By John Tabin on 8.28.08 @ 8:53AM
Do you get the feeling that someone is missing from the convention?
DENVER -- Do you get the feeling that someone is missing?
"Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now
to unite as a single party with a single purpose," implored Hillary
Clinton when she spoke at the Democratic convention Tuesday night.
Those who voted for neither Clinton nor Obama were conspicuously
excluded.
There was, of course, a third candidate who did well enough in
the Democratic primaries to qualify for delegates. He is nowhere to
be seen, even as less-successful also-rans get their moments in the
sun; Bill Richardson will speak today (he was rescheduled from
yesterday), Joe Biden scored the vice presidential nomination, and
even Dennis Kucinich got a little podium time on Tuesday. So
where's John Edwards?
The answer is obvious, of course. In the wake of the scandal
he came not-quite-clean on earlier this month on
Nightline, Edwards is persona non grata in
Denver. The New York Daily News reported on Tuesday that Edwards has been
calling supporters to ask for forgiveness -- and getting the cold
shoulder. ""I don't want you to call me again," one longtime
confidant reportedly told Edwards. "There's an overwhelming view
that he's still lying," said another Daily News
source.
Indeed, there's plenty of evidence that Edwards' troubles aren't
over. Rich Edwards friends like Fred Baron, the national finance
director for his campaign, have apparently been underwriting an
expensive cover-up, reportedly going so far as to charter a plane
and fly Edwards' mistress to the U.S. Virgin Islands
in an attempt to hide her. It's likely that more to this story that
hasn't yet come to light, and plenty more turns that it may take.
Given all that, it's understandable that Edwards would be dead
to Democratic partisans. There's little doubt that Edwards
wanted to be here; Mary Ann Akers reported last week that even after his
Nightline confession Edwards was still expressing interest
in appearing in Denver for an event held by Bono's One Campaign.
Presumably, he was firmly urged to stay away.
But Edwards still has at least one fan here in Denver. When I
caught up with South Carolina delegate Mike Evatt yesterday, he had
an Edwards button pinned to his overalls, which he wore over a
Steelworkers for Edwards t-shirt. Evatt hails from Seneca, South
Carolina, Edwards's birthplace, and his enthusiasm for his
candidate remains undiminished.
Evatt believes Edwards was completely candid in his
Nightline interview, and is eager to forgive and forget.
"I wish he were here," said Evatt, when asked about Edwards'
conspicuous absence in Denver.
The Obama campaign announced on June 3 that all of Edwards'
South Carolina delegates, including Evatt, had committed to vote
for Obama at the convention. But Evatt told me that he still
planned on voting for Edwards in the roll call if he got the
chance. He didn't; Hillary Clinton's call to suspend the rules and
nominate Obama came before South Carolina's turn in the roll call,
and the words "John Edwards" never did ring through the Pepsi
Center.
Evatt's loyalty to his candidate may be unique. Tim Moore,
another Edwards delegate from South Carolina, told me his feelings
about Edwards hadn't changed, but he was terse and clearly
unenthusiastic about the topic. He said he didn't watch the
Nightline interview and thus couldn't comment on whether
Edwards was completely truthful.
I attempted to contact ten other Edwards delegates from Iowa and
South Carolina this week; none of them returned my phone calls. I
guess they, like the rest of the Democratic Party, would rather not
talk about John Edwards.
topics:
Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton
