Elizabeth Edwards tells Oprah about husband's affair, her battle with cancer

CHICAGO - Elizabeth Edwards tells talk show host Oprah Winfrey that it's a "complicated question" if she still is in love with her husband, former presidential candidate and U.S. Sen John Edwards, after his admitted affair.

In an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to air Thursday, Winfrey asks Edwards, "Are you still in love with him?"

Edwards responds, "You know, that's a complicated question," in an excerpt provided in advance to The Associated Press by Harpo Productions.

Winfrey also asks Edwards, "Is it a day by day thing?" And Edwards says, "Neither one of us is out the door so I guess it's day by day, but maybe it's month by month."

The talk-show host visited the Edwards family at the Chapel Hill, N.C., home where the couple live with their children, Cate, Jack and Emma Claire. Winfrey interviewed Elizabeth Edwards about her relationship with her husband, his affair and her battle with terminal cancer. The interview will appear on Winfrey's television show and there will be a companion piece in the June issue of "O" magazine.

Elizabeth Edwards' memoir "Resilience" is to be published this month.

full article: <http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/44354952.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciaec8O7EyUsl>

I admit to that being my shortcoming. it's how I was brought up- stiff upper lip, blah blah, discretion is the better part of valor, blah, blah. It's just hard for me to get why people do the public linen washing stuff.

The public realy doesn't need to know the intimate details of what should be a private tragedy.

For example, the sexual habits of a child of a politician and subsequent family trouble normally would be considered private and beyond the pale. However, with the Palins, we must expose it and poke that wound repeatedly since we must defeat them. They are cancer - we must fight them. Nothing, even the sexual mistakes of a teenager, is beyond the pale with this scum.

Making a public spectacle was at the top of the do not do list.

having to get her side out - or others will do it for her - but it's all really cringing.

"public spectacle" - I can hear my great aunts this minute.

We must be related.

That Oprah went to Chapel Hill home and interviewed both, could be seen by some as John and Elizabeth wanting to head off that investigation into whether campaign money went to Hunter by whipping up sympathy.

I wonder what they told their two youngest about why Oprah was visiting. I wonder what the kids at school will have to say to those two young children.

It does look like it's a production or spectacle. One thing for Elizabeth to write a book and go on Oprah's show to promote it. Quite another for Oprah to fly down to the Chapel Hill "spread" and interview both.

I don't think the whole spectacle helps either one of them. Even in the PR department. They look like Media users, now. And users of those of us who thought better of them before this display.

It's a world is filled with rich Democrats who got rich just like the Republicans by ripping off the system which is how John Edwards got rich.

Who cares about them? They live selfish self-absorbed lives filled with phony poverty programs they set up and fund that accomplish nothing but promote equally selfish and self-absorbed people who do nothing but go on Oprah and talk about how they are solving the problems of our society and giving the post office box to send donations to so they can keep on solving them. It doesn't look like they've solved anything.

This country is falling apart. Now the Obama Administration says the recession is coming to an end. The recession may be coming to an end for Wall Street. The depression is just beginning for Main Street.

I am really tired of hearing how the woman John Edwards decided to have an affair with is pathetic. Elizabeth Edwards is pathetic as is John Edwards. As is Oprah. She is probably the most pathetic of all.

I wouldn't trash her, even though I don't watch her, but to keep employed by the "Mainstream McCorporate Media" there are always costs to one's soul.

One cost is always "keeping oneself into controversy" to get ratings.

Nothing wrong with that...if it wasn't that so many of us seeing Entertainment Morph into News and become Infotainment, Explotainment and the decline of Tee Vee Media where everyone is referred to as "YOU GUYS!" :eyes:

It makes others cringe as well. Especially since it comes so late. Everyone's pretty much forgotten about it.

Plus, while blaming and publicly reviling the other woman might be tempting, most people realize on some level that in the end, it was her partner who betrayed her. Not the woman. We all have choices. It just seems like she's deluding herself, making it public, and it's a little pitiful.

with a younger woman who worked at his office. The thing is, he told his wife about it 3 weeks after it started. He was brutally honest and said he didn't know why he was doing this. They went to one marriage counseling session, and he decided he wasn't willing to work through it. They divorced in a matter of weeks.

