BREAKING: John Edwards Will Continue Campaign Despite Wife’s Revived Cancer (REVISED)
EDITOR’s NOTE: We just posted a post about the two news reports announcing Democrat John Edwards would suspend his campaign. The Politico (one of the reports we cited) now has THIS POST about getting it wrong. But at the press conference Edwards announced that the campaign will go on. Here’s the latest at the top of this report AND we left the OUTDATED portion for you at the end when you click on the READ MORE option.
Democrat John Edwards campaign will go on after all, despite a reoccurance of his wife’s breast cancer. CNN reports:
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Thursday his wife’s cancer has returned but his bid for the White House will go on.“The campaign goes on,” John Edwards said at a news conference outside the couple’s home, contradicting earlier media reports to the contrary.
John Edwards said tests this week had shown his wife, Elizabeth, had cancer in a rib on her right side. He said the cancer is treatable but not curable.
“We are very optimistic about this,” he said, noting that the tumor is small in size and has a “relatively minimal presence.”
Elizabeth Edwards said she was “incredibly optimistic” and said her expectations about the future were unchanged.
“You can go cower in the corner and hide or you can go out there and stand up for what you believe in,” John Edwards said. “We have no intentions of cowering in the corner.”
Elizabeth Edwards said she was fortunate that she felt pain from a cracked rib and got X-rays for that which revealed the cancer.
Elizabeth Edwards underwent treatment for breast cancer after the 2004 campaign, in which her husband was the Democratic vice presidential nominee.
Elizabeth Edwards’ breast cancer, invasive ductal cancer, is the most common form of the disease, accounting for 70 percent to 80 percent of cases, according to the American Cancer Society.
Two earlier reports in advance of this news conference reported that Edwards would suspend his campaign. Here is our earlier post, which was overtaken very quickly by events:
This report was quickly oudated:
Democrat John Edwards is suspending his campaign for the presidency due and may drop out completely because his wife has suffered a recurrence of cancer, sources said Thursday.
“For him right now he has one priority which is her health and the security of the two young children,” said the friend.As for the campaign, “You don’t shut this machine off completely, but everything will go on hold.”
The Politico also had pro forma denial from the Edwards campaign about the suspension of activities. However, a candidate doesn’t cancel a campaign event and call a special press conference with his wife if there is no change in a situation. And “suspension,” in terms of the political realities of what it takes to plan, implement and fund a Presidential campaign in 2006 for 2008 means that it’s more likely than not that the Edwards campaign could come to an end.
NOTE: Clearly, we were wrong about what the press conference meant. It’ll be interesting to see in coming days what went into the decision and how it was made.
UPDATE: At The Politico, Ben Smith’s blog apologized for giving readers wrong information. The link is in our intro to this post. Here’s the bulk of the post:
A single, confident source close to John Edwards told me this morning that Edwards was “suspending his campaign,” and I posted it to the blog at 11:06 this morning.My source, and I, were wrong.
The source, whose anonymity I agreed to respect, spoke of the kind of grim prognosis Elizabeth Edwards herself just described hearing before a second round of tests came back. I trusted the source, somebody I’ve known for several years, and who has always been reliable.
And with less than an hour before Edwards was to announce, I unwisely wrote the item without getting a second source.
When the campaign pushed back harder than I’d expected, I added that information to the original item, but that doesn’t undo the damage.
12 Responses to “BREAKING: John Edwards Will Continue Campaign Despite Wife’s Revived Cancer (REVISED)”
This is really too bad for Edwards and I hope his wife gets through this okay.
In general terms I really like his populist message, and his willingness to own up to his mistakes as a Senator. However, I think he chances were still slim to none of being elected President. His best bet is to try to be a running-mate again.
This is a terrible shame. Edwards seemed like a candidate who was genuinely invested in helping the underclass in this country. I wasn’t sure that I was voting for him- his message was a little too close to the traditional liberal schpiel for my taste, but he was a very likeable choice, and a welcome contrast to what we have in office now. His wife in interviews is also likeable- down-to-earth but classy. I wish them the best-Edwards’ withdrawel is the nation’s loss.
BTW, I too think that despite his personable charm, he would have been knocked out by the two Democratic powerhouses Obama and Hillary.
Well, disregard what I said below, now that Edwards is back in the race.
The articles say that that cancer is not considered curable, which isn’t surprising. Generally, when a cancer spreads beyond its initial site–like when a lung cancer moves on to other organs–the long-term survival rate drops below 10%. Though people can live for several years afterwards with treatment.
It sounds like hers was caught before it had metastasized extensively, so mabye she’ll be lucky.
Please, spend your energy, prayers and time with your wife who will need
you by her side as she faces this struggle instead of continuing your campaign. You will not regret your decision.
Life Isn’t About Death, It’s About Hope…
Bad and sad news. Elizabeth Edwards, wife of presidential candidate John Edwards, spoke to us today about life and hope. The Edwards announced that Elizabeth’s cancer has returned. Both appeared vibrant, hopeful and positive. They, and especially Eliz…
Edwards has a snowball’s chance to get the nomination, as his poll numbers are plummeting in his birth state of SC. But he’s strong in Iowa since he’s lived there for most of the last year, so this Silk Pony still thinks he can steal the brass ring.
[...] My thoughts and prayers are with Mr. and Mrs. Edwards who both say that they’re positive. [...]
Isn’t he being self-centered, even if his wife (perhaps reluctantly, perhaps not) agrees to the campaign’s continuation?
And what campaign? Hardly anyone is going to fall for it — he loses all the intelligent votes immediately when he ways he’ll insist on health care expenditures even though he knows it will be deficit spending. He’s just buying the votes of those whose votes easily can be bought — with merely some cheerful, idealistic words and a Nice Smile.
(OK, well, after the media does its hatchet job on the GOP candidate…)
He’s not even a leader for Vice President (which I believe may well be the real goal of many Democratic “Presidential” contenders this time). Obama and even Al Gore(!) have better chances of becoming Vice President than Edwards.
“Congratulations” yourself. Asking if he is being self-centered is in no way crass. Now if you were discussing how Edwards’s campaign might be viewed, on the other hand…it’s not beneath him to be exploiting this for sympathy and boosted polls.
DLS, I think you do both the Edwards an injustice.
Elizabeth is not a shrinking violet, afraid to speak her mind to her husband (or anyone else). If she says she wants to go on, she means it. if she had said otherwise, he would have listened.
Also, with luck and good medical care, Elizabeth can stay alive and active for years. Bear in mind that people with chronic serious illness do better if they stay active and involved in the things they care about. They both care about what they’re doing; they both want to keep doing it.
What would you have them do? Retreat from public life in what amounts to a death-watch? Why?
I wonder if DLS would be so crass if Laura Bush had cancer? But the Beck boys hair did look good today.
BTW, both GOP frontrunners are cancer survivors- Giuliani has survived prostate cancer, McCain skin cancer- should they retreat from public life because of the possibility of recurrence??