Posted on March 26, 2006
Whether they wanted it or not, cancer has propelled the Edwards family to center stage.
Immediately following the news that presidential hopeful John Edwards’ wife Elizabeth has once again been diagnosed with breast cancer, the media was buzzing. For the first time in a long time, John Edwards’ face was splashed across the front page, trumping the seemingly never-ending Hillary and Barack stories.
Cynics are already bashing Edwards for using his wife’s illness as a cheap ploy to appeal to voters. Maybe there’s some reason to believe it. As Mr. and Mrs. Edwards stood in a courtyard in Chapel Hill, N.C., announcing that cancer had once again reared its ugly head, the couple resolved to not let it hinder Edwards’ efforts for a bid in the 2008 election. On the surface, the whole thing seemed like a perfectly crafted scene from a movie, with both Mr. and Mrs. Edwards appearing humbly before reporters to deliver the news in such a fashion that would melt even the coldest of hearts.
But then Edwards said this: “Anyone who wants to be president of the United States needs to understand and recognize that there will be very difficult, intense, high-pressure times when judgments have to be made. And if you’re not able to, to deal with this kind of pressure, you’re not ready to be president.”
At a time when Bush’s approval rating hovers somewhere around the 30-percent mark, and most Americans believe the current administration has done a fine job of making rash and irresponsible decisions in high-pressure situations, perhaps America needs someone like Edwards.
Some question the ability of Edwards to successfully run a nation while grappling with his wife’s ailing health, but perhaps his resolve to stand by his candidacy now says a great deal about the kind of leader he would be in the wake of taking over an emotionally charged office.
Mrs. Edwards said it best: “I expect to live a long time. I expect us to have lots and lots of years together. I do believe that. But if that’s not the case, I don’t want my legacy to be that I pulled somebody who ought to be president out of the race.”
