"I don't want my legacy to be that I pulled somebody who ought to be President out of the race."

[DeepModem Mom]

Facing a New Battle, Mrs. Edwards Set Campaign’s Fate
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Published: March 25, 2007


(Todd Heisler/The New York Times)
John and Elizabeth Edwards spoke Saturday about their decision to continue his candidacy and the message in it for their children.

....A doctor had already told her a bone scan revealed that her cancer had returned in an incurable form. Mrs. Edwards was preparing for further tests — ones she said she expected would reveal a perilous spread of the cancer — and her husband, who is squeamish about IV’s, had left the room.

“I was feeling particularly desperate,” she said during an interview here Saturday with her husband, John.

As she spoke with the nurses, Mrs. Edwards recalled: “They said they really supported John, and I started sort of breaking apart. I said, ‘It’s really important that he run.’ ”

Mrs. Edwards — whose decision to push her husband to run for president in spite of her illness provoked an intense discussion across the country about illness, ambition, child-rearing and death — said her husband’s candidacy was not only about his needs and desires. She said it also reflected her own life and her wish to be something other than a woman best known for her illness.

“I expect to live a long time,” Mrs. Edwards said. “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. It’s not fair to me, in a sense.”...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/us/politics/25edwards.html?hp

[gardenista]

1. Elizabeth- You represent the best in American women

I am in awe of your strength and courage.

Thank you for being who you are, and for being a beacon for women like me.

Bless you, and know that you are in the hearts and prayers of so, so many of us. May we lift you up as you have us.

[Bolo Boffin]

2. This is heartbreaking.

Here's to Elizabeth and eight years of her as First Lady!

[AshevilleGuy]

3. She will indeed be First Lady.

Cheers. :toast:

[Divine Discontent]

32. Edwards baby!!!!!!

all the way! since I cant get clark or gore... sorry, not interested in clinton or obama so much, cuz they seem to want to check with their advisors first before they say what they feel.

www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<<--- top 08 stickers, good stuff

[NovaNardis]

21. I second that notion...

Three cheers for the Edwardses.

:toast:

[earth mom]

4. Now this is a first lady I would admire the hell out of.

:cry:

[Hekate]

5. 5th Rec from me. I admire her so much -- and I do want the Edwards family in the White House!

I'm selfish -- we need them!

Hekate

[JNelson6563]

6. Wow! What a lady!

I always appreciate those who think big picture, long term.

:toast:

Julie

[Cooley Hurd]

7. She is absolutely right - he OUGHT to be President!

In my opinion, John Edwards is the only candidate who "gets it", that the massive shift of wealth from the needy to the needless must be reversed, before the corporatocracy becomes too big and powerful to BE reversed.

[crappyjazz]

8. Class and dignity

America needs them, badly

[w4rma]

9. Those two are the epitome of family values. (nt)

[NashVegas]

10. I Wish Her the Very Best

“My feeling is, if we gave up what we have committed to as our life’s work, wouldn’t I be getting ready to die? That’s what I’d be doing. This cause is not just John’s cause, it’s my cause.”

...

When asked about the suggestion some have made that the continuing campaign is an act of supreme denial about her cancer, Mrs. Edwards looked momentarily struck. Then, with her husband looking on somewhat tensely, she hurled back: “Absolutely! I am not giving it anything. If it expects to be the boss of me it’s gonna have to earn that.”

She added, “I am denying it control over how I spend the rest of my life.”


JMO, but I hope she can learn to give up that desire for control and prepare for the inevitable in the very near future, for her own and her family's sake.

Godspeed Elizabeth.

[wellstone dem]

13. You know, I think she is preparing her family

in the way she knows is best for HER family. We are all facing the inevitable, and I believe I must live my life in a way that will leave the world a bit better for those who come after me. And that is how I've prepared my daughter for my inevitable, and for her's as well.

[Morgana LaFey]

16. And just who are you to determine FOR her how she best prepare?

AND that "very near future" shit is heartless and cruel, IMO. At this point she has a chance to live a very long life. I'd be very disappointed in her, or anyone, who just went home to die, which is what it sounds like you'd prefer.

Further:

She added, “I am denying it control over how I spend the rest of my life.”
JMO, but I hope she can learn to give up that desire for control

You misread, and mischaracterize. She is refusing to let the CANCER control, which isn't necessarily the same as having a "desire for control" herself.


Poor Elizabeth. Not only does she have to deal with her incurable cancer, she's got to deal with well-meaning critics who are all too eager to prescribe just how she should proceed with her life and her illness.

[bobbolink]

25. EXACTLY!!! DUers are so willing to tell others who to run their lives!

Talk about giving up control.....

Thanks... what you said needs to be repeated over and over and over in these damned threads!!

TO EACH HER OWN!

[NashVegas]

26. Me? I'm No One, Really

Just someone who thinks Edwards' chances of becoming elected are pretty low in the first place, and thinks there are topics I'd rather see at a debate than, "how well will you be able to devote the necessary energy and attention to running the nation's affairs and keeping us safe from terrorism, when your wife's medical condition could take a turn for the worse at any time?"

[indie_voter]

24. Everybody faces this in their own way

My dad died of Leukemia a little over 2 years ago. He was only 75. He kept his cancer secret from everybody but the immediate family. At the very end, he knew it was over. He told me not to worry, we're all organic and this was inevitable. I told him I couldn't help but worry, but then pulled myself together and talked of other things. He didn't want my tears, it made him feel helpless, because there wasn't anything he could do about it. He knew how much I love him, he didn't want to leave, but this was something he couldn't stop. But he faced it the way he wanted.

Elizabeth Edwards is watching her life slowly bleed away, that is out of her control. What is in her power is how she chooses to deal with it. That is something every individual deserves, the right to meet their end the way they wish. I hope she has many many years in front of her, and if she doesn't, I wish her a peaceful and painless journey.

[Jacklyn75]

11. I love them, they are such an inspiration to us all!

Not a Katie fan but I will watch 60 minutes tonight. Thanks for posting this!

[badgerpup]

12. She is a very courageous and realistic woman...

"Controlling" a cancer is a soft way of saying 'keeping you comfortable'.
She's looked Death in the face, and said, "Alright, you and I are going to meet up sooner than I'd like, but until then, I have work to do. So if you'll excuse me, I'll be at it."

That's courage. :patriot:
wish there were some more dignified approval icons, because I'd use them here.

[Berry Cool]

14. *sigh* Yet another journalist perpetrating the myth

that the cancer was "curable" before it returned...it wasn't. Ever. Curable.

Sometimes I wish these journalists would just take some time and educate themselves. I know they're under tight deadlines and one can't be an expert on everything, but come on.

Aside from that, I have nothing but admiration for Elizabeth.

[Morgana LaFey]

17. What on earth do you mean

that it wasn't ever curable?

Are you saying that my several friends who are breast cancer survivors of several years now haven't been -- and more importantly CAN'T ever be -- cured?

Please explain, because I'm apparently laboring under the same "myth," as I suspect others are.

[cybildisobedience]

15. A cynical prediction

Despite all the extraordinary aspects of this couple's character, the one thing their enemies will pounce on is that John is squeamish about needles.....

I know it sounds ridiculous, but that's how far low we've sunk ---

There was a time, not too long ago, when someone like even a Rush Limbaugh would have been embarrassed to say the things he's already said about John and Elizabeth Edwards about her cancer. Unfortunately, that time has passed, and we're in an era of public discourse that sinks even below schoolyard taunts.

Bless both John and Elizabeth for what they're going through, and for their courage.

[Beaverhausen]

18. John and Elizabeth will be on 60 Minutes tonight

interview by Katie Couric- who knows a thing or two about losing a spouse to cancer.

[Catchawave]

28. ...and a sister :(

:hi: Beav

[Lex]

19. I. Love. Her.

That is all.

[hedgehog]

20. The critics who maintain that Edwards should drop out are really

suggesting that the two of them sit home and wait for her to die! I can't think of a worse response to this situation. When I saw their press conference the other day, I was bowled over at the strength and courage they showed.

I must admit to sort of wishing for the following match-up: Edwards vs. Gingrich. I can't think of a confrontation that better epitomizes the difference between Democratic and Republican family values!

[bobbolink]

22. This is a woman with so much depth and heart and integrity!

What an antidote to the REAL sickness running rampant in this society!

:loveya: Elizabeth!

[Triana]

23. this is why I want THIS family in the White House...

..they embody what family, and morality really are. For all the reichwingnut blaspheming about "morality" and "family values" - few of them REALLY walk the talk.

THIS family - the Edwards family - DOES - and that's one reason I want them in the White House. They can be trusted to do what's right.

[133724]

27. Elizabeth Edward for First Lady...

[vanboggie]

29. What an amazing woman

...and what a terrific couple. You both have my vote, but then you always have.

Edwards '08!

[AwakeAtLast]

30. She was awesome!

:bounce:

Put Ms. Couric right in her place!

:bounce:

[VelmaD]

31. I'm going to go out on a limb here...

and dare to disagree. I'm pissed off because all this does is reify to societal expectation that "good" women are completely self-less and self-sacrificing. It's really very simple...if it was me I would damn sure expect my partner to dial back their work schedule to spend as much time as possible with me while we could still be together. That may make me "selfish", but you know what, I'm sick and fucking tired of the female half of the species not being allowed to think of themselves first without being called nasty names.

That said, if this is what she really wants to do...I'm fine with it. But I wish people would stop making her out to be a saint because of it. She wouldn't be a bad person if her decision was different.