John Edwards: Still Running

We all saw the publicity stunt pulled by the Edwards campaign when his wife Elizabeth went to the doctor and found that her cancer had returned, and this time it was inoperable and incurable. We all knew that she was going to the doctor... but for what? Gee, I wonder who tipped them off on that one. The media doesn't report on regular visits to the doctor unless they know there's going to be something juicy that comes of it, and I'm guessing that John Edwards' publicist made sure they knew everything that was going on.

Was this a bid for sympathy? Perhaps. Or maybe it was just to show how much John Edwards cares for his country, we all expected that he would drop out of the race. But no, he still wants to make our country better as a leader, even though his wife is terminally ill and could potentially die while he is running or possibly during his presidency if he wins.

It's been said that her wishes are for him to continue on his path as a candidate. I'm sure it will get her mind off of her illness and I'm sure she only wants to see him happy. But this isn't a joke, running for president is a tough job. He's going to be gone a lot campaigning in the next year or so and he'll be even busier if he wins. It's a really tiring job, and so it being first lady. He needs to respect that he'll be putting both his wife and children through even more than the cancer already is by ignoring it and chasing the presidency.

And another thing, if he does win the presidency, what will happen if she passes away while he is in office. Not to be grossly insensitive, but right now we need a President that will be able to focus whole-heartedly on the nation. And what we need even less is a president who is going to ignore the loss of his wife in favor of the nation.

The couple states that they never thought once seriously about halting the campaign. Elizabeth stated in a press conference that she doesn't feel or look sick, and shes really for anything. But, I really believe the moral thing for John Edwards to do is to announce his withdrawl from the race. I would respect him A LOT more for wanting to spend the rest of his wife's life quietly with her, and out of the spotlight. There are just some things more important than political aspirations.