A real reason to be disappointedwith John Edwards

I was a supporter of John Edwards during the primaries (my favorite candidate, Dennis Kucinich, didn’t stand a chance), so I was disappointed when the revelations of his affair with a campaign staffer came out, effectively ending his political career and any shot he had of joining an Obama administration. (Though it would behoove the national press to consider some other high-profile philanderers — Bill Clinton, Gary Hart, Ted Kennedy — and remember that they managed to get past their indiscretions and survive. Clinton, obviously, became president and Kennedy remains, even with his recent brain tumor surgery, the Senate’s liberal lion, while Hart has become a Democratic elder statesman and foreign-policy wonk.)

But I was more disappointed — truly disappointed — when I read this, because it leaves Edwards looking like a crass opportunist and not the populist crusader he cast himself to be. So sad.

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet