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I’m dissapointed in Senator John Edwards (D-NC). In 2004, when he ran with Senator John Kerry (D-MA), on the Presidential Democratic ticket as Vice President, I felt in my gut he should be running for President. This man came from a hard working blue color family, his father was a coal miner and his mother was a teacher. He worked hard as a student and eventually became a lawyer, got married to Elizabeth Edwards and had his first child, Wade Edwards. At the age of 16, while driving, Wade’s Jeep was swooped up in a gust of wind, taking the vehicle of the highway and taking his life. This tragic event led the John Edwards to pursue a career in public life as a Senator. Since then, the Senator has had two additional children, and has been a champion for Democratic ideals. He has fought for veterans, working class folks and been a voice to America’s homeless and the disenfranchised. In the midst of his Presidential election for the Democratic ticket against Senator Hillary Clinton (NY), Senator Barack Obama (IL) and Governor Bill Richardson (NM), we learned that his wife’s cancer had return. This was March of 2007. The nation empathized with the family and wished for Elizabeth’s health to return as she underwent chemo therapy. However, just last week, the news broke that Senator Edwards, had bore a child with his campaign videographer, Rielle Hunter. This was a crucial blow to the Obama-Edwards ticket I was imagining in my head. As someone who is known for his moral and family values, this news meant that while campaigning for the primaries, and while his wife was battling cancer, he was having an affair. Political career out the window. No more Vice President Edwards. All the diffrence he could have made in the White House ceases to exist. Sigh. Senator Edwards is not the first, nor will he be the last to have his laundry aired. Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, has a similar story. After returning from Vietnam as a prisonar of war, he learned his wife had been tragically disfigured in a car accident. He ended up cheated on her with the twenty years younger socialite, Cindy McCain, who he later married. Yet, this has not stopped his career as a politician. Maybe it’s because we live in a different world now. Everything we do is documented, people have a lot more access to the private lives of politicians and celebrities. I wonder, if Senator McCain did that now, will the public forgive him? And what would be a better situation, Senator Edwards cheating on his wife? Or Senator Edwards serving his cancer striken wife with divorce papers? I guess my dissapointment is not really in Senator Edwards, just like it’s not in Senator McCain’s. They are both human, and inperfect. My dissapointment lies in the realization that even with the best intentions, the direction of our nation can swifly change by the inappropriate actions of one individual (if caught on camera). With the conventions quickly approaching, I hope Obama’s vice presidential choice can carry him through the general election without any hidden tabloid ready indiscretions!