On Tuesday, November 11, at Indiana University, John Edwards made his first public appearance since admitting to an extramarital affair. The Indiana Daily Student reports that around 1,000 people attended the lecture, which was intended to be a post-mortem on the election. Not surprisingly, except maybe to the author of this AP piece on the event, Edwards did not discuss his personal life. What was more interesting was the extent to which Edwards steered clear of saying anything particularly newsworthy.
IU's Union Board had invited Edwards to speak prior to his admission of the affair in August. When the story broke, the Union Board revised their invitation to lower Edwards' speaking fee by $15,000 to $35,000. The Indiana Daily Student offers more detailed information on the story behind Edwards' invitation to campus.
Before getting into the specifics of Edwards' remarks, I probably should say a few things in the interest of full disclosure. The majority of the audience, obviously, was comprised of undergraduates who probably did not have an opportunity to vote for Kerry-Edwards in 2004. Similarly, because Edwards dropped out of the 2008 race prior to the Indiana primary, chances are that few people in attendance actually voted for him during the primary season.
I would be the exception to that. I voted for Kerry-Edwards in 2004. Although I am a graduate student at IU, I claim residency in another state. Because I voted by absentee ballot, I had already cast a vote for Edwards in a primary that was held after he withdrew from the race. In the larger scheme of things, I don't really care because I was not prepared to make a choice between Obama and Clinton at that point. Obviously, I'm perfectly happy with how the general election turned out.
I mention this because I was quite familiar with Edwards' stump speeches and debate performances during the campaign, and what he said at IU did not differ in any real way from that.
Much of what he had to say is what we've been hearing from other folks. The long primary season and, specifically, having to campaign against Clinton, made Obama a stronger candidate. The grassroots efforts of the Obama campaign, particularly in states like Indiana and North Carolina, were amazing. Obama will help to restore America's image on the global stage as a nation that respects other nations.
Edwards emphasized that giving a voice to the poor is the "cause of [his] life." Though he said he wouldn't compare himself to Al Gore, he noted what Gore has been able to do with his interest in environmental causes, and it was apparent that Edwards would not mind having the same impact on poverty in the United States and throughout the world.
The lecture lasted about a half hour and then Edwards took questions from the audience. Questions had to be submitted in advance on notecards in the auditorium lobby. The AP piece on the lecture makes a big deal out of this as part of an effort to dodge questions about the affair with Rielle Hunter. However, it should be noted that this is not an unusual practice at IU Union Board lectures. Bob Woodward took only prepared questions. Charlie Rose took questions directly from the audience. It varies from speaker to speaker.
Edwards' responses to two questions were noteworthy.
When asked whether Sen. Lieberman should be stripped of his committee assignments, he declined to comment on the inner workings of the Senate. In fact, he seemed a little unaware of the latest news on the subject.
Perhaps, more significantly, when asked about the future of gay rights in the United States, he made no specific comments about Proposition 8 and related legislation. In fact, if you were completely unaware of what transpired in California and elsewhere on Election Day, you would have thought from Edwards' remarks that gay rights had a bright and rosy future. He said that he felt there would be more progress in this area and noted that his daughter, who is in her third year of law school, finds it ridiculous that this is even an issue.
However, he offered absolutely no opinion on any specific piece of legislation. I found his silence on this issue rather stunning.
Finally, I should note that, since he did speak on Veterans Day, Edwards acknowledged the 200,000 homeless veterans, just as he did on the campaign trail.
Overall, his lecture was underwhelming. I don't regret going, but I was hoping for a bit more than recycled campaign material.