I think that anyone who has gone through the death of a child becomes real. there are no other options. When we hear his wife and older daughter, we see people who are genuine and caring in authentic ways – he is as genuine as his family – and that is not a cheap shot at President Bush. I think Bush’s daughters have had to take a lot of crap from many on the left just as Chelsea Clinton and Hilary had to take similar stuff from the right. Now his family is not a clear picture of Edwards, but it is close. He truly has a passion for the poor and understands the desperation of poverty. this is in direct contrast to Bush who has said that he just doesn’t understand poor people. That is a narrow world. At any rate – he’s the real thing – but comes across as a lawyer – not necessarily a good thing. I still believe he’s the guy to beat. Both Clinton and Obama will burn out, but Edwards is like the energizer bunny.

I can understand you being wary of a religious politician. I read your book and felt for you. I was raised that one’s faith is a private thing so all of this religious talk turns me off. I will take the advice of a Jewish friend who said that Jews judge people by their actions not their beliefs. John Edwards does things that help poor people. Bush doesn’t.

First off: David, since you’ve “come out” of the political closet, you appear to be nothing more than a Democrat shill. Didn’t Edwards just days ago, have anti-Christian bigot-bloggers on his staff? I know that Judas was a disciple but he didn’t advertise his hatred for the followers of Jesus. And Linda, how come your Jewish friend isn’t a follower of Christ Jesus if actions are so valued? I can totally understand Jewish angst towards prople calling themselves “Christians” but I can’t figure out their ire “at” Jesus. I’ve never been poor either. My family struggled along on a military man’s salary, but poverty was never there. Does being poor always mean you have to commit crimes, have babies out of wedlock, or want to be a thug? And c’mon now, Edwards is a kind of thug as a PI lawyer. Be that as it may, Edwards hails from the Democrat party.So you can “judge” his actions by that.The Democrats hate real Christians more than anything and anyone else. The PC/Progressive cult that runs all things Democrat, teach our children Christ Jesus is a joke. At best. George W. Bush at least doesn’t move to outlaw Christianity the way the Lefties that rule the Democrats with an iron fist do. I like Edwards for some reason, but cannot move myself to vote for a Democrat, precisely because I do ot want to be part of the graet apostasy with my political or religious actions. Doing good to those that persecute you does not mean voting them into the Presidency. I seriously do not understand how anyone that takes the Gospel seriously can vote for a Democrat.

Why do the Democrats bother calling themselves the Democratic party, when they do not want anyone to be able to live as anything other than as a liberal? It is true that the Democrat party is pushing a socialist agenda hell-bent on everyone having to live like them. No disagreeing allowed. The taxes desired that pervade the souls of “Democrats” have crossed over the line from fixing roads to creating a Marxist world on American soil. Forget about the immorality and hedonism championed by the Democrat party and the Hollywood reprobates that give them money and look squarely into their eyes and you’ll see what the new Democrats really are. They are communists now. Attorneys like Edwards rape and pillage companies that employ many, many people. I can’t imagine an ambulance chaser as the President And what about his anti-Christian ex-employees? I’m nt a big Fox news fan, but Edwards would still have anti-Christians working for him if there wasn’t a dissenting voice from leftists aims and goals. We know the worth of most lawyers. They are shallow and self-serving and really care nothing for their clients except how much money they can make from them. Give me any Republican that desires everyone to be successful by hard work and effort over any kind of Democrat that desires to tax and sue the rich for no good reasons at all other than coveting and envy. It is not a good persons fault for doing things the right way. That being raising kids in a man/woman husband/wife family, and having them going to school without a gun, a can of spray paint, or a rap CD blasting in their ears. Can’t the Democrats find a good person to run for President? Must they all be leftists?

As was said here by David: judge someone by his actions. By that standard Edwards has already flunked royally. His response to the news (if he didn’t already know it) that he had hired two nasty, obscene anti- Christian, anti-Catholic bloggers was pathetic and disgusting. Funny aren’t those disqualifying actions for David.

As previously said Judge by their actions and their words. Clearly comments here represent nothing of Christian values. You know nothing. Hate to tell Christianity is not the be all and end all for everyone. You hate muslims for wanted to spread their religion over the world and you spout the same venom. I am sick of christians who think others who are not in lock step with their way of christianity are evil. It goes against every thing Jesus said. Please let us nominate a black muslim and turn this country and it misperceptions on its head.

Carol, The only heads that will be turned are those turning to earth as they are cut off. Nominate a muslim. Watch and see how long there are voices of opposition to Islam, the religion of peace, left to speak. There sure are a lot of anti-Christians in this “Christian nation.”There are no anti-Muslims in Islamic countries. Have a nice day.

Donny, you’re looking kind of wild here – not particularly faithful or truthful, just wild. Try stepping back a bit instead of always reacting with and “I’m right and the rest of the world is condemned to hell’ kind of attitude. These kinds of conversations are not about being right. They are about dialogue, conversaation. If this is the way you act in conversational groups, you must not go to many gatherings of actual human beings. Try stepping back and listening.

Ann Coulter – one of the true vile ones – spoke about Edwards yesterday – calling him a ‘faggot” – without reason, without logic and with a venom that should make all good people repudiate such languge and such people as Coulter. I’m sure she is an embarrassement to good conservatives, but it is time those good conservatives stood up and said so. Her attack on Edwards can only be described as vile. Why does she need to call names in the manner of a middle school harpy who has no vocabulary or ability for real debate. I recall Molly Ivins – her statements were never mean spirited and always on the money, backed by fact. Ann’s are always mean spirited and adolescent. When someone asked her a question afterwards that she didn’t like, she merely said that the questioner was ugly and didn’t deserve an answer. When she was covering the Democratic convention, her only remarks were about all the “ugly women” present for the convention. She was fired from USA Today for that one. This poor woman is the moral equivalent of any thirteen year old queen bee without any conscience. Fortunately, most of those little girls acquire and grow conscience. Ann has not. She has said so many vile things that people no longer are surprised and she has to ante.

I’m a good conservative. Ann Coulter does embarrass me at times. But she’s right far more times than not. Democrats are out to change America into a God-less, communist state. They’ll lie and cheat and decieve their way into power.That’s far worse than embarrassment.

Donny must be short for “Don’t know nothing” because that’s what’s proven every time that he hits the publish button below. What a private blogger wrote on their own site is their business. John Edwards didn’t have to agree with it or even know about it for them to be added to his campaign. There are other people who look into those things. He’s traveling around the country 18 hours a day making speeches, raising money, and doing interviews. You think he personally sat down and read through their blogs? If you do, then once again, you know absolutely nothing. As for the Democrats lying, the Republicans lie every time that they open their mouths. They are the party of big money and corporate welfare. Jesus would go through the RNC covention and overturn the same tables that he overturned in the temple. The urinate on the poor and defecate on the needy. That is the Republican Party, and then they come on television and lie about “family values.” Their values are the love of money, period. But then when a Democrat talks about helping the poor, you spit your venom. Well, why don’t you stop crawling around on your belly? If you do, then you might be able to see the light.

I am disturbed constantly by my fellow Believers who have “drank the Kool-Aid” served to them by talk radio and Republican apologists in the church. All this rhetoric about Democrats “pushing a socialist agenda hell-bent on everyone having to live like them. No disagreeing allowed” or “The Democrats hate real Christians more than anything and anyone else. The PC/Progressive cult that runs all things Democrat, teach our children Christ Jesus is a joke. At best.”…..it’s all the language of fear….it’s the language of division….it’s the language the Enemy (i.e. Satan, the Devil) uses….hate your neighbor, don’t trust anyone, they’re all out to get you…you’re on your own, Christ is not sovereign….you need to be afraid of them…the liberals, the media, hollywood, the Democrats, the ACLU, Muslims…fear…fear…fear them all. As a Baptist and a follower of Christ, I cannot reconcile the party of fear with my Savior who commands me to “Fear Not”…and trust that He is in control of the Universe.

It’s not even really about “fear” with most of them. It’s about a bunch of issues other than religion, like their disagreements with things like racial equality and economic justice, even though they are the very things that Jesus would be in favor of. The excuse they use? “They are lazy.” The truth? Most poor people actually work, but the government has created a capitalistic system that rewards wealth instead of hard work, so you can have people in this country, as we do, who work 2 and 3 jobs and still can’t hardly make it. While you have systems in France that allow a person to work at McDonald’s and live a higher quality of life than many people over here who work in factories. But, we are the “greatest country on the planet.” Yeah right. Maybe when we start acting like it, we will be again. We have fallen short, because the people like Donny are the ones who have been controlling our legislative body since 1994, and our Oval Office for most of modern history.

As for me and my house we would neaver vote for Edwards. Anyone who would run with kerry has poor judgement.

Maybe what you don’t understand it the bankrupt viewpoint of the Democrats including John Edwards about economic policy. I am still laughing about them saying that if we passed the tax cut it would worsen the economy (all for the benefit of the rich). The still don’t recognize its’ role in the recovery, just like they haven’t recognized such reality since the Kennedy administration.

Did the Edwards bloggers ask for forgiveness, as he contends, or did they simply express sorrow if anyone was offended? Big difference. Was hoping a question about the unborn would be tossed at him, also.

I believe that all North Carolinians are poorer because medical malpractice premiums are completley out of hand due to his insatiable need for more millions. I beleive that good medical professionals have been put out of business so he can have an indoor olympic sized pool and basketball court. I beleive that many communities are without the services of an Ob/Gyn because John Edwards, and others like him, knowingly used pseudo-science and preyed upon the ignorance of jurors to defraud doctors insurors of millions of dollars. Now he wants to socialize health care so we all can have inferior care in the name of equality. There are two Americas alright, the one that most of us live in, trying to do the best we can for our families and our neighbors every day. And the one he lives in where he tries every day to get another slurp in the trough. Sorry, there is nothing in his record that would indicate to me that he is not simply trying to sell another jury a bag of goods.

You know, these comments just show your ignorance. for one thing, Edwards talks about the bloggers on his staff, and obviously disagreed with the hateful things they said. But you didn’t bother to read the article, did you? This quote is incredibly asinine, “And Linda, how come your Jewish friend isn’t a follower of Christ Jesus if actions are so valued?” Jeez. As Edwards said, God is not a Republican or a Democrat. I wish people understood that; but then again, many people still think God is MALE.

Even Christians can be fools. He dares to criticize Americans as being selfish. What about his living in a huge estate, why doesn’t he sell it and give the money to the poor. Seems like I remember Jesus telling someone to do that – but then again, maybe I just have a bad memory. By the way, I think I would rather have a seat in heaven next to Ann Coulter than John Edwards. And I think she has a better chance of being there. A lot of Republican will not be it Heaven I know, but at least the PARTY does not hate God. Few of the current leadership of the Democratic party will see it based on their obvious emnity with the current man of God leading our county. If Edward thinks the war we are in is anti-christian, then the man does not know God. I don’t know if Edwards is a Christian, but just a warning – don’e believe everything one says; don’t be a fool.

The man is a hypocrite driven purely by greed and avarice, who keeps findly devout religion in election years. He made tens of millions of dollars as a shady “personal injury” attorney. He lives in mansions, flies on chartered jets, has spent millions upon millions of dollars alone running for Congress and the Presidency. And then he, with unabashed nerve, says the following about the American people, the most giving and caring people on the entire planet (Shame on you, Mr. Edwards!); “I think that Jesus would be disappointed in our ignoring the plight of those around us who are suffering and our focus on our own selfish short-term needs. I think he would be appalled, actually.”Anyone who votes for this charlatan is a fool or a dupe. Or overly impressed by well-coifed hair. I’m sorry, but this is the bed he made.

fasting politics are we?

Anyone who votes for this charlatan is a fool or a dupe. Or overly impressed by well-coifed hair. I’m sorry, but this is the bed he made. Ron Naples***** Says a GOP/Bush supporter. Hilarious irony right there. Shady lawyer? Ha! He’s one of the most respected lawyers in America. I’m sure those defense attorneys who advised their clients to settle or be subjected to Edwards’ brilliance didn’t think him shady. In fact, many of them support his Presidential bid with their time and money. You right-wingers are a trip. Your party has done nothing for the poor while killing thousands in a screwed-up war, and you have the gall to rip others for being “anti-life?!” Your party has turned the government into a middle-man laundry machine for enriching cronies, and you call others “socialists?” Your VP drops the F-bomb on the Senate floor, your de facto spokeswoman calls a dedicated family man a “faggot,” and you have the temerity to rip on a guy for some sarcastic crap that a low-level staffer wrote months ago on her personal blog while not even employed by the campaign? (Note also that the blogger “outrage” was fanned by Jew-loather and gay-hater Bill Donohue and self-loathing racist and concentration camp advocate Michelle Malkin. Nice company to keep, eh?) Wow. As Jesus said, you might want to check out that plank in your own eye before obsessing over the speck in another’s.

Ares, It’s still a fair question to wonder why someone who openly professes his faith would hire people who so profanely mock such faith. That said, he had a great opportunity to deal openly and lovingly concerning bigotry that is second nature to Christians, yet he punted. No one can stop the truly courageous from leading — they do so by their example.Nor can anyone stop the panderers from doing what they do best.

John Edwards has no idea what Jesus would do, because he doesn’t know Jesus. That much is obvious. Edwards is the biggest phony I’ve ever seen besides Bill Clinton. Let’s get real. What is it that Democrats really want to do for the poor? They want to tell them, “vote for us, and we’ll make sure to keep taxes on the rich high. We’ll take money from the rich and give to you, the poor.” Of course the poor will vote for the Democrats. They want those free handouts. Those government handouts are the very thing that keep the poor that way. Welfare doesn’t work. Socialism doesn’t work. When are you people going to learn that? It is phony to say you care about the poor. If you really care about the poor then find ways to help them get out of their situation if you’re going to do anything. Let’s help people help themselves, not give them handouts so you can feel good about yourselves, look goodie – goodie, and get votes from the people who buy your hogwash. I can’t stand a phonies like Edwards and Clinton. The slimy snakes make my skin crawl.

I believe that those who criticize him for living in a huge house while talking about the poor should shut up – by that standard should only the sick get to talk about health care? Please. This analogy doesn’t work at all. It’s more like this: Don’t preach to me about the supreme importance of preventing American corporations from moving to Third-World countries if you moved your own factories there. Don’t preach to me about the evils of abortion if you own and operate an abortion clinic. Don’t preach to me about the evils of illegal immigration if you hired housecleaners and gardeners that are illegal immigrants because they’re cheaper. And don’t preach to me about the importance of giving to the poor when you live like a damn Rockefeller. Put your money where your mouth is.

Big Sandy, I’m not afriad for myself. I am secure and confident in the Lord. But you cannot have real Christians and real Liberals working togther.Light has nothing in common with darkness. Did Jesus follow the Roman commander to his home? No. He healed the sick servant. (BTW, Gays want to claim that the Roman was a Paederast and Jesus healed his youth-victim.) Dobson, Falwell and the voice of Evangelical Christianity (what all Christians should be and do) aligns itself with and walks with the words of the Gospel, and the letters written by Peter, John, Jude, James, paul et al. Democrat/Liberal/Progressive Christianity does not. I’ve lived in the inner city. I work now with the poor and needy.The Democrats have worsened their lives with excuse-laden psychology and enslaving them with government handouts. And still the poor are worse off than before. And I now live fifty-miles from the inner city. Ever notice that rich Democrats live exactly like rich Republicans? Pelosi and Kennedy are rich and powerful and sicken the poor with their political-apathy they peddle as caring.Edwards is more concerned with making it rich than with helping some suffering victim. Does that family of a tabacco smoker really need, or deserve, 100-million dollars from a tabacco company? It was the smokers choice to smoke. A couple mil would suffice to make the survivors comfy. And . . . are the survivors of a cigarette victim still smoking cigs? Look, “test all things.” A very confident and secure piece of “Biblical” advice for a mature Christian to take. Democrats will fail the test.

