn. Or Foreskin Man. I report. You decide.

[Bill Fleming]

No worries. Just funnin' ya, KB. Purely tongue in cheek rhetorical question, brother.

[Bill Fleming]

...I still think its a spring thing, KB.

"In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love."
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892)
Locksley Hall (1842)

[larry kurtz]

If you two get a rheum can i watch?

[Bill Fleming]

No.

[duggersd]

"At least Rep. Weiner kept his junk in his boxers when he failed to keep the image off the net. " From what I am reading, stay tuned. Andrew Breitbart says he will not show the pic, but I would not put it past some others.
On your other point, Obama has been a total failure. He has no idea of what to do about the economy and the only successes he has had in foreign affairs are the policies that extend what his predecessor has done. There are some people who will argue otherwise, but that is what they do. The Republicans have a few good people running and I am hopeful we will not get another McCain. If we do, then I am not very hopeful for the long rule and it will not matter which party wins the White House.

[Dave]

2011
In Wisconsin, Republican state Senator Randy Hopper, while claiming to still live with his wife, was actually living outside the district he represents with a much younger 25-year-old mistress. In early 2011, the mistress was hired by a conservative lobbyist firm and given a state employee's job at rate of pay much higher than the previous person doing the job.
2010
NRCC uses a strip club named Forty Deuce in Las Vegas for fundraiser gatherings with Pete Sessions in attendance. He claims there was no nudity involved. In Feb. 2009, Tao, another Las Vegas club of questionable family values and clothing requirements, was used.
RNC uses party funds to pay rich, young Republican donors to attend a Hollywood night club specializing in lesbians, bondage, and S&M.Washington Post March 30, 2010. Michael Steele appears to have authorized it at least indirectly as part of his "off the hook" PR campaign. A Young Republican who knew Steele personally named Erik Brown was involved.
Roy Ashburn, the conservative Republican California state senator, who was arrested in March of 2010 for drunk driving after reportedly leaving a gay bar, has acknowledged that he is gay. Ashburn, a divorced father of four, has repeatedly voted in opposition to gay rights, and in 2005 hosted a rally in favor of "traditional marriage." He has voted against expanding anti-discrimination laws to include sexual orientation, recognizing out-of-state gay marriages and establishing a day honoring gay lawmaker Harvey Milk.
2009
Mike Duvall, a Republican politician and a former member of the California State Assembly, resigned after his sex comments were broadcast in Sept. 2009. In the video, the married family-values crusader from Yorba Linda talks in graphic detail about women he said he slept with -- at least one of whom appeared to be a lobbyist with business before the utilities committee on which Duvall sat as vice chairman.
Paul Stanley, Republican former member of the Tennessee Sen., resigned from the state Senate effective Aug. 10, after his affair with a 22-year-old intern and a subsequent extortion attempt was revealed to the public.
Mark Sanford, governor of South Carolina, disappears during Father's Day weekend, returning to confess an extramarital affair in Argentina.
John Ensign, Senator from Nevada, refuses to resign after confessing to an extramarital affair with a married staffer, claiming she was trying to extort him. Later, it was learned he was attempting to pay her and her husband off through his parents and finding them jobs.
Alan David Berlin in all his glory
Alan David Berlin, He is an aide for Senator Jane Orie of Pennsylvania. He is also a furry who contacted a fifteen year old boy over the internet, and offered to "yiff" the boy in a panda outfit, while his parents weren't home. The parents discovered the graphic emails on the boy's computer and called the attorney general's child predator unit sometime in May. Police raided his home and discovered various furry outfits such as a wolf costume, as well as a cat outfit; all complete with two holes cut out at the undersides of the costumes. He is now arraigned in Dauphin County jail on a $250,000 bail.
Possibly Chip Pickering and a number of others.
Michael Duvall, California state Representative in September 2009:
"Graphic sex-bragging caught on tape". Then lies and denies it and blames media. Finally apologizes and resigns.
2008
Bruce Barclay, former Cumberland County commissioner, videotaped hundreds of sexual encounters — many with male escorts — using cameras hidden throughout his Monroe Township home.
Matthew Joseph Elliott, former aide to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, was convicted of sexual exploitation of a child.
Vito Fossella, the only Republican member of Congress from New York City, admitted to police to having a child out-of-wedlock when stopped for drunk driving.
Robert McKee, Republican delegate from Western Maryland, announced his resignation after authorities seized two computers, videotapes and printed materials from his Hagerstown home in a child pornography investigation. McKee also resigned his position as executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washington County.
Daniel Dean Thompson, 31, a Utah retailer of "family-friendly" tapes and DVDs (Hollywood films with the "dirty parts" removed), arrested and booked into the Utah County jail on charges of sexual abuse and unlawful sexual activity with a 14-year-old.
Derek Walker, former Eagle Scout and candidate seeking the GOP nomination in a race for north-central Pennsylvania district, was charged with felony burglary and criminal trespass stemming from an encounter last year with an ex-girlfriend, during which he allegedly broke into her home and used his cell phone to videotape her engaged in an intimate moment with another man.
2007
Robert "Bob" Allen, Florida state Rep. arrested in the afternoon at a Veteran's Memorial Park for solicitation of prostitution from an undercover male officer inside a restroom. According to the papers, Bob "offer[ed] to perform oral sex for $20". Bob later claimed that his offer had something to do with his being afraid of black people.
John David Roy Atchison, Republican prosecutor, was arrested for soliciting sex from a 5-year old girl, then killed himself three weeks later. At the time of his arrest, Atchison was an "assistant U.S. attorney" appointed by President Bush's attorney general.
E. Ozwald Balfour, chairman of the Utah Republican Black Assembly and elected to the Republican State Central Committee in 2007, even though he was awaiting trial on four felony counts of forcible sex abuse dating back to his arrest in February, 2005.
John Bryan, Republican city councilman, killed himself after police began investigating allegations that he had molested three girls, including two of his adopted daughters, ages 12 and 15.
Larry Craig, Republican Senator for Idaho, was arrested on July 11, 2007, by plainclothes police officer investigating complaints of lewd behavior in a Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport airport men's room. On August 8 in Hennepin County Municipal Court in Bloomington, Minnesota, Craig entered a guilty plea and paid a $500 fine. On September 1st, Craig subsequently announced his retirement from the Senate. Five days later, Craig changed his mind, renounced his retirement and began a battle to have his guilty plea overturned. Craig supported the Federal Marriage Amendment, which barred extension of rights to same-sex couples; he voted for cloture on the amendment in both 2004 and 2006, and was a cosponsor in 2008. However, in late 2006 he appeared to endorse the right of individual states to create same-sex civil unions, but said he would vote "yes" on an Idaho constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages when pressured to clarify his position by the anti-gay rights advocacy group Families for a Better Idaho. Craig voted against cloture in 2002, which would have extended the federal definition of hate crimes to cover sexual orientation.
John R. Curtin, Monroe County state Republican committeeman, was convicted of molesting an underage teenage boy and sentenced to serve six to 18 months in prison.
Richard Curtis, Washington State Rep., resigned from the House after reports of his sexual encounter with a male escort became public. Curtis has an anti-gay rights voting record. He voted against domestic partnerships for gays and opposed a bill prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Donald Fleischman, Brown County, WI, Republican Party Chairman, resigned his post after he was charged with two counts of child enticement, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child and a single charge of exposing himself to a child.
Larry Dale Floyd, Republican Constable in Denton County, Texas Precinct Two. Arrested for allegedly crossing state lines to have sex with an 8-year old child and was charged with 7 related offenses. Age 62 at time of arrest.
Ted Klaudt, former South Dakota State Rep., found guilty of four counts of second-degree rape of two teenage foster daughters.
Ronald C. Kline, Republican Judge in Orange County, CA, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on his home computer after six years of legal wrangling. In 2002, charged with child molestation and under house arrest on federal charges of possessing child pornography, political analysts still gave him a 50-50 chance of winning the March 5 primary for the Orange County Superior Court seat. He lost the election to a write-in candidate.
Joseph M. McDade, 75, was issued a summons on a charge of exposure of sexual organs, a misdemeanor that carries up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. The longtime Pennsylvania Republican congressman who served for 36 years in the House and now works for a Washington lobbying firm, has been accused of exposing his private parts to two women at a beach resort on Sanibel Island.
Patrick Lee McGuire, former former Flagler County Commissioner, surrendered to police after allegedly molesting girls between the ages of 8 and 13.
Jon Matthews, Republican talk show host in Houston, was indicted for indecency with a child, including exposing his genitals to a girl under the age of 17.
Joseph Monteleone Jr., Elyria city councilman, was found guilty of fondling underage girls and asking them to have sex with him.
Glenn Murphy Jr., chairman of the Clark County Republican Party and president of the Young Republican National Federation, resigned both posts, after the Clark County Sheriff’s Department began investigating Murphy for alleged criminal deviate conduct. A 22-year-old man claimed that Murphy performed an unwanted sex act on him while the man slept in a relative’s Jeffersonville home. During the investigation, a similar accusation from 1998 came to light.
Armando Tebano, Schenectady County Republican Chairman, pleaded guilty to fondling a 14-year-old girl.
David Vitter, junior Senator from Louisiana, became one of the few high-profile politicians to be implicated as a client of "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey.
2006
Steve Aiken, campaign manager for a Republican candidate for Congress in Arizona, former Quakertown, PA, police officer and self-proclaimed reverend, was convicted of having sex with two underage girls.
Louis Beres, chairman of the Christian Coalition of Oregon. 3 of his family members accuse him of molesting them when they were pre-teens. In August 06, Beres confessed.
Howard L. Brooks, Republican legislative aide and adviser to a California assemblyman, was charged with molesting a 12-year old boy and possession of child pornography.
Randall Casseday, Washington Times newspaper executive, pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a 13-year old girl on the internet.[57]
Larry Corrigan, Republican operative and Director of Operations and Budget at King County Prosecutor's Office, OR, was arrested for soliciting sex from 13-year old girls.
Carey Lee Cramer Political consultant and anti-Kerry ad producer, tried for molesting two young girls, one of whom lived with him, and was 8 yrs old; the other starred in an anti-Kerry commercial.
Mark Foley, Republican Representative, Florida Sixteenth Congressional District. Resigned after trying to solicit sex from male congressional pages via an instant messenger program. The conversations included his asking a sixteen-year-old "stud" whether his penis was erect and requesting that he take out and measure his penis. The cover-up involved Republican House Majority Leader John Boehner, Ohio Eighth Congressional District and Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Illinois Fourteenth District.
Jim Gibbons, then US Rep. and Republican candidate for governor, was accused by a Las Vegas casino cocktail waitress of grabbing her, shoving her against a wall and threatening her after she rebuffed his advances. Since elected Governor, Gibbons is under investigation by the FBI on corruption charges and is embroiled in what looks set to become a very messy divorce.
Ted Haggard, was fired as pastor of the New Life Church and resigned from his position as president of the National Association of Evangelicals in November 2006 after a former male prostitute alleged they had a cash-for-sex relationship. The man also said he saw Haggard use methamphetamine. Haggard confessed to undisclosed “sexual immorality” and said he bought meth but didn’t use it. After the scandal was publicized, Haggard entered three weeks of intensive counseling, overseen by four ministers. In Feb 2007, one of those ministers, Tim Ralph, said that Haggard "is completely heterosexual." As of early 2009, Haggard continues to receive counseling, and now he says that he is a “heterosexual with issues”.
Don Haidl, Assistant Sheriff of Orange Country, in violation of California's rape shield law, led a smear campaign against the child his son poisoned and then violently gang-raped on videotape, adding up to 24 felony counts. He said that his son "acted accordingly" because the child was a "slut".
Jeffrey Ray Nielsen, Christian conservative activist and lawyer with close ties to Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher and Scott Baugh, head of the Orange County Republican Party, was arrested for having sex with a 14-year old boy.
Jeffrey Patti, local Republican Committee chairman from Sparta, NJ, was arrested for distributing what experts call "some of the most offensive material in the child pornography world" - a video clip of a 5-year-old girl being raped.
Brent Schepp, Republican County Board Candidate was charged with molesting a 14-year old girl and killed himself three days later.
2005
Adelphia Communications Corp.: Donated large sums of money to some of the most conservative members of Congress. They are also the first cable company to offer hard-core adult movies to subscribers.
John Collins, of Eatontown, NJ, former music teacher and city councilman, pleaded guilty to sexually molesting 13 and 14 year old girls.
John Gosek Republican Mayor of Oswego, N.Y.was arrested after paying a confidential informant $250 to introduce him to two 15-year-old girls at a hotel.
Dr. W. David Hager Bush appointee, member of Focus on the Family's Physician Resource Council, player in movement to ban the morning-after-pill. Had an adulterous affair, before divorcing his wife he sexually abused her, including sodomizing her in her sleep.
Russell Harding, president of the New York City Housing Development Corp. under then-mayor Rudolph Giuliani, pleaded guilty to stealing more than $400,000 for his personal use and possessing child pornography.
Neal Horsley has called for the arrest of all homosexuals. During an interview with Alan Colmes on the Fox News Radio's The Alan Colmes Show, he admitted to having engaged in sex with a mule at age 11. "When you grow up on a farm in Georgia, your first girlfriend is a mule," he said. He then credited Jesus with forgiving and cleansing him of his "sin."
Horsley put photographs on his Web site of naked men engaging in homosexual acts and a nude woman engaging in bestiality amid shots of grotesquely maimed fetuses.
Jeff Miller, (R-Cleveland), Senate Republican Caucus Chairman in Tennessee and the sponsor of Tennessee’s Marriage Protection act, getting divorced (as of April 2005) because of an affair he was having with an office aid. Miller described the Tennessee Marriage Protection Act as a means of preserving the sanctity of marriage. He opposed an amendment, however, which stated that “Adultery is deemed to be a threat to the institution of marriage and contrary to public policy in Tennessee.”
Dennis L. Rader, AKA, The BTK Killer, Republican zoning supervisor, Boy Scout leader and Lutheran church president, pleaded guilty to performing a sexual act on an 11-year old girl he murdered.
Jeffrey Kyle Randall, Republican Mayor of Clarkfield, Minnesota, was sentenced to 275 days in jail for molesting two boys--ages ten and 12--during a six-year period.
Jean Schmidt, OH-2, though not herself implicated, employed a campaign manager (Joe Braun) in her 2005 election who once wrote an article condemning gay men for running sex ad profiles, and who was then accused of running his own sex profile on Collarme, an S&M sex site. The profile called for "submissives" to wear only a collar and handcuffs and to have hot wax dripped on them.

