Where's McCain's Comment on the Edwards Story?

by: Matt Stoller

Fri Aug 08, 2008 at 18:58


Has John McCain put out a statement on the Edwards scandal?  Here's Digby.

Many people, especially in the press, jumped to defend McCain against the evil New York Times on that one and there has been no follow up. But considering how everyone is excusing the flogging of this Edwards story on the basis of the fact that he lied to the press, I'm not sure it's in the country's best interest not to ask McCain about this again and talk to the women herself. What if it comes out that it was true after he's president? Why surely the press will be as honor bound to obsess over it as they were about Clinton and now Edwards, right? It's not about the sex --- it's about the lying, remember? (They've been saying on a loop that John Edwards was a breath away from the presidency, after all and he got about four delegates.)

I remember lots of people crying about the Vicki Iseman affair, saying that the real scandal was McCain's associations with lobbyists, and that the sex scandal piece was a distraction.  Well if he lied to the press about Iseman, launching a full scale assault on the New York Times, then one should treat him like John Edwards is now being treated.  

Personally I don't give a shit.  For all I know, Elizabeth Edwards gave her husband permission.  It's not unheard of.  I always thought John Edwards was something of a phony (which did not preclude my support at times) and that John McCain is a crazy old vicious man.  

But if the sin is lying and betraying your supporters, then isn't McCain on the hook here?
Matt Stoller :: Where's McCain's Comment on the Edwards Story?

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Where's McCain's Comment on the Edwards Story? | 30 comments
and yes (0.00 / 0)
And yes, it's easier for me to say this because I never invested myself into anyone's candidacy in the primary, but there was a reason I require demonstrative personal sacrifices on behalf of progressive values before I trust anyone in politics.

For all you Edwards supporters, I feel ya.  This sucks.

I voted for Edwards (4.00 / 3)
and hoped he'd be VP. He apparently cared less about it than I did. He learned nothing from Clinton or Hart or the rest of the strangely sexually needy narcissists who constitute America's political class. Flaunting their impunity seems to be their most uncontrollable drive. I don't give a shit, either, about the "infidelity", but we all have to work in the environment where we are, and Edwards had to know what happens when you get caught with your dick out in this wonderland of puerile pervert puritans. But, as with Clinton, keeping in his pants for a few years was too big a price to pay for getting a chance to work for all the changes he promised to work for. That's the unforgivable part.

Anyway, you did find the silver lining. All the newsbimbo salivating (and perhaps release of other precious bodily fluids) should make it well nigh impossible for them to keep ignoring McCain's sexual history. So for us former Edwards fanboys, perhaps we may be consoled to think that in the end, our hapless guy did us the greatest service of all.

[ Parent ]
Oh, they'll keep on ignoring McCain's affairs (4.00 / 3)

 He's a Republican. As we've seen with Newt Gingrich and David Vitter and others, their extracurricular sexual activities don't matter in the media world we live in.

 It sucks. Our media sucks. That's true and annoying. But that doesn't mean it's not reality. The standard for personal behavior is much higher for Democrats than it is for Republicans. And until the Democrats learn this and either (a) work to ensure a more level playing field in the media, or (b) make an all-out effort to resist these temptations, then I'm afraid we're in for some more such unsavory moments.

 If John Edwards and Eliot Spitzer were too dense to understand that Democrats aren't allowed to fool around, then maybe losing them as advocates isn't all that big a deal.

   

"We judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their actions. It is a great convenience." -- Howard Zinn

[ Parent ]
Trust??? (4.00 / 2)
I dunno Matt.  Maybe we have different things in mind when you say "demonstrative personal sacrifices."  But I've seen enough decent-seeming, hardworking activists with seemingly good hearts turn into depressingly unremarkable politicians once in office long for a sufficient period of time.  There are just all sorts of ways that people can get worn down, seduced, misguided, whatever.

