Tuesday, March 13, 2007
An insight into the character of John Edwards?
If true, this story reflects rather poorly on the character of John Edwards:
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards was skeptical about voting for the Iraq war resolution and was pushed into it by advisers looking out for his political future, according to an upcoming book by one of his former consultants.
Democratic strategist Bob Shrum writes in his memoir to be published in June that he regrets advising Edwards to give President Bush the authority to go to war in Iraq. He said if Edwards had followed his instincts instead of the advice of political professionals, he would have been a stronger presidential candidate in 2004....
Shrum's book, "No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner," provides an account of Edwards' private discussions leading up to the decision. The Associated Press obtained excerpts from uncorrected galley proofs of the book to be published June 5 by Simon & Schuster.
Shrum writes that Edwards, then a North Carolina senator, called his foreign policy and political advisers together in his Washington living room in the fall of 2002 to get their advice. Edwards was "skeptical, even exercised" about the idea of voting yes and his wife Elizabeth was forcefully against it, according to Shrum, who later signed on to John Kerry's presidential campaign.
But Shrum said the consensus among the advisers was that Edwards, just four years in office, did not have the credibility to vote against the resolution and had to support it to be taken seriously on national security.
Not surprisingly, John Edwards says that Bob Shrum is lying. He really has no choice, for Shrum has accused Edwards of voting for war for no reason other than naked political ambition. Edwards cannot afford to let that accusation stand, can he?
19 Comments:
By 
Angevin13, at
Tue Mar 13, 08:34:00 PM:
First, John Edwards is bullied by the nutroots into dropping from the Nevada debate (if he just would've waited a little while, Harry Reid and the Nevada Democratic Party would've done his capitulating for him.) Now, it's revealed that his political advisers pushed him into voting for the Iraq War in 2002. This revelation certainly doesn't help his already strained image as a future strong president and commander-in-chief.
And while we're on the subject of John Edwards, I came across a great summation of him from a reader of the DesMoines Register: "And we're supposed to believe that this guy can pull off a national health care bill? He can't even cross swords with Chris Wallace, let alone the US Congress."
By allen, at
Tue Mar 13, 09:29:00 PM:
By 
, at
Tue Mar 13, 09:46:00 PM:
C'mon now - how can one draw a conclusion from all this other than the one that Edwards is a terminal weenie?
By Escort81, at
Tue Mar 13, 10:40:00 PM:
John Edwards is not going to be the nominee of the Democratic Party, so I am not sure how much this story really matters, other than the appropriate "weenie" conclusion. Edwards is a plaintiff's attorney, pure and simple, and that disqualifies him in the eyes of many independents and all Republicans. I believe that there are many people (I know several) who voted for Gore in 2000 and Kerry in 2004 who would vote for any Republican rather than vote for Edwards in the 2008 general election.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Tue Mar 13, 10:43:00 PM:
This comment has been removed by the author.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Tue Mar 13, 10:55:00 PM:
Character John Edwards in the 1942 movie serial "Captain Midnight": "Well, don't stop me, man. I just escaped from a gang of cutthroats. I'm on my way to government headquarters to protect my invention."
Source:
Internet Movie Database
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0034577/quotes
By Christopher Chambers, at
Tue Mar 13, 11:08:00 PM:
"If this is true..." Holy Moly, get a talking point over Hannity, TH! Then he can spin it up for O'Douchewad. Jesus Christ when will this crap end? Dubya as 1) a coke head, 2) the beneficiary of whiteboy affirmative action 3) retarded (thus necessitating point #2--I don't hear you impuning his character. Hell, Thomas Jefferson screwed a 14 year old black girl who happened to be...oops...his human property, andpropery rights trump human rights, as we all know. Was he,too, a weenie? I got a whole lovely list. Care to challenge me, folks?
By Assistant Village Idiot, at
Tue Mar 13, 11:24:00 PM:
Nah, it's beneath my dignity to duel with an unarmed man.
Hey, I know you think you're a smart guy and all that, but this is just silly. Focus. Stay on topic.
By , at
Wed Mar 14, 12:03:00 AM:
OOOOO Chrissy, you sound so he manish ..wanna challenge me?
Guess they had a quota that needed filling at Princton.
If you're so gutsy why are you ducking Habu's question about black slavery etc?
Sounds like Sissy Chrissy or Miss Prissy Chrissy to me..
Wanna challenge me? What's that all about mulatto man?
By , at
Wed Mar 14, 12:16:00 AM:
The only reason KERRY selected EDWARDS as his running mate was that their both a pair of flip floppers
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Wed Mar 14, 01:12:00 AM:
Re: "mulatto man"
I'm gone, folks. I'm not reading this kind of garbage.
Sincerely,
DEC (a white, blue-eyed Republican)
By , at
Wed Mar 14, 05:20:00 AM:
The more interesting game is to estimate how many politicians who voted to go to war with Iraq did it for political reasons.
By , at
Wed Mar 14, 10:23:00 AM:
DEC,
Sorry to see you go over a comment made by an anonymous individual.
Why not stay and state your opinions, ignoring those who aren't worthy of your time?
If you retreat from the field every time an invective is uttered then you capitulate to that tone and type.
I don't know your age but it would be a rare instance for an adult in this country not to have been faced with verbal hostility. That and the reinforcement provided to the PC crowd who now dominate practically all intercourse on an ever narrowing field would seem imprudent given our rights of freedom of speech. A freedom worthy of protection.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Wed Mar 14, 11:04:00 AM:
This comment has been removed by the author.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Wed Mar 14, 11:11:00 AM:
With freedom comes responsibilities, Anonymous. And it is the responsibility of every decent American to speak up against those who undermine the best qualities of modern American society.
I remember segregation. I spent part of my childhood in the North and part of my childhood in the South. I am white. As a little kid I enjoyed sitting on the backseat of a bus. At the age of eight, riding a city bus alone from school in Charlotte, NC, a white bus driver ordered me out of the back of the bus. He told me that section was for African-Americans. (He used another term.)
I left the bus rather than obey. I walked home in the rain.
That incident occurred before the famous Rosa Parks incident.
I do business in 43 countries. The economic well-being of America depends on the country's success in the global marketplace. Most of those people are not Caucasian. They watch and they read.
Racists have the right to say things in America. And I have the right not to listen in America.
Political correctness is not the problem on this thread.
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Wed Mar 14, 12:59:00 PM:
P.S. Sorry for the grammatical mistakes in my last comment. I was in hurry to get to a meeting.
By , at
Wed Mar 14, 08:04:00 PM:
What meeting? Internet Addiction Anonymous?
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Wed Mar 14, 08:24:00 PM:
No, Zhombre, a business meeting. I believe in multitasking. I often leave this blog on one of my computer screens when I talk on the phone to domestic customers during the day and overseas customers at night. This blog with its right-wing and left-wing commenters gives me some insight into American personal opinions on international issues.
By Assistant Village Idiot, at
Wed Mar 14, 10:59:00 PM:
I am not sure what the best response to anonymous would be, but I agree with DEC that some response was needed. The comment was unacceptable, and whatever social pressure we can should be applied.
