Day: August 11, 2008

JOHN EDWARDS

I have long been an admirer of former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.  I was pleased that he ran for the presidential nomination in 2004 and would have preferred him to John Kerry.  I was also originally leaning to support of him for the 2008 nomination until I sensed that Barack Obama was the right candidate for our time and switched to support of him in early January 2008 after Obama won the Iowa caucuses.  I still had admiration for Edwards and especially for his wife Elizabeth who I have long considered to be a true sweetheart, one of the most admirable political wives in America today.

Therefore, I was truly stunned and dismayed when I learned of Edwards cheating on his wife, then confessing to her, and the two of them agreeing to keep it to themselves and Elizabeth to work very hard for her husband’s nomination in 2008 while in the midst of fighting cancer.  This whole situation makes Elizabeth look like the saint but it also makes John Edwards look like a low life who, as he said himself last weekend, allowed his egocentrism and narcissism to lead him to violate his marriage vows and victimize a woman of such high principle and decency.

I certainly realize that all of us in the human family are imperfect and that we all have urges and fantasies common to human nature.  But thoughts are one thing and actions another.  Therefore, I feel that John Edwards has lost all credibility and cannot possibly be considered for any government position under a President Obama.  Maybe as time passes, and if he chooses to offer himself again for some public office and allow the voters to decide if he deserves another chance, he might redeem himself.  For now, however, he needs to work on his family issues and do whatever he can outside of public office to promote the causes he believes in , especially fighting poverty and promoting universal health care and educational opportunities for those less fortunate.  IF he works at his causes sincerely and without egocentrism or narcissism rearing their ugly heads, he might yet redeem himself and restore the reputation that he had gained over the past ten years.  Certainly, I can say this is a sad moment in his life and in our national life, but the potential for redemption is still there, and I wish him and his wife and family all the best as they recover from this terrible turn of events.

The Vice Presidency

Two weeks before the Democratic convention and still no Vice Presidential nominee yet!  Barack Obama is really making the whole matter a dramatic one and leaving us guessing as to what he will do.  It seems clear to me that with the new foreign crisis of war between the Russian Federation and Georgia (once part of the Soviet Union), that Obama needs to focus on a person who is expert on foreign policy issues as that is the area in which he is most vulnerable.  Therefore, the concept of picking a governor such as Tim Kaine of Virginia or Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas seems extremely unwise.  He needs a person of experience and expertise in international affairs, and therefore it seems to me his choice narrows down to one of three people, all members of the US Senate. 

The most logical choice would be Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a brilliant commentator on foreign affairs with more years of experience on these issues than anyone in the Senate.  He is a great speaker, has charisma, is very charming and would complement Obama in great fashion.  Being Catholic and having grown up in Pennsylvania, Biden also could help Obama carry a crucial state and draw Catholic support to Obama’s candidacy.  The nation would be well served with Biden’s knowledge and experience behind Obama and involved in every day decision making.

A second choice would be Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, who is very much involved in issues of intelligence, foreign policy and military affairs, and has served in the Senate for ten years after eight years as Governor of a traditional Republican state.  He is a very agreeable, mild mannered, moderate who could help Obama win the Midwest, including his state of Indiana, and having been a Hillary Clinton supporter will make him acceptable to the Clinton camp as Vice President.  The odds probably favor Bayh over Biden, as Bayh is 52 and Biden is 66, so there would be a smaller age gap between Obama and Bayh.  Also, Bayh has been a possible VP choice for both Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry  in 2004.  In fact, in 2000, I wrote Al Gore and Evan Bayh suggesting that Bayh be his running mate, and had he been so, I think Gore would have won Indiana and possibly Ohio or Missouri and would have become our President even without Florida’s electoral votes.

A final choice which is much more daring and therefore much less likely is Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska,   Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, acknowledged as an expert on foreign affairs since his election to the Senate in 1996, and a Vietnam veteran, who has long opposed the war in Iraq and has broken with the majority of his party on this issue.  About to leave the Senate, Hagel has become a good friend of Obama’s and would be a good compliment to Obama, although his domestic views might clash as he is considered a conservative.  It would be quite a gamble to go with Hagel, and might alienate many Democrats in the process, but it would show Obama’s willingness to step outside the political norm and cross the aisle and try to promote bipartisanship in foreign policy making.

My gut feeling is that Bayh will be the choice in the next two weeks, but I would personally prefer Biden, and would find Hagel an exciting choice as it would show Obama as really promoting change and a new vision about world affairs.