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.

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Comments

[SaddieMcCall]

What about the money used to relocate Ms. Hunter to CA from NC - and to get into a $3 million home, whose money was that? This would be the public interest to know if the political campaign funds paid for it.

[KarenM]

I don't really think that campaign time or its effort was wasted. It did have some effect on the rest of the race, and those issues were not about Edwards. They were about the rest of us.

I only wish he had stayed in the race longer, so that those populist issues could have become a more integrated part of the narrative, and found their way into the Democratic platform.

He quit too soon.

[Michale32086]

It should also be noted that these 2 staffers were just two of John Edward's "victims".­..

What about the staffer who lied and said that the Hunter baby was his. THAT guy ALSO had a wife and kids...

Imagine the kids' hurt at having to think their Dad cheated on their Mom.. Imagine the pain that THOSE kids had to go thru with their classmates and/or peers...

It's bad enough to cheat and lie to the one you spend the rest of your life with. It's even MORE heinous to have your lies and your lack of integrity be put on OTHERS...

Michale...­..

[tbone99]

It seems that the woman involved also actually did have an affair with that staffer as well.

[Michale32086]

Cite, please?? Any cite but Edwards...­..

Michale...­..

[PumaAnn]

He's still lying. I think the baby is his. I think he's that mentally ill or drunk off of power. I think Elizabeth is pretty darn sick herself to think that this was OK.

And I think his endorsement game was really, really nasty stuff for O.

He's dragged the entire party into the muck with him.

[Jamchinadian]

Do you feel the same way about Hillary.

[Ndw]

Has Hillary been out siring babies?

[Michale32086]

If Edwards isn't a public figure why has he been invited to speak at the Dem Convention??

That line about Edwards not being a public figure is complete BS...

Edwards IS a public figure.. He has CHOSEN to put himself out there by his various programs and such.. He is as much a public figure as Bill Clinton or George Bush Sr is...

That's the fact.. Deal with it..

Michale...­..

[Aine]

Elizabeth Edwards already dealt with all this in 2006, it's not as if she just found out. She also issued a statement distributed to the AP before the timestamp on this piece.

John Edwards is no longer a public figure. He holds no elected office and is not in the running for any office. Why the focus on his personal life? A pity the press doesn't put the same focus on McCain and his past philanderi­ng... or that of other GOP office-hol­ders... but then, what can you expect from the corporate stenographers posing as the nation's mainstream media?

Will the real journalists please stand up?

[Montanus]

Better support ideas than men...

It saddens me that Edwards would do this, though who's to say they understand human need? But to do so while running for public office is to absolutely invited this disaster (private and public).

I mourn for the causes of poverty and social justice he espoused. We're all poorer because of this betrayal, squandering his honor and the credibility he needed (and needs) to do good in this world.

[CanadianAmerican]

His family already knew about this. And his campaign did good things, like emphasizing the issues of poverty. Given that he already lost the nomination long before this story broke, what difference could it make to his campaign volunteers?

[Michale32086]

Oh I dunno...

Maybe the fact that if his campaign HAD been successful and he would have acheived the nomination or even the VP nod that if would have destroyed the Democratic Party..

Maybe it's the fact that they put their ALL into a man who turned out to be a liar and a cheat without a modicum of integrity.­.

Take your pick...

Michale...­..