He was a cad, but he was totally honest early in the affair. For that I give him a lot of credit. The breakup of a marriage after decades is going to be painful no matter what, but weeks, months, and years of LYING make everything so much worse. That is what is infuriating about John Edwards. He wants to be congratulated for finally being honest after he was caught. It shows a lack of integrity and I think of him as a slick, arrogant phony. I am glad we were spared him.

On further thought, possibly this was for legal reasons.

Fill in the blank with whatever word you think might have passed through Mrs. Edwards mind.

and decides to run for POTUS.

And I can understand why a spouse would want to escape the situation. I think Ms Hunter, or whatever her name is, picked up on the vulnerablity of Edwards and siezed the opportunity.

I'm not excusing John's actions, just looking at it from another perspective.

I think she knows this now. I can't understand why she is still living in the same house with him. It is obvious they have no relationship.

was a shit to his wife, his girlfriend and his kids.

But he was sincere about his policies.

I can't help thinking his entire "Two Americas" theme was a gimmick.

He made a gimmick out of his marriage.

because Kennedy was a shit to his wife and two-faced about his personal life?

In my post I was addressing the thought I have that his policy position was not sincere.

As far as Kennedy was concerned, in reality it was Bobby who really cared.

he really worked his ass off to get an education, etc. but, no, I don't know how sincere he was, but I certainly agree about Bobby Kennedy. RFK underwent quite a political transformation.

More than the affair, JRE's lack of sincerity is shown by the fact that he voted for the 2001 bankruptcy bill. That does not fit with his later story of always knowing how hard it was for the other America. He can't even claim he didn't understand the impact - bankruptcy law was Elizabeth's specialty.

JRE was not FDR, nor was he JFK. He was not even Bill Clinton. It really isn't all that clear that he really has core principles.

Why was he sitting on boards that unfairly foreclosed homes? :shrug:

She lost her oldest son to a car accident, she's dealing with terminal cancer and she's trying
to deal with the fact that her husband had a long-term affair and lied to her for months.

My heart breaks for her.

When you're dealing with terminal cancer--it would be painful enough to know that your time is limited.
But at least, you would have family to get you through. It might not ease the pain, but at least you
can count on something.

I feel like John Edwards took that away from Elizabeth. She obviously has a lot of doubts about John
and a total lack of trust. How awful for her, to go through so much--and to have the person who should
have stood by her the most--totally betray her.

She stood by him.

I'd like to kick his bony little ass to the curb.

what he did was the last thing she needed.

when it came out that Mike Tyson had hit his girlfriend. Vescey pointed out that Joe Louis always said that the best punch he ever landed was on Lena Horne. Vescey then went on to discuss the hubris of successful men and how treating your wife/girlfriend like shit was one of the rewards of success for a man. He cited a long list of famous men from Franklin Roosevelt - who was a shit to his wife and his girlfriend - to Louis, etc.

You think when you put your life on 'hold' to work in a campaign - and EE was THE star of the '04 election - and work your ass off and have cancer that there's not much more you can give someone else - and then you find out that he's sleeping around.

What a kick in the gut.

Unfortunately, US history is rife with presidents who were great who by acts of commission or acts of omission - were shits to their wives. You want good marriages in the White House you find the first Roosevelts, the Hoovers, the Fords, the Carters and the Reagans. And that's about it. I think the Clintons fall somewhere about two thirds the way to a good marriage and I think Laura Bush has times when she'd rather be somewhere else with someone else. She would have been better off having a boyfriend. The Obamas seem to have a pretty good one going in.

What I'm saying is that being a shit to your wife does not disqualify you from much in our society.

She became one thereafter is how I remember it.

in Florida were hilarious as she had lived there as a kid.

She was a complete unknown - unlike JK, TK and the Bushes, and really won folks over.

And certainly she was well-liked. I just don't think she became a celebrity until her cancer onset, which became known after the election, and then she went on to become a political star in her own right. Anyway, that's how I saw it through that time.

that gave her comfort in the knowledge that she might have to leave her children - that their father is steadfast in his love for their mother.

People deal with the hardships life brings in different ways. It isn't that uncommon for one person in a long time relationship to go outside the marriage when devastating issues arise. Like cancer for instance. It's probably a sign of emotional immaturity, wanting to "get away" from problems through sex and romance in the arms of another. It's not as unheard of as one would like to think. It's human nature unfortunately. Besides, no one knows what their relationship was like before the cancer struck. Just because they were a tight political team, that doesn't mean their home life wasn't cold or rife with boredom. It's too easy to judge from the outside.

Although, with this new book, they seem to be actively courting outside judgement. :)

...that a man fucking around on his wife and lying to her for months--while she's dying---is a BAD thing, then
I guess we're all screwed!

I think it's obvious that what JE did was awful.

Yeah, he might have reasons for the underlying behavior. That doesn't mean that we can't judge his behavior as despicable.

I guess certain people don't have the luxury of honesty though. The average couple can split or agree to a life apart, together. Political couples don't have that option. They always have to live up to loftier standards than the rest of us. Or at least the appearance of those. People can put out books, and we can judge based on whatever morsels the media digs up, but the truth is, no one is privy to all the details of their marriage, so in the end, it's just speculation and gossip. Most of us know from the experiences of our own relationships that they can get pretty complicated.

or how people felt. What I do know is that this Hunter woman took advantage of the situation. She KNEW he was married and yet went after him. She KNEW his wife had cancer, but went after him anyway. She KNEW he was vulnerable, which is WHY she went after him. Elizabeth is right, Hunter is a pathetic person.

ANY ONE will have an affair, if the situation is right. But, for most people, they can hide it, they don't have the National Enquirer following their every move. Yes, some married men go out looking for an affair, but it's been my experience that it's usually the woman who initiates it.

zalinda

making excuses for him is natural, I suppose, but it doesn't change the fact that he was the one who had the obligation to his wife. He KNEW his wife- HIS WIFE- had cancer and yet he had a an affair. He KNEW his wife was fucking dying and he decided his penis and its pleasure were more important.

John Edwards is a pathetic sleazeball.

Elizabeth Edwards must realize that this book she's put out will affect her husband's love child. When she grows up, she'll read about how her father's wife called her mother a manipulative, gold-digging, sycophant whore basically. And screamed it out to the entire world. For whatever it's worth, that girl is sister to her own children. It seems an act you could call payback and it's cruel to the child. I don't think anyone owns a soul that's totally filled with goodness and light, and this book seems to show that even Elizabeth has her own faults and isn't completely selfless.

the publicity around her book and interviews is also likely to be quite difficult on her own young kids.

so I never expected you to give him a break. But, if it had been Obama................ now that's a different story.

zalinda

a shit about anyone but himself. But I've always liked her.

And if obama behaved in such a way, I certainly would not be defending him.

sorry, zal.

I would be defending Obama, if he was in the same situation. And, as you know, I can't stand Obama.

NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE has the right to know about any one's sex life. What ever happens between sexual partners is their business alone. And unless you are involved in the situation physically, your opinion doesn't matter. You have no idea what is going on within the relationship, nor should you. It shouldn't matter to you one bit, unless it is illegal. And unless I'm mistaken, adultery is not illegal.

Americans are the most hypocritical people when it comes to sex. I have no idea why, but it seems dems are just as bad as repubs when it comes to that subject.

To put this as blunt as I can. I don't care who is sleeping with whom, as long as it's legal. What I care about is issues presented that will affect my life. I would much rather have a "cheating" politician with issues blazing for the poor in this country, rather than a "faithful" politician who keep the status quo going. Both would affect my life, but the "cheater" would affect my life for the better. If my life and millions of others are better, he could have orgies for all I care.

zalinda

but this is not the best of all possible worlds. in real life, had JE been nominated and had this info come out during the general, McCain and Palin could well have won. It's not just the affair, it's the lying.

You are in the minority. most voters do care. that's just the way it is. and sorry, it doesn't speak well of his character that he'd cheat on his terminally ill wife.

If instead someone had come to him with the tempting offer to make millions in some criminal scheme, would we blame the original criminal, or him for his moral lapse? Same thing. There are always going to be opportunities and temptations out there. Elizabeth took her vows with John and he with her. Nobody should have to go through life looking at everyone with suspicion. You should be able to trust your spouse. That's why women (and men too) stick around to get f*cked over again and again. They don't hang the responsibility where it belongs.

