Edwards To Soldier On
by Josh Gerstein
Thu, 22 Mar 2007 at 1:30 PM
updated Thu, 22 Mar 2007 at 1:35 PM
The proper way to begin any comment on the press conference John and Elizabeth Edwards just held would be to offer best wishes, thoughts and prayers to the couple as they struggle with the recurrence of her cancer. And, of course, we hope for the best for her and them.
But, I must say, the usual solemnity seems a bit out of place when the Edwardses are so darn sunny about their predicament. I've never seen such happy faces at an event to announce that someone has incurable cancer. It seems the Edwardses' optimism extends beyond the political realm.
The almost-casual announcement struck me as a textbook example of how presidential campaign health scares should be handled.
Granted, these situations usually involve the candidate and not the spouse, but Mrs. Edwards has made her struggle with breast cancer a very public one by writing a book about it. The two of them sounded like they were being 100% open about what had transpired. That kind of authenticity is hard to fake. It may be crass to say this, but their openness could help Mr. Edwards because of the obvious contrast to other candidate couples, such as the Clintons or Giulianis, who have their minions out trying to wall off their personal lives from public scrutiny.
Mr. Edwards's tributes to his wife's selflessness were quite touching and he looked like he was close to tearing up at one point. The only false step was his unfunny joke about beating his wife, though that should be excused given the emotional stress he's been under for the last day or two.
After most of the cable nets had cut away, Mrs. Edwards's doctor, Lisa Carey, talked to the press. Her comment that the cancer could now be in Mrs. Edwards's lung as well as her rib was not reassuring.
So, John Edwards is carrying on with his campaign. His wife — already a hit on the campaign trail — plans to stay out on the road, too, and could be an even more sympathetic figure after today.
Some collateral damage of today's announcement: About 45 minutes before the press conference, the new Politico Web site (staffed and run by several good friends of mine) reported exclusively that the Edwards campaign would be suspended or ended. Drudge picked it right up and the cable talkers were buzzing about it, though, oddly, they couldn't match the reporting. Because it was wrong. Politico has taken the widely-linked item down. Its author, Ben Smith, who has had an impressive string of scoops recently, has apologized.
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