H/t to The Political Chase for this video of the press conference:
And so along those lines, it was interesting to note how the various candidates handled the news, from a political perspective.
First off, John Edwards himself.
After the press conference, he sent out a mass e-mail explaining that his campaign:
goes on and it goes on strongly
Conspicuously absent from the e-mail: a contribution link. Have you ever received an e-mail from a candidate of any sort that didn't at least somewhere feature an opportunity to give money? I hadn't until today. Again, that was a political decision that placed class over opportunism. As with the press conference itself, it demostrated the strength of John Edwards's character.
Next were the responses of Edwards's Democratic primary rivals. In a show of true class all their own, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama featured messages of support to Elizabeth on their respective blogs.
Hillary:
"Elizabeth is a wonderful, strong individual and my thoughts and prayers are with her, John, and their children during this difficult time. I admire her optimism and strength in the face of adversity, and I look forward to seeing them both on the campaign trail."
Barack:
"Today, Michelle and I join every American in sending our thoughts and prayers to Elizabeth and John and the entire Edwards family. We all admire Elizabeth’s strength and determination and the deep love they so obviously share."
There is a difference though that I think reveals something about each candidate: by the end of the day, Barack's message and a picture of Elizabeth was still featured prominently on his front page. Hillary's was relegated to a blog post.
But by any measure, the Democrats' response was far greater than that of their Republican rivals, which amounted to:
[crickets chirp]
Call me crazy but if a Republican candidate for president revealed that his wife had cancer or that it was recurring, I really believe the Democrats would acknowledge it in some way. Among those Republican websites I consulted (Giuliani, McCain and Romney) there was absolutely nothing.
Speaks volumes, doesn't it?
But of all the things that come out of today's events, perhaps the most significant will be this line from Edwards's e-mail:
Although the cancer is no longer curable, it is treatable, and many patients in similar circumstances have lived full, energetic lives.
As Chris Matthews observed today, this is really the first time people have really heard cancer spoken of as though it were a chronic disease like diabetes...something that will be with you forever but that, with treatment, you can live with perhaps for a long time.
It was interesting to hear Chris talk about it because I had had two people ask me how cancer can be treatable but not curable. So I answered them: the cancer is not removable or curable, ie it will never go away, but you can treat it to keep it at bay.
This is the very situation my father found himself in a few months ago and so I guess I feel like somewhat of an expert. He has cancer, yes, but as of now he feels great...it's not a death sentence. Like many others, before today I had never heard of cancer described as a "chronic disease" and hearing that I can feel the same optimism for my father that John and Elizabeth were clearly expressing this morning. Whereas just a few years ago, the rare and deadly cancer my Dad has might have been a death sentence, today living with it is a reality. I wish Elizabeth Edwards the same hopes for a long happy life as I do my Dad. And as for John, hell, I hope he does get a bounce. He deserves it.
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