We simply lack the sort of strong civic culture that routinely kept thousands and thousands of politicians on track during the New Deal Era and even into the 1970s.  I'm not making excuses for anyone here.  I'm just saying that a crucial part of what's needed here is a much improved culture and set of institutions that keep folks in touch with their better side.

When you have a vital political culture committed to inclusive, egalitarian values, then that's a culture you can trust, and individuals who come out of it will reflect that as well.  It's easy to break a twig, even a noble one.  But a bundle of twigs, not so much.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

[ Parent ]
that's a tall order (0.00 / 0)
"a crucial part of what's needed here is a much improved culture and set of institutions that keep folks in touch with their better side."

You found a great, big picture way of saying it.  I can't zoom out any further, except maybe to hit the spiritual level: we need a commitment to unselfishness and compassion that is stronger than mere culture; then people won't get bogged down when the system lets them down.  Public servants need the strength of a commitment on a religious-level (they dont' have to be religious, of course).

I wonder if it really was so different in the new deal era.  Was there really that much more commitment, except in isolated instances?  Surely there was corruption and ennui and all that.

[ Parent ]
Thanks (4.00 / 2)
and thanks for pushing against the BS that comes around every time a Democratic politician has a sex scandal. Edwards isn't our savior, but he ain't the antichrist either. He's a politician who made a very stupid mistake.
[ Parent ]
damn right he is (4.00 / 4)
and there was an LA Times story just a few weeks ago proving that McCain lied about the affair w/ Cindy that ended his first marriage.

Wonder if anyone in the press will bring that up.

Um. (4.00 / 1)
For all I know, Elizabeth Edwards gave her husband permission.

Just for the record, the wording of John's statement seems to rule that possibility out.

Tired of the double standard (0.00 / 0)
Well if he lied to the press about Iseman, launching a full scale assault on the New York Times, then one should treat him like John Edwards is now being treated.

Absolutely.  

War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength; McCain/Palin 2008

The double standard sucks (4.00 / 1)

 But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

 I'm sure the Democrats see David Vitter and Newt Gingrich and Larry Craig and John McCain and many others getting away with this kind of thing and suffering zero political consequences for it.

  So they probably think they can get away with it, too. And are shocked when they don't.

  In a nutshell, this is why Democrats lose elections they should win. No awareness of our media culture.

  If you're a Democrat, you need to keep your zipper up. Don't like that rule? Work the refs. That's what the Republicans do.  

"We judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their actions. It is a great convenience." -- Howard Zinn

[ Parent ]
An easy yes - if we can get the goods on the story (0.00 / 0)
But can we?

QT

Visit the Obama Project


WindOnWater.net



I'd say we give the Edwards family a break .. (4.00 / 4)
if you don't want to believe me .. go check out the top of the rec'd diaries over at the Great Orange Satan .. while I am disappointed in John ... it doesn't dim my respect for Elizabeth at all .. she's the hero to me
The right focus (0.00 / 0)
This is exactly right, and it should have been your comment from the beginning rather than the overly dismissive original post and the over-the-top reaction to the comments to that first post.
Elizabeth Edwards posts on dailykos (4.00 / 5)
The last sentence:

I ask that the public, who expressed concern about the harm John's conduct has done to us, think also about the real harm that the present voyeurism does and give me and my family the privacy we need at this time.

Elizabeth Edwarda statment

New Jersey politics at Blue Jersey.

I Agree, However (0.00 / 0)
I agree that this kind of celebrity voyeurism is sick. But the fact is that I can't change that. What I can change is who I vote for and who I work for.

When I decide to work for a candidate, I'm putting faith in that person that he's not going to go around committing breaches of etiquette which will doom the campaign and the party.

[ Parent ]
I m not sure what you mean by faith in a candidate (4.00 / 2)
perhaps thats the real problem. THey are politicians and humans. Not gods.
[ Parent ]
Faith (4.00 / 1)
I don't have faith in them to be my god, but sometimes you do put faith in one to be good enough to win an election and do something positive with the power.

A politician who can't see that something so obvious as a sexual affair is a major obstacle to both is a politician who needs to get out of the game.

