Posted on 03/22/2007 9:46:14 AM PDT by Froufrou
Democrat presidential hopeful John Edwards focused on the health of his wife, Elizabeth, and his political future on Thursday, his personal and professional life inexorably linked.
The couple planned a news conference in Chapel Hill, N.C., to discuss their plans Thursday a day after visiting doctors who are monitoring Mrs. Edwards' recovery from breast cancer.
Rival Democratic candidates went through the motions of the campaign and family and friends waited anxiously for word of Edwards' decision.
In a morning staff meeting at the campaign's headquarters in Chapel Hill, senior campaign staff members declined to talk about both the announcement and Mrs. Edwards' health when asked when asked by rank and file staff, said fundraiser Lee Hamilton.
Hamilton said the campaign planned to keep whatever they are going to announce private until the noon news conference.
Any decision by Edwards about the future of his campaign would dramatically alter the race for the party's nomination. Edwards, who has registered double digits in public opinion polls, has been considered a top-tier candidate although he trails front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.
Edwards campaign officials refused to answer any questions about what the couple learned at the doctor's appointment or how it might affect Edwards' second presidential bid. Edwards had cut short a trip to Iowa to be with his wife but still attended a barbecue fundraiser Wednesday evening in Chapel Hill, their hometown.
The campaign had said Mrs. Edwards, 57, had a follow-up appointment Wednesday to a routine test she had Monday. The campaign explained that she had similar follow-ups in the past but they always resulted in a clean bill of health.
The campaign refused to describe what happened this time.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
prayers to the missus. these things make the largest mansion in the south irrelevent.
may God's will be done.
Looked more like free campaign time.
Good luck to her in beating the cancer.
Her health is giving him a convenient excuse to bow out, while remaining undefeated!
Does anyone believe for a minute he would drop out if he was leading in the polls?
Well? did anything happen?
I'm stuck in a cubicle here folks..
Edwards just used her to get free TV time on the national networks.
I always get the shivers when I see that junk science lawyer Edwards standing next to that woman, it looks like she should be his mother instead of his wife.
they needed a noon conference to tell us she had cancer again, they just couldn't write a little blog on their socialist Edwards 2008 website??
Edwards using his wife's health problems to get media time and attention is pretty bad, but I guess with Obama and Hillary stealing the limelight he had to roll old Elizabeth out today at noon and get a free hours worth of TV air time off of her
i guess the tricks that Edwards used in the courtroom for years are now the same tricks he is using to get the media to come to his house
I'm surprised they did not use the front porch of their 28,000 Square Foot house to hold their press conference at, why would they not want to show us their new house??
yes. I don't know the man, but it's hard to see how someone could throw himself into a campaign while his wife is being treated for a fast-spreading cancer. Whatever else he is, nobody has suggested that he's not a dedicated family man.
Nevermind. If Drudge is right, and he brought her to stand alongside him while he announces that the show must go on, then I'm beyond disgusted. She's just his tool.
John Edwards = Attention Wh___
Best wishes to his wife though.!
Cancer has spread to her bones. May God be with the family in their time of need.
Nah, John Edwards is a tool.
I watched the press conference. Apparently the doctors have told them that the cancer is treatable but not curable and people in her situation can live many years with only small effects. EE spoke very optomistically and articulately and I have to say I admire her handling of this as well as his. They say they believe - and I have no reason to not believe them- in their quest to improve the country. Of course, I disagree with their politics but I admire their committment to each other and to their views.
This is a shame. I find it hard to believe he is continuing the campaign. If that were to happen to my wife I wouldn't leave her side for a minute and there wouldn't be a single treatment that I wouldn't be there.
I watched the press conference. Apparently the doctors have told them that the cancer is treatable but not curable and people in her situation can live many years with only small effects. EE spoke very optomistically and articulately and I have to say I admire her handling of this as well as his. They say they believe - and I have no reason to not believe them- in their quest to improve the country. Of course, I disagree with their politics but I admire their committment to each other and to their views.
Oh something interesting, EE said that this campaign is not about John and what he wants - it's about helping others. I took that as a reference to Hillary since her campaign is obiously all about Hillary getting to "run something" (remember she said that was her goal when her husband was elected - she just wanted to "run something")
Re: #2 -
ROTFLMAO! Maybe we can reverse it...make it testicular cancer for him, since she's the one who never leaves.
And we both know he's got big ones!
~snorrfle!~
My mother-in-law passed away in Jan from breast cancer. This is a terrible disease. She had a mastectomy 2 years ago, but it didn't work. Her cancer spread to her brain. It was very sad to see a woman who enjoyed life, and used every opportunity she had to learn something new, waste away like she did. Regardless of Mrs. Edwards political leanings, I will be praying for her and her family.
I agree, he looks heartless.
Wow! Can we put the politics aside for a while? The woman has cancer for gosh sakes. Let's leave the vicious comments to the liberals.
This is a beautiful accomplished woman. She has already been hit with the tragic loss of her son. Then, in her late forties, she carried two more children to birth. No wonder she put on weight, but so what? She had a baby at 50! All the people here who made cracks about her weight -- it looks like she's lost quite a bit. And at what price?
God bless her.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.