Running for his son: Teen's death changed Edwards' life

Boston Herald ^ | 7/7/04

[Jenya]

What happened to the other child in the car?

Good question. Apparently, Edwards didn't think that little fact was important enough to include in his story.

[anniegetyourgun]

It's another reason they selected Edwards - to balance Kerry's ever-present sad-sack look.

[marty60]

What do you expect from evil Dums. If it's dead VN buddies for Kerry or Edwards tragedy. Dums love dead people. Look at The Thing, he never missed a funeral. biting his lip and fake tears (Ron Brown) This is going to get reallllly sickening before it's all over.

But look at it this way, this clearly indicates what the dums think about the American electorate. they want the American people to vote for them because they are sad that people die, and because they would have a VP they could look at without getting the willey's.

[Cyber Ninja]

I truly wish JE’s son had lived a long full life.

I wish the same for all the children that have been aborted over the years.

Where is JE’s grief for them?

[Ima Lurker]

Running for his son:

Oh my!! Just when you think the dims can't sink any lower, they do!

[Former Proud Canadian]

I waited for someone else to say it first.

[onyx]

BUMP.


until now............

[mtbopfuyn]

"He's gonna walk around with that happy face, *..*-eating grin glued on his mug."

I'm getting real tired of the baby kissing, too.

[mel]

Any parent that would give a jeep to an inexperienced driver needs to have their head examined. I am saving my 91 volvo 240 for my soon to be driver

[stands2reason]

Well it should at least quieten the noise about Dubya's "smirk."

[monkeywrench]

How important is that to the campaign or john edwards?

[dead]

That sounds pretty tasteful.

I wonder if it lights up at night, like a disco ball.

[Beeline40@aol.com]

I lost my son to cancer 12 years ago, so I think I can say this with some authority. I saw that coming this morning. FOX devoted some time to this tragic episode in Edward's life. I think if he allows this, he is despicible. People are curious. That is fine, but to constantly bring it up at rallies and so forth deminishes his son's memory. In my opinion.

[joedownthestreet]

This article is so beneath any level of journalistic integrity, and impartiality that it doesn't even deserve to be reprinted on this site. Losing a child is a personal matter, and should not be a matter for the media to discuss. My prayers go out to Mr. Edwards and his family, I'm sure his son was a fine young man, but I am still not going to vote for him.

[Squantos]

Using his own sons demise for self gain shows the kind of trash this sort really is.......

Stay safe Jenya !

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

It's a terrible shame that John Edwards lost his son, but it seems opportunistic to say that he's running for his deceased child.

I agree. I ache for any parent who has lost a child. I can only imagine the lifelong pain.

However, the Edwards are not unique. It happens every day, somewhere in this country. Using this for some kind of sympathy support or special "reason to run" is sickening. Furthermore, I don't buy it. I don't even see the connection.

[muawiyah]

Losing a child, per se, might well be "personal", but the kid got himself kilt' (using North Carolinian) driving his daddy's dangerous vehicle on a public road.

Another kid in that vehicle was either hurt or kilt (using NCian again).

Sounds pretty public to me and well worth discussing, particularly since Edwards is the kind of guy who would ordinarily find reason to fleece the other side in the case!

[Rastus]

Ann Coulter had a pretty hard-hitting column that partly dealt with Edwards and his son:

---

At least when Gephardt exploits a family tragedy, he doesn't expect praise for not exploiting a family tragedy. John Edwards injects his son's fatal car accident into his campaign by demanding that everyone notice how he refuses to inject his son's fatal car accident into his campaign.

Edwards has talked about his son's death in a 1996 car accident on "Good Morning America," in dozens of profiles and in his new book. ("It was and is the most important fact of my life.") His 1998 Senate campaign ads featured film footage of Edwards at a learning lab he founded in honor of his son, titled "The Wade Edwards Learning Lab." He wears his son's Outward Bound pin on his suit lapel. He was going to wear it on his sleeve, until someone suggested that might be a little too "on the nose."

If you want points for not using your son's death politically, don't you have to take down all those "Ask me about my son's death in a horrific car accident" bumper stickers? Edwards is like a politician who keeps announcing that he will not use his opponent's criminal record for partisan political advantage. I absolutely refuse to mention the name of my dearly beloved and recently departed son killed horribly in a car accident, which affected me deeply, to score cheap political points.

---

Ann Coulter's "The Party of Ideas"

[TalBlack]

"Edwards has avoided discussing his son's death and has never allowed it to be used as a campaign theme. But friends have said the tragedy was behind his decision to challenge Republican Sen. Lauch Faircloth in 1998, his first and only campaign before running for president and now vice president in the current election cycle. He had been mulling politics for years, and Wade had urged him to run."

If Edwards doesn't come out SECREAMING over articles like this one then he is indeed dragging his dead boy out of his grave to dance him about on the hustings for votes.

By the way: which of Edwards "friends" knows his feelings about not dragging his dead son into campaigns and went ahead and did it for him!? Yeah thats what I thought.

[NYCVirago]

Look at this tidbit, from The Raleigh News and Observer:

While interviewing consultants for the Senate race, Edwards said Wade's death was off limits. "He pretty much told every consultant -- he interviewed five or six -- that if you so much as write one word about my son or in any way use him for political purposes, you will be fired at that moment, and, to the extent that I can, I will sue you," Kirby said.

http://poynter.blogs.com/politics/2003/11/the_focused_pro.html

Think about that -- he threatened to sue people he was considering hiring if they so much as mentioned his son! I've never heard of any such politician threatening his staffers like that.