[ Parent ]
the problem is the American people (0.00 / 0)
as I told someone else today- there are two ways to look at this. And the more difficult one is to look in t he mirror at yourself to figure out what your reaction says about you. The easy one is condemnation of Edwards. No worries- you are in the majority.
[ Parent ]
I Agree, However (0.00 / 0)
I agree that the bigger problem is that the American people care about crap like this.

The thing is, I can't change the American people. But this can serve as a warning to future politicians that if you think you can be the one who will get away with it, you need to think again.

[ Parent ]
What Is Politics? (0.00 / 0)
Politics is the art of making people like you -- not making the ideal perfect people like you, but making real people like you. If you don't understand that extramarital sex will make people not like you, then you're not cut out for politics.

The best politicians understand that the game is: make a lot of idiots like me so that I can do something positive, and maybe the next generation might not be so stupid.

[ Parent ]
The Issue Is (0.00 / 0)
How could John have asked for my support while full well knowing that this scandal could blow up at any moment and thus doom him and the entire Democratic party?

I don't care about his personal life. Maybe his wife gave him permission. Maybe she didn't. I don't care. That's none of my business.

What is my business is that as a politician, he should have known better. Being a politician means that you don't get to do shit like this. That's unfair, but it's the price you pay if you want power. It shouldn't weaken one as a public figure to have the "wrong" kind of sex, but the fact is, that it does.

John Edwards should have known better. How dare he try to take the Democratic party down with him just so he could get laid.

Cut them some slack. (4.00 / 1)
They're still trying to figure out how to tie this to Obama in the most vile and disgusting ad possible.
McCain was sweatin' it when asked about this today (4.00 / 2)
McCain turned red in the face, stiffened up and looked very nervous as he replied, "no comment" to a reporter's question regarding the Edwards affair.

This is not a subject McCain wants to broach.

Therefore (0.00 / 0)
Let's hope it stays alive as long as possible.
[ Parent ]
From a strategic point of view... (4.00 / 4)
...this could be a net gain for our side. McCain was getting a pass on his adultery, but now the media is in a sex-crazed frenzy. With a little luck, this could be a very nice parting gift from John Edwards.
 

"Don't hate the media, become the media" -Jello Biafra
[ Parent ]
If we had an honest media... (4.00 / 1)

 ...that will happen.

 We don't.  

"We judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their actions. It is a great convenience." -- Howard Zinn

[ Parent ]
Anderson Cooper (4.00 / 4)
peed all over himself tonight with excitement over this "big story."  

David Gergen, doing his most serious impersonation of an important person, allowed as how the acts themselves are private but you can't lie. So, essentially, they are private unless and until someone asks.

Then, with a straight face, they said "in other news" Russia has invade Georgia.

Shining beacons, all.  

John McCain doesn't care about Vets.


If republicans aren't interested in public morality (0.00 / 0)
The idea that they would be interested in private morality seems a little absurd.

Of course they are interested in publicly castigating they don't agree with for their morality, but thats it.

The liberal wiki
Send an email to terra@liberalwiki.com

its nice to see (0.00 / 0)
the gop talking heads being so understanding and caring about this behavior, normally i would expect them to attack like the blood starved thugs they are, could there be another reason for this guarded response, i think so, their nominee is even more vulnerable because he has an even more sorted past, but lets not confuse the situation with the real facts shall we.

go ahead gop thugs, attack, we will have an appropriate response, so i dare you, bring it on.

Republicans are just glad to have normal sex scandals (0.00 / 0)
Republicans consider it a beneficial news story when one of their own is simply accused of having a heterosexual affair, as opposed to trying to pay a cop in a bathroom to let you give him oral sex, or trying to come on to someone in an airport bathroom, or trying to give oral sex to your sleeping male friend...

For all I know they secretly high-5 when John McCain is accused of even being able to have an affair with a woman.

Where's McCain's Comment on the Edwards Story? | 30 comments
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