The Betrayal Of John Edwards' Staffers

Right now, everyone is sending their prayers out to Elizabeth Edwards, as if they hadn't before. But she's not the only person John Edwards betrayed.

Hundreds if not thousands of volunteers, especially in Iowa, put in probably millions of man-hours working on his behalf, hours that these folks will never get back. Hours they could have been spending with their families.

About a year ago, I wrote in the HuffPo about John Edwards hiring Chris Kofinis and Paul Blank, two longtime Democratic talents who were my opponents during the Walmart Wars. I got to really admire and respect their intelligence and dedication.

Chris Kofinis went on the join the John Edwards campaign July a year ago as their communication director. Chris is a bulldog and, as I witnessed firsthand, totally committed to the causes he chooses to join. Chris lives in Washington DC. The Edwards campaign was in North Carolina. Chris committed himself to a ton of travel on behalf of Edwards. I mention this because at the time he joined the campaign, Chris was a (very) new father.

Chris, and others on the Edwards staff, took time away from their families to help out a politician who had to know that he was putting himself in a position to be busted out for his affair. Yet his ego still compelled him to run. In today's world, if you are a politician, you pretty much always get caught. Edwards kept good people away from their families to satisfy his ego. He gives douchebaggery a bad name.

We've all read about the huge house in North Carolina Edwards built. Let's hope it has a comfortable sofa. He'll surely be spending a lot of nights on it. And while he contemplates putting his family back together, let's hope he considers the wasted hours his staffers spent away from their own families on his behalf.