Give Edwards a Break

Talk of Edwards losing his public career forever is just plain silly. Such a fate for having an affair and lying about it would mean that millions should be added to the already rising numbers of jobless Americans.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

Talk of John Edwards losing his public career forever is just plain silly. Such a fate for having an extramarital affair and lying about it would mean that millions should be added to the already rising numbers of jobless Americans.

Even political figures ought to be allowed to survive a sex scandal if they have something worthy to offer. After all, Bill Clinton served two presidential terms and beat an impeachment rap despite the whole world knowing that he repeatedly cheated on his wife and lied about it over and over again.

Sure, there is massive hypocrisy in what Edwards did, considering how he and his wife, Elizabeth, were presented as the model couple in contrast to the Clintons. And that will always be a blot on the former North Carolina senator's image. But if hypocrisy were a virus, just about everyone in Washington would be dead by now.

There is no need here for a public execution of Edwards. If his talents are deemed useful in a possible Barack Obama administration, for instance, why not?

Craig Crawford blogs daily on CQPolitics.com

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot