In an excerpt from his new book, "No Excuses," Democratic operative Robert
Shrum, who advised the 2004 Kedwards campaign, tells the story of how the
lovely and talented John Edwards became Kerry's No. 2--and how John Kerry came
to regret it:
Kerry talked with several potential picks, including Gephardt
and Edwards. He was comfortable after his conversations with
Gephardt, but even queasier about Edwards after they met.
Edwards had told Kerry he was going to share a story with him
that he'd never told anyone else--that after his son Wade had
been killed, he climbed onto the slab at the funeral home,
laid there and hugged his body, and promised that he'd do all
he could to make life better for people, to live up to Wade's
ideals of service.
Kerry was stunned, not moved, because, as he told me later,
Edwards had recounted the same exact story to him, almost in
the exact same words, a year or two before--and with the same
preface, that he'd never shared the memory with anyone else.
Kerry said he found it chilling, and he decided he couldn't
pick Edwards unless he met with him again. . . .
Kerry's relationship with Edwards would sour after the election...
When Elizabeth [Edwards] discovered she had breast cancer, John
and Teresa [Heinz Kerry] reached out to help the Edwardses find
the best doctors they could. . . . Kerry told me that the Edwardses
simply stopped returning calls or talking to him and Teresa.
Within months, Edwards started preparing for a bid in 2008. Kerry
said that he wished he'd never picked Edwards, that he should have
gone with his gut.
Back in July 2004, of course, Kerry was enthusiastic about his new partner.
"We've got better vision, better ideas, real plans. We've got a better sense
of what's happening to America--and we've got better hair." Edwards certainly
came in with a bang, and in those heady days, no one could have expected
they'd part unevenly. We hope this split ends, but how do you ask a man to be
the last man to dry for a mistake?
--
"You know, education--if you make the most of it, you study hard, you
do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you can do
well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." JFKerry
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