Serously, I could go on, and on, and on...
And then there's Newt... What's your point?

[Ken Blanchard]

Obviously Dave, you didn't get my point or you wouldn't have spent so much time refuting one I didn't make.

[Donald Pay]

Many of our Founding Fathers engaged in "dalliances," so you could say today's leaders are just following long-established precedent. Whether gay or straight, this philandering behavior seems to be the exclusive province of men, at least as outlined by Dave. Anyone know of a female politician caught with her panties down? Photo evidence would be nice. (Please, I'm not talking of porn stars who run as a novelty, but real politicians.)

[Dave]

Yesss Ken... That's why you always demonize anyone on the left by name and at the end complain about how the issue is a universal one... (that's why you will never get your CATO fellowship). Could you please reference the bit you wrote about Newt Gingrich cheating on his wife? What? It doesn't exist? He could, after all, be the next PRESIDENT of THE UNITED STATES!

[Jimi]

Dave,

C'mon Dude...that's not the point...you can't possibly be this dense. The point is that because of Edwards actions he would have given the Presidency to either Clinton or McCain, and America would not have had to suffer the ridiculousness of an Obama Presidency.
WOW!

"He could, after all, be the next PRESIDENT of THE UNITED STATES!"

No...Noot has zero chance of winning. We just want him out from to run cover and throw body blows at Obama on Policy...C'mon Dave Get in the Game!

[Ken Blanchard]

Dave: Newt is not now nor has he ever been at risk of occupying the presidency. Edwards was. That was Kornacki's point. The MSM bent over backwards to ignore Edward's misbehavior, something they would never have done for Newt. That is an advantage for Republicans and a terrible risk for Democrats, isn't it? As I going too fast for you?

[Billl Fleming]

still trying to get the point of this post. Edwards' disgraceful fall didn't occur until long after the dust settled in the wake of the Dem primary. Best I can do in terms of a short summary of your thesis here, professor, is, 'thank god for Barack Obama. Otherwise we would have had Edwards or Sarah Palin or John (which way is the wind blowing today) McCain. Or are you secretly wishing Hil and Bill were back in the White House?

[Jimi]

Bill,

"Edwards' disgraceful fall didn't occur until long after the dust settled in the wake of the Dem primary."

NO...it was happending during this period...remember his lover was being paid as a photographer for cover. The media refused to do their job, and the Demcoratic machine was hiding it from you. That's the point, if it had come out, Edwards would not had been a player.

[Bill Fleming]

Sometimes I think Jimi's reading comprehension skills might be a bit ...um... shall we say... challenged?

[FA]

At least Jimi is consistantly in the realm of reality and accuracy. Your in La-La Land!

[Amjade]

You can get what's called a Duo test at 4 weeks after potantiel exposure. This test looks for both antibodies and antigens. The standard antibody-only test has a window period of 12 weeks and it's recommended you go back to confirm the result at that time. However, the duo test is highly accurate (around 98%) and it's unlikely the result would change. American guidelines state 6 months, however this would only be necessary if you have some kind of autoimmune disorder. If you have an autoimmune disorder it is something you would be aware of so for the vast majority of people an accurate result can be found at 12 weeks and a very good indication at 4 weeks.If you always use condoms and if you understand how HIV is transmitted and practice safe sex you will not be at risk of HIV infection. This fear you have of HIV transmission indicates that perhaps it would be useful to talk with a health adviser or counsellor to help you learn to control this anxiety. You really won't be at risk if you know how to protect yourself.