Am I the only one who can't stand John Edwards but loves Elizabeth Edwards?

[NJSecularist]

John Edwards seems to me like a guy who goes where the wind blows. If the political climate calls for him to be centrist, he will be centrist. If the political climate calls for him to be progressive, he will be progressive. He is a political opportunist at best. And I lost most of my respect for him when I read Bob Shrum's memoir when Edwards said that "I don't feel comfortable around those people ". He was, of course, referring to gays.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, is genuine. She is funny. She is a huge liberal. She supporters full marriage rights for gays. She has never been a centrist and never will be. She is, for the lack of a better term, John's moral compass.

John Edwards has always seemed like a phony to me. How many of his supporters treat him like the next coming of Jesus Christ boggles my mind.

If John Edwards ever gets the presidential nomination some day down the road, let's hope his wife is calling the shots.

[Catherina]

1. No. n/t

[dkf]

2. John is ok. Elizabeth is da bomb!

[featherman]

11. My feelings exactly

[TahitiNut]

13. Ditto.

She's totally terrific - his BEST 'recommendation' by far.

[DrDan]

3. yes

[TheDoorbellRang]

4. I never liked him, either, but thought Elizabeth was great

I had the same problem with him that some say they now have with Obama. I always thought Edwards seemed like a phoney, whereas I have no doubts on Obama's authenticity.

I also admired Gore and Kerry for their authenticity, intelligence, and integrity, but thought it was too bad their people skills never came across as adequate. I never liked Bill Clinton at all. Thought he was Mr. Smarmy from the get-go and wasn't a bit surprised by the shenanigans with Lewinsky.

One of the things that amazes me about Obama is that he has the qualities I admired in Gore and Kerry but his people skills blow them all out of the water.

[waiting for hope]

5. No - if you compare his 2003

bid for the WH to this one, he has pretty much stayed on message. As for quoting Shrum and believing what he says, I suggest you take up some light reading of Bob Novaks'.

Here's his 2003 Jefferson/Jackson Dinner Speech:

Three years ago George W. Bush stood on a stage at the Republican Convention in Philadelphia and criticized and attacked Bill Clinton and Al Gore and repeated the same phrase over and over. You remember it. He said, they have not led, we will. Yeah, he's led us all right. Has he led us to more jobs? Has he led us to better health care? <"No."> Has he led us to better schools? <"No."> Has he led us to a safer world? <"No."> He's led us from the edge of greatness, the edge of greatness, to the edge of a cliff, and it is time for us to lead George W. Bush out of town.

We are all, we are all angry with George W. Bush; we should be angry with him, for what he's done to our country, for what he's done to our values, for what he's done to the things that we believe in. But anger won't change America, action will. If we are the party of anger in 2004, we will not win. But if we transform that anger into a positive vision for America, we will win in 2004 and more importantly the American people will win in 2004.

We are the party of optimism and America is hungry for us to lead. The road to the White House starts right here in Iowa and it is time for us to choose a new president of the United States.

And no one is better prepared or understands better what has happened in America. We have had a sea change in America over the last 20 years. We've gone from a country where middle class working families 20 years ago were putting money aside, saving money. They had a little nest egg, had some financial security. Today both parents are working. They have a terrible time paying their bills. They sit on the edge of bankruptcy and they are one medical emergency, one lay-off from going over the cliff.

And George W. Bush wants to shift the tax burden in this country from wealth and the wealthy to those working class families. Their backs are already breaking. They can't stand it. What we ought to do is we ought to strengthen and lift up working middle class families in this country and I'll tell you one thing, when I am president of the United States millionaires sitting by their swimming pool getting their investment statements will no longer pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries are paying. Not in my America; not in our America.

We need to strengthen these families. We need to help 'em buy a house. We need to help 'me save. We need to help 'em invest. We want to create wealth in America, but not just for those who already have wealth--for those who need financial security. I will create five million jobs in the first two years of my presidency. We will make health care a birthright for every child born in this country. We will make college available to every single young person who's willing to work for it. This is the America I believe in. This is the America I will fight for, and I'll tell you something else, I will never, ever put down this great Democratic party that we are all so proud of.

And these families who are struggling so much to make ends meet, to try to pay their bills, to try to put a loved one into a nursing home, to try to take care of their kids and give them a chance to go to college, what do they see when they look around the country? They see politicians yelling at each other. They hear politicians talking so much about what they're against, they can't even remember what they're for.

Well I remember what I'm for. And I will never forget who I am fighting for. You know I am so ready for this fight. Like a lot of these candidates who are in this race, I come from a very different place. I have not spent my entire life in politics, and most people think that's actually a good thing, not a bad thing.

But I did spend almost 20 years in courtrooms fighting for kids and families against big corporate America and for those people I won most of those fights; I'm proud of those victories. But for those people who say to me, John Edwards, are you ready for this fight? Do you have what it takes inside to take on George W. Bush? You ask those insurance companies if John Edwards is a nice guy; they'll tell you the answer.

I have fought and clawed and worked every way I know how to be in this place I am today. And when you fight and work to get to this place you never look down on anybody, not on a single person. I want you to know, I want you to know that I have won races in places where we're not supposed to win elections. I did it, I did it by standing up for what I believe and presenting a positive vision for America. And in the process I am proud of the fact that I got rid of a protégé of Jesse Helms. That's a good thing.

We stand on the edge of greatness. We do. It's hard to see because of all the damage that George W. Bush has done, but FDR saw it and he gave us Social Security. John Kennedy saw it and he gave us civil rights. We are at our best when we let our actions speak louder than our words. This election is about more than ending George Bush's presidency. This is about a new beginning for America.

We are the party that believes in lifting people up, not looking down on them. We are the party that believes in bringing people together, not tearing them apart. We are the party that believes in America that the family you're born into and the color of your skin should never control your destiny and we are still the party that believes that the son of a millworker can beat the son of a president for the White House. That's the America I will fight for as your president in 2004.

Thank you. God Bless you and God Bless the United States of America. Thank you all.

http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2004/idp1103/idp111503edwspt.html

And you are dead wrong about John Edwards.

[Milo_Bloom]

6. That about sums it up!

[MyNameGoesHere]

7. My comfort level with Edwards is slighly above

that which i feel toward Obama.

[butterfly77]

8. No you are not...

you said it all in the third paragraph. Now they are looking at him as though everyone is suppose to be looking up to him as the savior of the Democratic party, why?

[dogday]

9. He is a Democrat and ok with me.... I can't stand Cheney worth a shit though... nt

[Raine1967]

10. ::: Joe Biden Voice :::: Yes.

:rofl:

[LiveLiberally]

12. I don't share your divided opinion of Elizabeth and John & here's why....

Brilliant, honest, principled and highly independent women do not ceaselessly, publicly, and voraciously support men who are not. Even when they love them. My deep respect for Elizabeth only reinforces my conviction that John shares her values and commitment to liberal causes. Of course, there are differences, but they reflect their different political roles and public personas, not their fundamental characters. John arrived in Washington as a political neophyte, a liberal senator from a conservative state, who was pegged from the get-go as a "rising star." His early -- and inevitable -- freshman missteps helped to create a persona (accentuated by his preternatural good looks) that he has worked ever since to overcome. Elizabeth has been freer to be herself from the beginning. They make a superb team.