The Edwards Affair — Our Readers Weigh In

This week, The Recovering Politician published three pieces in which contributing RPs Jeff Smith, Artur Davis, and I weighed in on the John Edwards investigation and trial. If you missed them, here they are:

Jonathan Miller: I Was Never a John Edwards Fan, But I’m Rooting for Him Now

Artur Davis: Former Federal Prosecutor Terms Edwards Investigation “Misguided”

Jeff Smith: Your Tax Dollars at Work, Prosecuting (and Potentially Incarcerating) John Edwards

These articles certainly touched a nerve.  I received several dozen emails from our readers, each giving their own take on the controversy.

Below I run a sample of the readers’ letters.  Since I did not ask explicitly for permission, I am not using the authors’ names.  However, if I used your email, and you would like to be identified, please let me know.

And of course, as always, we encourage you to comment below.

Is what John Edwards's campaign did against the law?  That's the
question, right?  It's not about the character of John Edwards, or at
least shound't be.  And as for the poor first-time candidate worried
about taking it on the chin because he copped a few free haircuts or
some used clothes, wouldn't he want to know one way or the other
whether it's okay before he takes a gift?  The commentary I have seen,
like that cited on your blog, doesn't say one way or the other whether
what happened here is or isn't (or should or shouldn't be) against the
law, but rather (i) leave the poor guy alone and (ii) what's the big
deal?  History is full of powerful people who left the stage in shame
and then still had to suffer being investigated, sued, and/or
prosecuted.  It's a risk that goes with being a public person with
something to hide.  In Edwards' case, these were large donations (not
free haircuts), and if whether they should have been disclosed because
they served a political purpose is an open question, then let's get
the answer.  Doing so would hopefully shed some light on what is
obviously a murky area, and may help deter some future shenanigans.
Someone will always be ready to push the envelope.  If the edge is not
well defined, or worse, the signal is sent that we won't pursue cases
of apparent wrongdoing that are near the edge, we open the door to
even worse behaviour in the future.

John Edwards’ approval ratings are between 2 % and 3%. I hope he will never be considered for public office again. I think he is lower than dirt for his arrogant, narcissistic, dishonest acts against his dead wife and his children. His character is too low for him to be considered for any responsible government job. If he has broken laws in his covering up his out-of-wedlock child and lover, I would not shed a tear if he went to jail or was forced to do public service for indigent wives whose husbands have left them for the healthy, years younger model. I sent money to this man’s campaign, and it was NOT sent to support a mistress and baby outside of marriage! Poverty for John Edwards seems to me the best punishment.

Numerically, the Republicans seem to be cranking out more reprobates, liars, adulterers, thieves, and liars, but Democrats had better police their own if they want to count themselves as those taking the “high ground.”

I think the matter should be pursued and it isn’t because he was a total cad, to put it mildly.  I think it was the way he conducted his campaign and who he accepted money from and under what conditions, it is for the court to determine if he broke campaign finance law.

I disagree.  And I even liked John Edwards for a while.  I don’t care what he spent it on; he did not report the contribution and if we let that slide, we open that loophole, and that’s a major setback for full disclosure.  Something about Edwards makes me think he lost his mind around the convention in Denver.  He lobbied hard for the VP spot when it was apparent to everyone Edwards was toxic.  And when he he did not get the VP slot, he calls and tells Axelrod, “I’ll take Attorney General.”

All I want to know about our senators and congressmen is how they vote and who their financial support comes from.  I turn my head from other peoples sex scenes in movies and who they sleep with is none of my business!

He’s scum but that does not make him a criminal!

I agree–schmuckery is not a jailable offense. If it were, a large portion of the population would be under lock and key. It will just have to be enough punishment that he has lost the  things he cannot buy back, his reputation, his hopes for a legacy that is not a nasty footnote in history, and presumably the respect of his children.

I respectfully disagree with you…He should be punished for the use of funds….at least it should be looked at closely…I wonder what the Late Mrs. Edwards would say if she were alive to be asked…

Senator John Edwards has done no more than others that have never been tangled up in an indictment for doing things that were very much against the laws of our country, so I am saying leave him alone, what he did was a personal action of his own to deal with.