Edwards Campaign Continues Despite Wife’s Cancer Recurrence

Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards announced yesterday that his campaign would continue despite the fact that he and his wife learned earlier this week that her breast cancer has returned. “The campaign goes on. The campaign goes on strongly,” he told the press, Elizabeth Edwards beside him. “From our perspective, there was no reason to stop. I don’t think we seriously thought about it.” Nor should they have.

The medical facts, such as it is any business of anyone whose surname isn’t Edwards, are pretty clear. A biopsy shows that her cancer has returned and is largely encased in bone. Once this happens, medical science doesn’t offer much hope of a cure. Treatment, however, can extend a patient’s life for years through chemotherapy, radiation and sometimes hormone therapy. So, in short, she’s in a lot of trouble, but nothing terrible awaits in the immediate future.

Consequently, Mrs. Edwards is optimistic. “I just have a belief that I am going to beat this. Every indication is that all the news I’ve gotten really has been good news, so I feel pretty confident. I’m making those plans for the next 40 years.” Meanwhile, Mr. Edwards said, “You can go cower in the corner and hide or you can go out there and stand up for what you believe in. We have no intentions of cowering in the corner.”

For those interested in the character of a candidate, one can readily conclude that the two of them are pretty tough customers. This isn’t the first time they’ve had major difficulty in their lives – their son Wade died in a car accident in 1996. A large percentage of marriages that suffer that kind of blow don’t survive long, but the Edwards are not like a lot of people.

Politically, there will be a lot of talk about sympathy votes, the news humanizing the candidate, and other such piffle. Such talk misses the point. The media cannot comfortably deal with more than three or four candidates in each party; the story becomes cumbersome. Thus, few know that Mr. Edwards is running against not only Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama, but also against Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, Chris Dodd, and Mike Gravel. By staying in the race, by choosing not to suspend or quit his campaign, Mr. Edwards prevents a lesser-known candidate emerge to challenge first tier of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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