Edwards Doesn’t Withdraw: John Doe Weighs In
An interesting article at the New York Times about the reaction of ‘normal’ Americans to John Edwards’ decision to “continue his bid” for the Democratic nomination for president.
Some of the reactions:
- “If it were me, and my husband was running for president, I’d tell him do it. And if it was him who was sick, I think my husband would say the same thing to me — if this is your dream, go for it and we’ll take my illness each day as it goes.”
- “This, for me, encapsulates how women are regarded. If she was to say, I want to stay home and I need my husband’s support, she would be guilty of fracturing of the political union — for women there’s always a choice to be made.”
What’s wrong with these people. “She would be guilty of…etc.” who said that? Who’s saying that?
- “Childish… an act of total denial.”
Yeah, it’s better to surrender and wait for death to come and take you away. That’s the mature thing to do, isn’t it? Maturity, of course, has nothing to do with it. If he would have withdrawn it would have been perfectly understandable, but his current decision is understandable as well.
- “Courageous.”
- “The cancer is calling on them to do something different than what they’re doing. For her to carry on and keep on in the face of it — I don’t find an act of courage at all.”
- “Nobody’s business but theirs.”
- “The two of them know what they both need. It’s not easy on anybody, but it’s no time to sit and watch the grass grow. You have to keep your life going, because whether it gets to the terminal stage or not, you don’t know until it’s there.”
- “Don’t let this stop our lives, let’s go on just like we were and make believe this isn’t happening. Of course that’s the selfless thing for her to do, but if I go in to pull the lever and I know that person has a situation in his family that may divert his attention, I may not vote for him. That may sound rough, but it’s the president of the United States, and he should be able to spend his time being president.”
- “It was a very emotional feeling to watch this. You could see the connection these two have to each other, John and Elizabeth. For me it went to my core.”
- “My gut feeling is he’s staying in the race for her. Maybe personally, he would prefer to drop out but doesn’t want to upset her, make her feel that she’s the one that caused it.”
Read more reactions at the New York Times. As I said – I do not consider this to be anyone’s business, except for them. This is their decision and it should be their decision only.
9 Responses to “Edwards Doesn’t Withdraw: John Doe Weighs In”
I think John Doe is way too intrusive. He doesn’t know the Edwards and cannot know what is best for them.
The decision isn’t up for a vote!
Exactly Doma.
Go Elizabeth! What a classy gutsy lady. It is their decision. They made it jointly, as equals. They have by far the best marriage of any of the candidates. Their partnership and dedication to each other shows.
This is nobody’s business but theirs, obviously, but it isn’t such an unusual thing for people to make judgments based on what they see. I seem to recall pretty much everyone making a value judgment on a blowjob, a problem that I personally think is much less relevant than an emerging cancer. I think there are good and bad reasons for either staying in or leaving the race; guessing the couple’s reasons is just pure speculation. No one can know for sure how they would react to a similar situation. I think that if I had the cancer I wouldn’t want my husband to give up his dream for me, but if my husband had the cancer, I might very well give up the campaign, or at least push my spouse to accept that.
Here’s a thought. Say tomorrow it turns out Bill Clinton has an incurable cancer (as terrible as that would be). If Hillary decided to stay in the race despite that I’ll bet cash that the reaction wouldn’t be half as supportive. And though usually I object to those seeing sexism in every opposition to Hillary (who I personally don’t like) I think her being a woman would have a lot to do with it.
The decision is personal and is obviously theirs and theirs alone to make. Why do so many take it upon themselves to second guess them? Othres certainly cannot know what is in their minds and hearts. Maybe some are just sharks, circling around when they smell blood in the water.
I have always thought that Elizabeth Edwards was one of those politician’s wives who support her husband’s goals. I do think that it would hurt her to feel that her illness was going to get in the way of their common dream and that she would be the first to tell him to continue and also do her best given her health to still help him.
I have no doubt that this is a topic the Edwards’ discussed extensively. I can easily picture Elizabeth wanting life to go on as normal, tiring though campaigning may be.
Becoming President has doubtless been a goal of John Edwards’ for years. I’m pretty sure, at least, that he didn’t wake up one day a couple years back and say “Hey, I think I’ll run for President today…”
Until I’ve walked a mile in their shoes, I will not judge them. Just hours ago the Edwards learned their lives together will not go as maybe they planned/hoped. At this stage I’m sure they’re both numb and quite possibly in denial (I would be, I’m sure). Once they’ve finished all the preliminary consultations with her specialists, and everything starts sinking in “for real” they may go a different way. Only time will tell. I support the Edwards 100% how ever they ultimately choose. It’s clear that they are devoted to each other and neither will make decisions based on anything less than what’s best for Elizabeth and their family. And only they know what is best for them.
[...] Some of the reactions: – “If it were me, and my husband was running for president, I’d tell him do it. And if it was him who was sick, I think my husband would say the same thing to me — if this is your dream, go for it and we’ll take my illness each day as it goes.” – “This, for me, encapsulates how women are regarded. If she was to say, I want to stay home and I need my husband’s support, she would be guilty of fracturing of the political union — for women there’s always a choice to be made.” What’s wrong with these people. “She would be guilty of…etc.” who said that? Who’s saying that? – “Childish… an act of total denial.” Yeah, it’s better to surrender and wait for death to come and take you away. That’s the mature thing to do, isn’t it? Maturity, of course, has nothing to do with it. If he would have withdrawn it would have been perfectly understandable, but his current decision is understandable as well. Read more at The Moderate Voice. [...]