Elizabeth Edwards

Cons

Do I have to say that I'm sorry that Elizabeth Edward's cancer has returned in lethal fashion, doubly so for her two young children?  I hope my reputation for curmudgeonry is not so advanced as to leave doubt.  That said, my snarky side was in full tumescence as the saga unfolded.  In the run-up to Edward's press conference yesterday - a press conference, ostensibly called to make an announcement about his campaign, which turned out to be  "I'm still running,"  seemed suspiciously like a cynical ploy to gather sympathy from his wife's situation.  Don't blame me.  Remember Al Gore exploiting his sisters death  for public gain?  Or Paul Wellstone's memorial? I watched Howard Fineman wax eloquent about John's courage (he later put parts of it to words.).. "Is this a great Democratic presidential campaign, or what? The number of candidate “firsts” keeps growing: first spouse of a former president, first African-American with Ivy League credentials, first  Hispanic-American. And now we have the first candidate—John Edwards—to turn his spouse’s illness, and how he and she are dealing with it, into what he contends is an inspirational metaphor for the brand of leadership he offers the country." He added that "as near as I can tell, Elizabeth doesn't have a mean bone in her body."  Maybe it's just me, but when she intonated in 2004 that unless her husband and Kerry won the election, there would be riots, I thought I saw one of them bones. Living, as I do, in a county with Maryland's highest cancer death rate, I've seen way more than my share of friends and acquaintances fall to that black disease.  All of them carried on with their lives as best they could, for as long as they could.  Not one of their spouses committed suicide, or ran away with the circus to escape unfolding tragedy.  None involved were ever called ''heroic'' for trying to take another breath.  I am sorry his wife will suffer this travail, but I think her husband is enough of a punk to milk it.  He's a con-man by profession.