Cate Edwards was interviewed on “Today” this morning. Cate is the eldest daughter of John Edwards and the late Elizabeth Edwards. As I watched the interview, I was tremendously impressed with her poise and her ability to convey how she felt while giving the bare minimum of a reply, such as when Savannah Guthrie asked her about Rielle Hunter, the woman her father had the affair with. Cate answered very politely, but her eyes were screaming “Trailer trash!!”
God knows there’s no shortage to choose from, but I don’t know if a politician ever let me down more than John Edwards. With his youthful good looks and his emphasis on social justice, he had a Kennedy-esque air about him and I loved that he represented my home state, North Carolina. He had ideas that I really agreed with and seemed almost destined to be president. And then, well, then, he fell into the honey trap. As we see politician after politician fall, I honestly do think that is the difference between men and women. We don’t see female politicians getting into these kinds of scandals. Every time it happens, I’m torn between why we care at all (since it’s someone’s private life) and anger that the man just couldn’t keep his pants zipped, especially when he has so much to lose. As usual in such cases, his lies about the affair and his paternity were way more disturbing than the actual affair.... though had I known that all it took to get a guy to fall for you was to walk up to him and say “You’re hot,” my life could have been a hell of a lot more interesting.
I digress. While Cate had to spill about Rielle and her dad, the main point of her “Today” show appearance was to plug the Elizabeth Edwards Foundation. The mission of the EEF is to “educate, enrich, and empower” youth from low-income backgrounds through mentoring, public service, and community leadership. Today’s $10 goes to EEF.
On a side note, I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of my hometown than when the cretins from Westboro Baptist Church decided to protest at Edwards’ funeral for reasons that make no more sense than any of their other protests do. The service was at Edenton Street Methodist, a beautiful, 200-year old church in downtown Raleigh. Several hundred locals lined the streets around the church and linked arms to block the protesters and to pay their final respects for Edwards.
March 29: Elizabeth Edwards Foundation
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