I didn't mean my post to sound as though I was looking for excuses for him in blaming the sycophant "ho." Just that I think human relationships are complex and it's easy to look in and make judgments when we only see the top layer.

If you think "it's usually the woman who initiates it," you must have led a very protected life. One thing I have to give "this Hunter woman" credit for is she has not taken huge opportunities to spread her side of the story all over talk shows, to make, yes, a public spectacle. Perhaps she will feel justified in doing so now. I happen to think this Hunter woman actually fell in love with the scumbag, and it's just as likely as anything else that all this blather about how she exploited the poor, somehow vulnerable and powerful, all at once, John Edwards, is so much shit that allows Elizabeth to talk herself out of his culpability. Hunter is, to my belief, the mother of his child, who is a half sibling of his other children, with not the same claim or investment as EE's, but still, EE calling her "pathetic" on television, just as he declared himself not to have loved his mistress on television, is pretty low of both of them.

My father was the biggest cheater around. He usually made the first move. For him it was all about the validation of being a man. He still tries to cheat, but he's so old now that the girls just let him buy them drinks and then laugh at him.

My ex was pursued all the time, because he had money. I know he wasn't the aggressor because he was too shy, and kept his head down. They knew he was married, because most of them knew me. He was clueless about the flirting, because he had dated very little before we met. You would be surprised how many men can get roped in because they didn't play the dating game in school. I could see him getting roped in, but he couldn't. We separated once because he "fell in love" with someone. As soon as she found out that she would have to wait to spend his money, she left him, and he came crawling back to me. This happened a number of times, until we ended up in divorce.

Any time that a woman knows she is going after a married man, I blame her. Women have a lot of power and most know how to twist a man around their little finger. He may have been faithful up til that point, but a women who knows what she is doing, can change that in a short amount of time. Add money and power into the equation, and if he hasn't cheated once in a marriage, it would be a miracle.

I never knowingly dated a married man, but I've known plenty of women who did. They were quite pleased with themselves too. It was a game to them. And while they thought it was fun, the wife was trying to pick up the pieces and trying to figure out what she did that was wrong. Welcome to the ME generation.

zalinda

Blaming Rielle alone is naive.

have an affair regardless of the situation. how offensive that is and what a way to condone the behavior. there are actually people in this world that are not willing to throw away their integrity for sex. what an absurd and self absorbed comment that is.

as for blame to the woman who screwed edwards knowing he is married

she is a piece of shit too

so, you're a woman ... how much experience do you have in starting affairs?

no "ANY ONE" will not have an affair, and "ANY ONE" would not put up with a spouse who did.

How many days do you think she has left? When the return of her cancer was announced people called it 'terminal' then. That was when, in November of 2007? Presumably she was gonna be dead before the November election. She was asked why she was spending her 'last days' campaigning.

Well, here she is a year and a half later, still kicking. Is she not gonna live to see next Christmas? Will her quality of life be very low by Christmas? (as in, still alive, but hooked up to machines and bed-ridden)

My understanding is that her cancer is treatable rather than terminal. That with treatments, she will continue to live indefinitely.

Then again, Tony Snow held on for a year and a half or so too, and continued to work and make TV appearances like nothing was wrong.

>I'd like to kick his bony little ass to the curb.<

I am just so angry for her.
How dare he? Seriously. Is he so ruled by his dick that he couldn't think of any other alternative than to cheat, when the wife who's stood by him for years is terminally ill? How is he any different than someone like Newt Gingrich, who asked his ex-wife for a divorce while she lay in her hospital bed after surgery?

Frankly, I'm happy she's getting her revenge.

knowing this information could cause Democrats the election if he had been nominated.
I find their deception selfish beyond belief. Had she insisted, Edwards would have withdrawn
from the election for "personal" reasons.

Also, what's the point of airing their dirty laundry now?

she was obviously in a ton of pain from both his revelataions and her disease. I don't see how anyone can judge her. He's a different story.

John Edwards was a weak man. He could not stand behind his wife, who was terminally ill with cancer, because he thought he deserved more. He thought he deserved more because many folks, including myself, led him to believe that we thought he was the best person to be President of the United States. Yes, I accept some responsibility. Even though my heart told me he was not ready to be President, I followed the advice of others who jumped on the Edwards bandwagon. I should have known better. I guess the lesson is to be careful which wagon we hitch our star upon? Otherwise, we may be following morons like Joe the Plumber or Sarah the Wolf Killer...

