Like thousands of others, I fought my heart out for your campaign. I believed in the message that poverty in America was immoral and that we must do something about it; that our economic and political structure had become corrupt and rigged against regular people; I believed that we needed to end the war in Iraq and capture Osama bin Laden; that we needed universal healthcare, that we must rebuild the Gulf Coast ... I believed very deeply in the message of your presidential campaign.
As you said many times on the campaign trail:
This is not about me, it's not about Elizabeth, it's about the future of this country. Because all of us have been given such an enormous responsibility.
There are a lot of cliches and judgmental things that could be said, but there are many more important things in the world and I'm not really interested in kicking people when they are down, so let me just share a couple thoughts.
First of all, there are children involved. The baby girl who may or may not be Senator Edwards' daughter is not an "it." She is a child. She is innocent of whatever was or wasn't done by the adults in her life. Please allow her the privacy to which she is entitled. And, if she is your daughter (or the sister of your children), be there for her, financially, and, if possible, emotionally. I never thought I'd want to or have to give a lecture like this to the "father of the year", but hey.
Second, please try to remember the values you fought for. Senator Edwards was the loudest consistent voice against poverty in 40 years and he was an admirable advocate on many issues. Elizabeth was an incredible advocate for universal healthcare, for marriage equality (she's still the only wife of a major presidential candidate to support marriage equality), and for many other issues. When you drag us into the soap opera of your lives, you make it about you and your actions set back the causes for which you fought.
Third, relationships are private and very complicated. I am sympathetic for everyone involved - I obviously don't know either of you very well, but I have met you; I liked you as people and I admired your work tremendously - and I can't imagine any one is in a good place right now. My advice would be for the family to work out their private dramas in private. But you can't ask for privacy and then go on Oprah to discuss your marriage. I mean, I guess you can do it ... but you're not going to get privacy.
Fourth, the betrayal of running for president with this potential scandal in your backpocket has been discussed enough. It was stupid and selfish, and, as Elizabeth said, "he should not have run." It now seems that campaign funds may have been used to pay for the affair. I hope and pray that's not true, because, if it is, it's shockingly unethical and the people responsible should be in jail. Please, tell me you were better than that.
I think John's last public apology was correct:
It is inadequate to say to the people who believed in me that I am sorry, as it is inadequate to say to the people who love me that I am sorry.
If you want to beat me up feel free. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself. I have been stripped bare and will now work with everything I have to help my family and others who need my help.
That's it. Work out your family issues in private, but please don't drag the public into the tragic and sordid personal issues.
Finally, I still believe poverty is a moral issue, and I'm waiting for someone to pick up Senator Edwards' megaphone and speak out against poverty (President Obama does a hell of a job for a president - better than anyone since LBJ, but we need more voices).