"Time For Edwards' Exit": Scandals, Dick Morris, and Tenacity

Through a "scandal that never was," the "John Edwards Love Child" story, consistently coming in third place in the primaries and a gentle velvet gloved scolding from Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, John Edwards isn't about to quit the campaign for the President. Anyone who knows John Edwards, former one time Senator from South Carolina, feisty civil court attorney, knows Edwards' tenaciousness, especially when it comes to his major occupation, running for President.

Dick Morris and Eileen McGann's piece in today's New York Post, "Time For Edward's Exit" is a hoot.

Morris and McGann have decided it's time for Edwards' exit from the Dem's campaign for President and we like how they tried to handle it, attempting to deliver a "pink slip" with a "velvet glove" touch.

To date, Edwards has been a passionate and effective advocate of the need for change. His opposition to special-interest funding of our politics and his good example in refusing to take funds from political action committees both merit our praise and admiration.

They point out that Edwards remaining in the race has unintentional or intentional consequences. It depends on what Morris and McCann's intent was in delivering this missive:

Edwards divides the anti-Clinton vote - and so undermines the prospects for the changes that he so passionately demands in our government. By staying in, he's helping deliver the nomination to the person whom he has described as the defender of the status quo.

They hit Edwards with "facts":

Just how hopeless is his candidacy? Realclearpolitics.com's average of national polls has him in third place - with Clinton at 41 percent, Obama at 35 percent and Edwards at just 15 percent. Even in South Carolina (right next door to his home state), he's polling at only 15 percent to Obama's 42 percent and Clinton's 30 percent.

What does this all mean? Let's try some perspective.

John Edwards has become the quintessential professional politician, his sole "employment" or vocation since running for VP on the ticket with John Kerry in the last election, Edwards has been "officially" campaigning for the 2008 Presidential race since December of 2006.Source - MSNBC

From the New York Times, January 6th:

Appearing on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” Sunday morning, Mr. Edwards said that he would not drop out of the race after the New Hampshire primary.

“This is the cause of my life, and I have no intention of stopping,” Mr. Edwards said. “I am in this through the convention and to the White House.

“Through the convention?” Mr. Stephanopoulos repeated, somewhat incredulously.

“Absolutely,” Mr. Edwards said.

“Even if you lose here, lose in South Carolina, lose in Florida?” Mr. Stephanopoulos continued.

“I am in this through the convention and to the White House,” Mr. Edwards replied.

The Scandal That Never Was....

The National Enquirer broke the "Love Child Scandal" story on Edwards back in December. The "second" such scandal to break, it detailed a very pregnant woman named Rielle Hunter ensconced in a ritzy gated community close to Edward's campaign headquarters in North Carolina:

The woman linked to Presidential candidate John Edwards in a cheating scandal is more than six months pregnant and telling a close confidante that Edwards is the father of her unborn child, The NATIONAL ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.

The NATIONAL ENQUIRER's political bombshell comes just weeks after Edwards emphatically denied having an affair with Rielle Hunter, who formerly worked on his campaign.

But The ENQUIRER has now confirmed not only that Rielle is pregnant, but she is also living in Chapel Hill, N.C. in a gated community, just a few streets away from Andrew Young, who has been a key official in Edwards' campaign. Source - DBKP - John Edwards Shared More Than Just Shampoo With Rielle Hunter

The MSM gave the story a wide berth. Not one single MSM organization looked into the Enquirer's charge that Edwards had an affair with Ms. Hunter. That she was now living rent free in an Edward's supporter's house, driving a car owned by a former Edwards campaign official and good buddy, Andrew Young.

Edwards was given a "Get Out Of Scandal Free" Card by the MSM. No mention of the "Love Child" was made by any of the MSM outlets.

Edwards was free to "campaign" focusing on the downtrodden, those who were getting "screwed" by "the Man."

"Hedging" on the Hedge funds

Edwards described his "work" for the hedge fund company, Fortress Investment Group, in May, 2007, as a "lesson in learning."

"I didn't feel like I understand, and to be honest with you still learning right now, sort of the relationship between that world and the way money moves in this country through financial markets," Edwards said.

Edwards said he also spoke to some Wall Street investment firms such as Goldman Sachs besides exploring the position with Fortress. He said his role was to advise the firm about what he saw happening economically in the United States and during his travels overseas. Source - newsmax

The people at Fortress really, really liked John Edwards, the man who's campaigning for the "little guy."

Fortress Investment Group, founded in 1998, describes itself as "a leading global alternative asset manager" with approximately $35.1 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2006. The company is headquartered in New York with affiliates around the world.

Fortress was the single biggest employer of Edwards donors during the first three months of the year. Donors who listed "Fortress" as their employer contributed $67,450 to Edwards' campaign and supporters who identified their employer as "Fortress Investment Group" gave $55,200 to the campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records. Source - newsmax

Edwards learned another lesson after it was discovered his "hedge fund" was foreclosing on the most innocent of victims:

Embarrassed presidential hopeful John Edwards promised yesterday to take millions of dollars of his own fortune out of a hedge fund tied to subprime lenders who foreclosed on victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The populist candidate - who has denounced such lenders - invested $16 million of his $30 million in assets in Fortress Investment Group. The Wall Street Journal reported that 34 New Orleans homeowners struggling to overcome Katrina's aftermath faced foreclosure suits from subprime-lending units of Fortress.

Yesterday, the red-faced Democratic candidate vowed to remove from his portfolio any Fortress funds that have a stake in those lender units.

"I will not have my family's money involved in these firms that are foreclosing on people in New Orleans," he said while on the campaign trial in Des Moines, Iowa.
Source - Free Republic

John Edwards, Professional Politician

From PBS, the 2004 Presidential Election:

Speculation about John Edwards' presidential aspirations date back to the 2000 campaign, when Al Gore mentioned the North Carolina senator's name as his second choice for a running mate on the Democratic ticket.

Edwards, a man with deep Southern roots, began 2003 as a top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, and before the election season was even under way, several magazines -- People, the New Yorker and the New Republic, among others -- had published profiles of the senator.

Edwards was elected Senator of South Carolina in 1998. In 2003, he announced his decision to retire and to run for President in the 2004 election. Failing to win the nomination for President, Edwards was chosen by the nominee, Senator John Kerry, as his running mate.

Kerry and Edwards were defeated in the 2004 election but by December 2006, Edwards was once again announcing his intention to run for President in the 2008 election. Source - Wiki

By our calculations Edwards has been both officially and unofficially running for the office of the Presidency longer than he was a Senator.

Morris and McGann feel it's time for Edwards to "gracefully" remove himself from the race with sugarcoated kudos. Surely both Morris and McGann know Edwards by now, that Edwards only does what Edwards wants to do.

At this juncture it's premature to declare either Obama or Hillary as a "sure thing." Edwards, a wily ex-civil attorney, knows this too. The race is far from over and Edwards is doing what he does best: run for President.

By LBG
Image - John Edwards 2008
Image - John Edwards 2004