Goddess knows she deserves it. I feel for anyone who has to deal with a cheating spouse, but to have to do so in the public eye must be intense. Having to do so while also dealing with terminal cancer is a hell I can't comprehend. When I think about the child she lost many years ago, I get angry at how unfair life can be.

Her private pain I have every sympathy with. But if you don't want to be public, you don't go on Oprah.

The affair happened years ago. Addressing it now isn't the same as what she went through when she found out about the affair.

though, and it can't be easy for her younger children.

I have no idea why she would want to write about it or talk about it, but the psuedo pop psychologist in me wonders if she gets tired of people pitying her. Up until now, she had no voice in this mess. Add to the fact that she knows she's dying...well I can't blame her for wanting to get a few things off her chest.

Looks like they're BOTH looking for $. Kids to care for and educate, and he's awol.

I think they can educate and care for their kids on that.

.

Edwards' money
Net Worth: $54.7 million

Where he got it

Most of Edwards' wealth comes from awards won as a medical malpractice and personal-injury attorney.

After his 2004 run for Vice President, he joined Fortress Investment Group, a $40 billion manager of hedge funds and private equity, as a part-time consultant - for an annual salary of $480,000 (plus profit sharing).

Edwards has since resigned, but Fortress has continued its generosity. Its employees have donated $190,000 in this election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/moneymag/0712/gallery.candidates.moneymag/2.html

that's where it was less than 2 years ago. Obviously some of it is in his house, though I don't know how much. The point is that they're quite wealthy and it seems a little silly to suggest that they need money from book sales to provide for their kids.

.

have lost 54 million in the last year? Maybe you're suggesting they've lost half their net worth and now are impoverished with a mere 22 million or so.

I very much doubt that the Edwards are in financial straits. Even in a lousy economy, 54 million doesn't just disappear.

together.

I've been verbally kicked to shreds all over this board because I'm not willing to jump in and verbally kick the shit out out of John Edwards like so many around DU get off on doing.

I believed in Edwards and it means a lot to me that he was willing to apologize publicly for this and so many other things that people are raking him over the coals for.

Elizabeth is the one who has been hurt the most and I don't blame her for still wanting to believe.

I still want to believe in the good of John Edwards too.

But I'm realistic enough to know that his political career is over, stick a fork in it, done.

I'm sad about it because I liked him the best out of the three dems (if I couldn't have Gore, that is) way back in January '08.

We'll never have a chance to see what Edwards could do-not after everyone who hates his guts shreds his ass into pieces all over the net and on t.v.


But does anyone except *, Cheney, the BFEE, assholes like Limbaugh, O'Lielly, Corporate America, Banks and Wall Street really deserve this kind of trial by fire?

No, I don't think so.



I'm sick to death that people think it's ok to crucify Edwards for something that really only hurt his family the most.

The attitude on DU toward Edwards is like a bunch of wild dogs tearing apart a carcass. It's disgusting. :puke:

Especially since ALL politicians-including Obama-have gigantic egos and all think they are special and can do no wrong.

Edwards even admitted his ego had been out of control. I've NEVER seen another politician admit that. Not ever.

But it's meaningless to the wolf pack around here.

Whatever. :eyes:

just a teeny bit. My thing is, if you want to leave someone-GO! But the interviews in the home and books are a bit much. It appears that John loves her (in his own weird way) enough to stay through the ongoing humiliation. He deserves it, I guess. But there will come a time when EE has to decide what she wants to do and stick with it! If I was either one of them, I would have moved out by now!

This happened in my husbands family, grandfather cheated on grandmother while dying of cancer...this is something that affects the children most of all.

They will never have a normal relationship with their father, they will always be resentful of their father's treatment of their mother and then unfortunately he is all they will have left. Their family is screwed up forever. And then they go on this show? Ugh!

And then to top it all off, the new baby has to grow up with all of the crap too. I am so sick of selfish adults messing up children. No wonder our society is so screwed up with all the wrong values.

it sucks. sorry to see EE doing this- as much sympathy as I feel for her.