DONNY: “I seriously do not understand how anyone that takes the Gospel seriously can vote for a Democrat.” I say the same thing about the GOP. How anyone could call themselves a Christian and then support deceit, incompetence, and moral bankruptcy is beyond me. The GOP and their actions over the last several could have been written by Satan himself and for anyone to assert otherwise is just disingenuous. God isn’t a Republican or a Democrat, but both do his work. He will work through whatever means he has to, but be sure he does not endorse either Bush or Edwards-rather their actions. We have all seen Bush’s actions, clearly. I for one would now like to see Edwards. Are abortion and gay rights so important to you as to overlook all the travesties otherwise having been committed by the GOP? And frankly, what has the GOP really done about either of the above mentioned except for raise money by screaming about it? Come on!

to ares–on the plank–amen. aooountability is a big issue–but how many of us when brought to account for those we hang out with will make excuses. rise above petty attitudes and sweep your own doorsteps. Then decide how you proceed.I do not know yet who I am for or against. I know my decision will be based on the candidate and not some low-eschilon subordinate.

J-Walking said, “He is also less brazen about his faith…” And you think this is virtue? I don’t know what it is, but it isn’t virtuous some kind of virtuous reticence. Edwards knows – KNOWS – the he doesn’t have a prayer of getting the Dem nomination, were he to clearly profess faith in Jesus. Well… maybe if he threw in enough Jim Wallis-style disclaimers, they’d accept him… but probably not.

Jesus IS a liberal! If you doubt it, just go right to the Gospels and read ALL of his statements quoted there! To those who think he was a conservative: Did he support the establishment? The priests and the money-changers in the Temple? I don’t think so! If you wish to call yourself a Christian, GET UP TO SPEED, and follow JESUS!! If you say you’re a “Christian”, follow the words of Jesus Christ! Be a CHRISTIAN, not a Falwellsian, or a Dobsonian, or a Robertsonian, but a CHRISTIAN, forsaking all others with that FAR DIFFERENT message you so often hear! John Edwards, by word and example, IS a Christian. The question is: Are you?

John Edwards talks a good talk around poverty, but with $400 haircuts, it is little more than talk. I had high hopes for him, but one cannot talk about the plight of the working poor – even if you grew up poor yourself – on one hand and then be overcome with the need for a $400 on the other. The two don’t mix, and the latter is certainly not faith-based.

I think we should stop guessing what John Edwards is all about and make sure we are right, first. Then, if you still feel you need to keep your eye on someone you will probably never meet in your lifetime, why don’t you invest in prayer for him and his family? Personally, I wish him well. I don’t know a thing about him other than that his son died and his wife has cancer. Pretty close to nothing will bring us closer to God than adversity, so I pray that he’ll be rejuvenated in the Spirit and that healing will take place. I don’t care what he spends on a haircut, I don’t care what his politics are- if he worships the same God I do through the same Savior I have- Yeshua- than he’s my brother, simple as that. We have such a compulsion to get into pissing contests- who’s the most righteous; who’s helped the most people; ect. It’s rediculous. Pray for our leaders or potential leaders and stop trying to hold one up against the others. It’s not fair to any of them.

Two months ago I watched John Edwards on NBC’s Sunday Morn Political Program. Mr Edwards said when asked if he thot homosexualality was a sin. He said no, but he is also stating to be a christian, Im sorry but that sin is listed with the drunkards, liars, fearful etc. who will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We have all sinned, but to have a leader who claims to be a christian, say these things means we all better wake up.