An Article about John and Elizabeth Edwards
If you read my blog regularly, you know that one of the people I listen to a lot to form my personal philosophy of life is Jim Rohn. One of Rohn's sayings I like best is this. "It doesn't matter what happens to you in life. What matters is what you do about it."
What would you do if your oldest child died before you did? I'd rather not be put in that situation. My father in law dealt with it twice, first with my wife (his oldest child) and then with his middle child in June 2007. I wonder how much it had to do with his own death two months later.
This article about John and Elizabeth Edwards speaks to their own personal courage and why Mr. Edwards' campaign may be doing as strongly as it is. I personally find their ability to cope with their tragedy admirable.
I also want to comment on the other tragedy the Edwards' are confronting. Elizabeth Edwards' cancer is a significant concern to me. My own wife's death was sudden and unexpected. She lost her life after 5 days in a coma. While she was in that coma, nothing else mattered to me, including my work. If John is elected President and Elizabeth confronts her final days while John is in office, then John will face a terrible dilemma. I believe, therefore, that should John achieve the Democratic nomination his choice of a Vice Presidential candidate will be even more critical than usual.
I believe that because the Vice President must be someone John will have absolutely no qualms in temporarily signing over the President's responsibilities to. This requires complete trust and agreement on programs and intentions. Most Vice Presidential candidates are chosen to broaden the appeal of the ticket and shore up perceived weaknesses of the Presidential candidate. In these circumstances, those considerations may have to be secondary. If those concerns become secondary, then does such a ticket lessen Edwards' prospects for victory in November 2008?
Who knows the answer, but clearly these considerations should be part of voters' decision process.
Here's a link to the NY Times article by Kate Zernicke.
http://www.johnedwards.com/news/headlines/20071231-nytimes/
What would you do if your oldest child died before you did? I'd rather not be put in that situation. My father in law dealt with it twice, first with my wife (his oldest child) and then with his middle child in June 2007. I wonder how much it had to do with his own death two months later.
This article about John and Elizabeth Edwards speaks to their own personal courage and why Mr. Edwards' campaign may be doing as strongly as it is. I personally find their ability to cope with their tragedy admirable.
I also want to comment on the other tragedy the Edwards' are confronting. Elizabeth Edwards' cancer is a significant concern to me. My own wife's death was sudden and unexpected. She lost her life after 5 days in a coma. While she was in that coma, nothing else mattered to me, including my work. If John is elected President and Elizabeth confronts her final days while John is in office, then John will face a terrible dilemma. I believe, therefore, that should John achieve the Democratic nomination his choice of a Vice Presidential candidate will be even more critical than usual.
I believe that because the Vice President must be someone John will have absolutely no qualms in temporarily signing over the President's responsibilities to. This requires complete trust and agreement on programs and intentions. Most Vice Presidential candidates are chosen to broaden the appeal of the ticket and shore up perceived weaknesses of the Presidential candidate. In these circumstances, those considerations may have to be secondary. If those concerns become secondary, then does such a ticket lessen Edwards' prospects for victory in November 2008?
Who knows the answer, but clearly these considerations should be part of voters' decision process.
Here's a link to the NY Times article by Kate Zernicke.
http://www.johnedwards.com/news/headlines/20071231-nytimes/
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