John Edwards & John McCain's Infidelity

Thought this topic deserved its own thread:

if John Edwards' political career is done, why isn't John McCain's? John McCain had a well-documented affair on his first wife, with his current wife. He has admitted in the books he has written about his life that he ran around with several different women while still married to his first wife.
Personally, I could care less what any politician does in his private sex life.....but....Shouldn't both parties be held to the same standard?

http://www.ballot.com/hotwire/26299-if- ... n-why.html

Devil: U like to stir the pot. McCain would still like to cheat but it's a situation where the mind is willing but the body isn't.

traderfjp wrote:Devil: U like to stir the pot. McCain would still like to cheat but it's a situation where the mind is willing but the body isn't.

I plead Guilty as charged!

Devil505 wrote: if John Edwards' political career is done, ...

I always thought that the only way a politician can end his career by doing what Edwards did is by everyone voting for someone else at the next election or Edwards saying "Hey I screwed up so I resign!"

Who says his political career is "done"?

If his political career isn't done then I guess McCain's "past" affairs with his "past" wife shouldn't affect his "current" political career.


My question for everyone here is....why is it okay for any politician to lie? Really, stories are fabricated in order to cover up Politicians extra-marital affairs and everyone is cool with that. So basically people think some lies from their politicians are okay...but not all lies. Personally...the way I see it is... if it is so easy for them to lie about getting a knobber what else are they lying about???

I'm kind of jealous actually...I married a conservative woman... Republican. I guess I should have married a Liberal Democrat cause then I could have chicks on the side and my Liberal Democrat wife would say "that's okay...no problem. I'll stand by your side no matter what you do behind my back. Even if I do have the Big C. Love ya honey...go get yourself some more."
Life has it that my wife would probably cut mine off with her Conservative Republican knife and throw it out the Conservative Republican car window on her way to work (unfortunately for her...she's surrounded by liberal democrats 8 hours a day at work....fortunately for me she brings home some funny stories)

Now that I think of it...politicians should marry Conservative Republican women...that way they'd be too scared to even think of getting some elsewhere...works for me because I know I am...

I think the biggest problem with politics and our society in general is all the labeling. I'd like to see everyone run as an independent and have their own platforms. I was listening to my daughter talk about all the groups in her school;
The Jocks, Emos, Preps, etc. All labels do is divide us. Just look at religion and all the wars fought in the name of righteousness.

BugsyR wrote:Who says his political career is "done"?

If his political career isn't done then I guess McCain's "past" affairs with his "past" wife shouldn't affect his "current" political career.

Just listen to the" Pundits" on virtually any network Mike, (CNN,Fox, MSNBC, etc) They all are in agreement that Edwards could never be elected as a "dog catcher" in this country again & he will not even be invited to attend the Democratic Party Convention this summer........ His political career is over.
Now, apply the same standard to John McCain, who cheated on his first wife when she was sick also. What does that conduct disclose about McCain's basic character & honesty? (nothing to be proud of, I suggest)

Edit: Speaking of our wives, I have been married to my one & only "original " wife since 1968 & we just celebrated our 40th anniversary last year. We have 3 daughters & 3 Grandchildren, so far....& hopefully more!
Trust me......My wife has "Paid Her Dues" in that 40 years with my not being able to tell her what I was doing, when I would be home or even where I was, many times!
I say this not to pretend to be a paragon of virtue, but to make the point that there are plenty of good, hard working citizens in this country that are faithful to their spouses & that the weaknesses exhibited by the extra-marital affairs of Edwards, Clinton & McCain are noting to be proud of. They are deep character flaws which should be considered when deciding who you trust & whose conduct you will reward with your vote!

I can assure you that I will not vote for any of them in November!

[quote="traderfjp"]I think the biggest problem with politics and our society in general is all the labeling. I'd like to see everyone run as an independent and have their own platforms.

I can agree with you here trader except that "party" affiliation has more to do with fund raising these days than it does with any politician's views. In 2008, no one could ever hope to raise the money necessary to effectively run for office without a "party" funding him/her.
Sad but true.


I always liked Will Rogers line: When he was once asked which party he belonged to...he said..." I am not a member of any organized political party..........................I'm a Democrat!"

I don't believe his political career is done, just delayed. It's just a matter of time and timing. Bad timing for the Dem's to have him at the convention taking attention away from Obama, so they don't invite him. Time will pass, people will get over it, he will run for a more local office or get appointed to a less visible position, he & his wife will do a tearful interview with Baba Wawa and he will go on with his political life. More time will pass and he will go for the big stage again.

This is just another example how you cannot tell any difference between a republicrat and a demican.

titleist1 wrote:I don't believe his political career is done, just delayed. I

I think you are wrong here. How is he ever going to overcome the inevitable anti-Edwards attacks that will say he cheated on his frail, very sick from cancer wife, when she was the most vulnerable. ( & you know....I could care less what any politician does in his/her private sex life....But even I would have trouble overlooking such a low, underhanded thing as that....It just discloses that the person can't be trusted or believed about anything, imo)

Note to every politician in America you are under a microscope by the media and your political rivals...avoid temptation. Because when you are caught and deny the affair your credibility will be called into question. We all know if we were caught our first reaction would be to deny it so no one blames you for that, it is more about the lies and misjudgement.

I have more respect for Mr. Edwards than I do Former President Clinton because Mr. Clinton lied under oath about his affair. If the President of the United States can lie under oath and not face punishment then no American should ever have to worry about purjury. I don't know about McCain's situation but Mr. Edwards got caught and admitted it I say we leave the guy and his family alone. The intial lying will be a problem for him if he persues political office again. I think we all know that campaign promises are mostly lies and lip service but being caught in an act of infidelity will linger in the minds of voters longer than a promise of $2.00 a gallon gasoline. The politician will blame the other side for blocking his initiatives, you can't blame your rivals for a weak moral episode.

And yes regardless of Political Party candidates who screw up or those who lie under oath should be treated the same. I'm sure this thread will get a lot of posts the Devil may set a new record for posts to a question.

snooze: apparently the president is above the law. I don't think an affair with another woman is a big deal unless it involved getting that person a promotion or using goverment funds to entertain them. I really don't know all the details about Edwards....................

The story on Edwards and his affair is not the affair, persay. Many politicians have affairs and even get caught and still live on politically. Many republican and many democrat. What will kill Edwards's political career:

1) Many believe Edwards traded on his wife's condition in order to gain in the primary campaign. It is one thing to cheat on your wife while she's sick, it is another to be as craven as to both kick her to the curb with the affair and to trade on her poor health to your political benefit.

2) The coverup. Many cheating politicians are found out. But relatively rare is it for a politician to survive extensive or expensive coverups. In this case it appears there has been in the area of 2-5 million dollars paid to keep this bottled up. The people involved beg questions of campaign finance violations. The amounts involved beg questions of IRS violations. The 9-12 month long "investigation" of this whole thing and the denials that were made until recently are at issue.

3) The hiring. The woman was hired to do web documentaries of Edwards on the campaign trail. She had zero qualifications and history of doing such things and was paid a very nice salary for it. Also the timing of the hiring vis a vis the start of the affair has come into question.

4) Paternity. Some of the before mentioned alleged coverup money may be to make sure the woman doesn't get a paternity test. Cheating is one thing, having a kid is another, denying the kid as your own (and all the financial and social benefits that come along with it) while paying off the mother to deny paternity testing while you parade around inviting the testing is quite another.

5) Hillary. There is a great deal of bad blood in the democrat party with regard to how Hillary was treated by Edwards and Obama in the primaries. While I think the polling and voting trends don't necessarily prove it out, there will be many that blame Edwards' campaign for sapping away Hillary voters and causing her to lose the primaries in the earlier going when it would have counted a lot.

6) Undeniable is that Edwards was having this affair while campaigning for his party's nomination for President. This speaks to a horrible sense of judgement and calls into question his loyalty to the party. Would he have won the nomination or been selected for VP, and then this news come out, it would have been a crippling blow to the campaign and the party this election. The specter of it is enough to consider him unelectable in national democrat politics ever again.

7) Many democrats and almost all republicans disliked Silky anyway, and this whole thing just entrenches it. He was toast before this happened, really. This just puts him into the vaunted group of "post toasty" former politicians.

8) The woman. Not to be too politically incorrect, but she's a loopy chick. A book was written with a character based on her that detailed how "classy" she was. Maybe no one really puts his choice past him, but that doesn't mean people don't hold his horrible taste in adulterous companion against him. I know I do.

9) And he went back!? Edwards knew people were onto this whole thing, and he had the balls to actually visit her again, supposedly well after the affair has ended. Just stupid, stupid, stupid.

That all said, he has a future as a lawyer, maybe local politics, or perhaps as a political appointee. He'll be fine, assuming he didn't do anything illegal in all this.

pvolcko- Now that I know the detials it sounds like he's toast. Lets work our lives to achieve status that not many people do and then throw it all away for a good (maybe) screw. He deserves whatever he gets. He is about as stupid a Spitzer who should have been charged and locked away.

I just got done reading about MCcain's escapades. He has quite a few skeletons in his closet. Apparently he dumped his wife when she became ill and married a woman 18 years his junior and it just happens she is worth millions. There is more to it then that. His current wife was a substance abuser, etc. All these guys live Soap Opera lives.