Letters to the Editor
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Tears
Remember when, after being accused of being humorless, Clinton cackled after her weak attempt at self deprecation? She is so contrived that I find it astounding that anyone believes a thing about her. Now about her voting record in the Senate.....I find it astounding also that Salon readers continue to support her.
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Geez
I like Edwards, but does he have another speed besides "Attack Dog?" No one has suggested that Hillary Clinton is not tough enough to be president. Far from it. So why is he? I think heading in this direction is not going to reap benefits for him.
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Can't a woman get a bit verklempt once in a while?
For those of you who think that Hillary's emotional response was faked, let me ask you one question: what is the harm of giving her the benefit of the doubt? If you were to do the generous thing and concede that, yes, perhaps Hillary Clinton is a human being with feelings and perhaps she's capable of a spontaneous emotional outburst, would that be too hard? Nobody's saying you have to vote for her. Even in the worst case scenario - suppose she's faking it - would you have lost anything by allowing her a bit of humanity? No, the worst that could happen is that you have show a bit of misplaced empathy. Big deal.
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What Obama said
"I didn't see what happened," he said, but added, "I know this process is a grind. So that's not something I care to comment on."
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Senator Edwards go home and take care of your wife
Frankly, it might have been a strategy on Saturday to side with Obama, but I think this episode shows that you are basically a male chauvinist pig. Both Clintons campaigned for you when you were running for the Senator position and then for the vice-presidentship- where has this pettiness come from?
You profess to be a crusader of the disadvantaged, but your true colors are showing. The only one you want to serve is your over-sized ego. We do not want you as our candidate, please go back. Between Obama, Clinton and Richardson we have able men and women to lead our
party and nation.
You should give up this disgraceful campaign and go back to take care of your wife. Let us see if you can take care of even one person other than your over-sized ego.
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I never liked Edwards when he was Kerry's VP choice
and in the 2008 campaign, his empty campaign has done nothing but make me lose respect for him.
what a phony.
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What's worth crying about
The knee-jerk defense in all these comments about Senator Clinton aren't putting into context what she has chosen to show some emotional attachment about. It would be different if she had shed a few tears about dead soldiers in Iraq or the plight of people who've had their health care or homes taken away. But tearing-up over how "tough" it is to run for President? If Edwards found her sentiments to be somewhat misplaced, I'd have to agree with him.
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Exactly
Obama noted that "this process is a grind"--meaning that the tears, real or not, were due to the stresses of the campaign. He might have said only that he did not care to comment. But, his remark indicated that Clinton was succumbing to stress and showing it.
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But he's a fighter!
Nice to see Edwards can fire shots with the best of them -- as long as the opponent is Hillary Clinton and not, say, a sitting vice president at a televised debate, to bring up a totally hypothetical and random example. Yup, THAT'S the kind of fighter we plain folk need for us in Washington.
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@ jeffbinnc
I guess the knee-jerk defenses are in response to John Edwards' knee-jerk attack.
If John Edwards had said "I think Hillary Clinton should save her tears for the soldiers who have fallen in Iraq or the people who are sick without health insurance, instead of crying for her own faltering campaign," he would have still come off like an asshole. But what Edwards actually said something quite different, so I think your interpretation is really putting words in his mouth.
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Edwards knows a lot about giving up
since he gave up on his Presidential campaign Saturday night.
Newsflash John, you don't get to be Co-President if you tag team with Obama during the debates. You get to be, maybe, the Secretary of HHS. Even if you want to be VP, which I doubt, you won't be because no one wants to be reminded of 2004's crash-and-burn Democratic ticket (and your craptastic performance in the VP debate against obvious Republican Attack Machine points).
If you really want to be President, as opposed to just talking about it, you have to take on Obama. I notice that Hillary's tough enough to do this without whining about how she needs a mano-a-mano with Obama to figure out who's the better Change Candidate. You had a perfect opportunity on Saturday night to do that...and you blew it.
What? Bill Richardson got in your way?
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But the process is a grind.
It's insane really. Think of the money spent. Think of the money required to even be viable. It's corrupting, it's dehumanizing, and its brutal.
We would all benefit from a shorter campaign season and a more realistic approach to the amount of money that candidates are even allowed to spend.
As it is, nobody gets through this pure. Does this serve our nation.
Obama's response was the proper one. He didn't see it. Frankly I didn't see it eithe and I watched the video feed twice. Misty is not the same as crying. Edwards would have been smarter if he had refused to respond to rumors based upon exaggeration.
And for you macho hypocrites who are saying none of the men have cried, please remember that Romney has teared up twice. I didn't think any the less of him for it. Now the dog on the roof is another problem entirely. Frankly, I am suspicious of any candidate who cannot cry. Politics attracts sociopaths.
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The Story Won't be About Edwards
The implication of Tim's post is that Edwards intended to say that Clinton isn't tough enough, though depending on the question he was answering, I could read it as his saying campaigning is tough. Tim, please give us the surrounding transcript before we hang Edwards. I'll abide by the full body of evidence.
But either way, I think this story's ultimate focus will be Clinton. Having just lost in Iowa and taking a dump in national polls, she had a press event at which she either: a) lost emotional control -- but in a controlled way that made her sound on the verge of crying, for a solid minute, without actually crying; or b) she faked it.
Look at the video. The answer is b. Track it down and watch. You actually feel bad for Clinton. I'm sure she's human and wants people to know, but she's just so inept at doing it.
- She led herself to the "surprise" moment.
- She was ready with Edwards' "it's personal for me."
- She never cried; she talked in a affected, quavering voice.
Watch it. It's sad. The bar is so low.