Tuesday, August 14, 2007

On The Campaign Trail

Tuning around the cable this evening, I saw a re-run of a C-SPAN2 piece from Monday, a John Edwards campaign rally at a pizza place somewhere in rural (isn't it all?) Iowa.

First of all, let me say that I believe that this guy could be president. He's electable. He knows his shit; says all the right things. On the economy, can anyone out there disagree with what Edwards says about the dichotomy that exists? On education, he recommends shit-canning NCLB and, instead of punishing under-performing schools, would focus on giving schools what they need to succeed. On Iraq, he said if the war is still going on when he's elected, he'll immediately start bringing troops home. January 2008 is a long time off. Likely, some of the men/women serving over there will be on their way home by then. And, for the most part, isn't the war over now anyway? More and more, it seems to me we're a country (yes, even Bushies) looking for a way out while saving varying degrees of face. Like I said: Smart.

Best of all, that smug look Edwards sometimes wears was noticeably absent. Perhaps the heat in the pizza parlor, which he decried several times during his speech, melted it off his face like so much mozzarella.
One thing that bothers me about Edwards, though, is the deal with his wife. Granted, I cheered when she got it on with Anne Coulter on Hardball. But there's something really odd about the role of Elizabeth Edwards, a breast cancer patient, and how much she is a part of her husband's campaign. This could be because the woman has a gravity all her own. The pizza parlor people talked to her as much as they did her husband during the Q-n-A, wishing her well, talking about a time when the Edwardses together will take up residence in the White House.

Let me now speak frankly. From what I read, Mrs. Edwards' situation is not good. She is an ill woman with not a lot of time on her hands. Check out the story in that link and see all the stuff she's doing on her husband's behalf...and that of her kids, now that I think of it. Her schedule's almost as brutal as her husband's, even at this early state in the campaign. I look at her condition and weigh it against the lot she's been handed with her husband running for president and all and I have to say it just doesn't make sense to me.

Not that I expect them to be holed up in North Carolina, the entire family gathered 'round, waitin' for mama's time to come. The refusal to do so can easily be seen as honorable and it's played out the same way every day in homes across the country. Most of us know somebody who, when given a choice whether to fight or just suffer, chooses the more righteous path. But if all this running around causes Elizabeth Edwards to get sick, which in her shape could be really bad, how will that make him feel about having asked her to do some of the things she's done? How will their kids feel?

All the creepiness I feel about this, I think, extends from the idea -- and I have to stress this is only something I'm imagining -- that somewhere along the line there was a conversation between John and Elizabeth Edwards where they looked at her life expectancy and then looked at his chances for the presidency in 2008. Combined with his experience from 2004 and what they inevitably see as a weak field, it would appear that they decided to commit themselves to what I can only assume is the ultimate goal of any politician. I find that to be incredibly sad and, I'll admit, more than a little inspiring.

Posted by Unclejbird @ 7:45 PM