Democratic hypocrisy

Oh, where to begin? Johnny Reid Edwards, North Carolina's own boy wonder and former U.S. Senator, has been caught with his pants down.

Was I surprised? Yes, frankly, I was, because despite his being a liberal wimp, his image as a loving family man was quite convincing.

I've long admired the way he has stood by his wife Elizabeth since her cancer reoccurred - though he obviously wasn't standing too close - and even the coldest heart can't help but thaw when reading accounts of Edwards' son, Wade, who died in 1996. Edwards was understandably devastated, and the father's love for his son is so evident in his writing. I believe this flawed man genuinely loves his family, despite his shortcomings, and I respect that.

Politically, however, I have never had any use for John Edwards, and now, it would seem, thanks to his affair with filmmaker Rielle Hunter, neither do his fellow Democrats. Edwards, the third highest vote getter in the recent Democratic presidential primaries, will be noticeably absent from the upcoming Democratic convention in Denver.

"He's damaged goods." "He's finished." "His political career is over." "No one in the Democratic Party would want to be publicly associated with him." These are just a few of the things that Democrats are now saying about Edwards, and my question to them is why?

Edwards was a lousy senator for North Carolina. He was running for president almost from day one, and it was doubtful that he would even have been reelected had he chosen to run for his Senate seat again. He lost two bids for president and one for vice president. Those reasons alone should be more than enough to kill Edwards' political career, not the fact that he had an affair and lied about it.

Surely, I'm not the only one who remembers turning on the television set 10 years ago and hearing these immortal words: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman…" Despite finally confessing the affair and admitting that he looked into the eyes of the American people and lied, despite impeachment, Bill Clinton carried on in the Democrats' eyes as the next best thing this side of Jesus Christ.

That impeachment has more to do with the fierce partisanship of the Democratic party today than does even the disputed 2000 election, so why now the crucifixion of one of their own?

Why is Edwards being locked in the cellar like some crazy relative when the members of his party were more than willing to ignore Clinton's extracurricular activities?

It's simple. There's a new messiah on the horizon: Barack Obama.

This man practically walks on water, and the party just can't afford a moral degenerate like Edwards from stealing even a little of the limelight.

I can forgive the man for cheating on his wife. It was reprehensible, but we're all human. Harder to forgive is a bunch of people - most of whom are probably guilty of the same thing, or worse - turning their backs on him for the sake of politics.

In a party with such outstanding role models as Clinton, Ted Kennedy and Jesse Jackson, is there really room for such hypocrisy?

This writer can be contacted at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com.