I just thought of a way that Edwards could redeem himself, help Obama and save Democracy

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

He can call Obama up right this minute and tell him he is assembling a huge class action product liability lawsuit against the makers of the electronic voting machines.

I have ALWAYS felt that the way to go after election fraud was to go after the product that allows the election fraud. These machines are insecure and vulnerable to being hacked. In short, they are not what they pretend to be and they do not work in the secure manner they are supposed to.

This is right up Edwards alley. This is what the man did to great acclaim for years. This can assuage the loss that was really a victory that was taken from him and John Kerry. He can help put Obama into the White House by doing this and if the guy saves Democracy, we can forget about his indiscretion. Even Elizabeth might forgive him.

[trueblue2007]

1. Good idea....how do you send him an email. You should contact him

[polichick]

2. You should call or email Edwards with your idea - it's a great one!

[liberalhistorian]

3. No, no, NO! Edwards' credibility is

zippo right now, and rightfully so. He's a lightweight, lying, cheating, phony boloney who should stay the hell out of the public's eye from now on. Doesn't he have a wife with cancer he needs to focus on? That is, when he's not too busy screwing around on her then lying about it, then letting his mistress go on telling the press that they'll be "together once Elizabeth is gone."

His credibility and likability factors are totally shredded and putting him anywhere near Obama and the campaign would be awful for us and cause a bad backlash. Let him stay in seclusion where he belongs.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

4. He doesn't need to do this under the auspices of Obama's campaign

and you're right, he can skip the part I said about calling Obama up.

He should just get this lawsuit together anyway on his own. It's almost like destiny made him the perfect person to do this.

[JDPriestly]

6. Having an affair and lying about it (as long as you don't commit perjury)

does not affect your status as a lawyer (as long as you don't have an affair with a client).

A lawyer does not need a flawless moral reputation to prevail in a lawsuit. As a matter of fact, lawyers are notorious . . . .

[liberalhistorian]

8. Oh, give me a break, I'm a paralegal

who's worked with lawyers for fifteen years. First of all, their "reputation" is not at all well-deserved and is usually wrong (doctors are actually a lot worse than lawyers, frankly). And, like it or not, fair or not, people associate lawsuits with the attorneys who are filing and prosecuting them.

Secondly, let me repeat. He has ZIPPO credibility, period. It's a good idea, but someone else needs to do it. He is a phony boloney lying cheat who needs to go crawl back under his rock. Any association with Obama would backfire bigtime. If you don't like it, too bad. That's reality. And this time, the general public is absolutely right about him. Why do you think he never got anywhere in the primaries?

[JDPriestly]

9. I'm a lawyer. I agree that lawyers do not always deserve their bad reputations.

Most lawyers sincerely strive to be as honest as they can be. But in my experience, as far as many of them are concerned, when it comes to testosterone and huge egos, well, yes, that is often part of the talent.

[blm]

15. Yep - in my young, single days I had an affair with a married man......a lawyer.

I'm attracted to smart, logical and funny men. I certainly wouldn't even consider it nowadays, but sometimes young women can't control themselves, either, when chemistry kicks in.

When you're attracted to really smart, it stands to reason that there will not be as many men available for that chemistry.

[pocoloco]

5. Fuck that idea!!!

Get your head outta your ass!
Think he'd keep his dick in his pants?

You hate Obama??? America???

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

7. You know, I have always believed in the redemptive quality of the human spirit

and am something of an eternal optimist who believes a la Ann Frank that all people at their core are inherently good, even when I am confronted with glaring evidence to the contrary, such as yourself.

[liberalhistorian]

11. Um.......you know, there are better ways

to express opposition to an idea than to do nothing more than be absurdly insulting to those proposing it, without offering any substantial arguments. And your forgot the sarcasm icon thingie for your last line.

[SammyWinstonJack]

27. I wonder who has their head up their ass, here.

[ColbertWatcher]

10. Anything he does for anyone but himself is a step toward redemption. Good idea. n/t

[lavega]

12. Edwards should stay out of the public

He has tarnished is reputation for this election season. Maybe next time.
There is no need for Republicans creating new ads saying, "Does Obama endorse behavior like Edwards, where is his values?"

[blm]

13. Does McCain endorse values like HotZipper McCain's? A class action against EVMs is a GOOD IDEA!

.

[progressoid]

14. Yep

As a former Edwards supporter, I say he should stay in the shadows until...well, for a long time.

[Triana]

16. Noooo...

NO

NO

NO

Someone ELSE - NOT Edwards. Same reasons others cite in this thread. Puhleeeze not Edwards.

[cali]

17. Edwards hasn't practiced law in years

and his heading up something like this would be a huge distraction from the lawsuit itself. Having said that, it's certainly an intruiging idea.

[JDPriestly]

22. You are probably right, but he could organize other lawyers to do it.

[tbyg52]

18. Well, *somebody* should. nt

[philly_bob]

19. Spitzer and Edwards committed adultery. US (and DU) puritans overreact...

and we lose two strong fighters just as the political battle gets intense.

Spitzer was tough on Wall Street and Edwards was tough on class issues. Who outed their sexual secrets, and why?

<SARCASM> But, oooh, they committed adultery. Who needs them? </SARCASM>

By the way, I like the idea of a class action lawsuit against electronic voting machine companies.

[Karenina]

21. THEY committed adultery...

Like powerful men everywhere on this globe and PARTICULARLY THESE TWO are now "damaged goods." HOW IS IT that Larry Craig and David Vitter are still out and about? Could it be.... DOUBLE STANDARD? MMMM?

[NYCGirl]

26. It's not the sex that's the big problem, it's the paying off of the girlfriend

with campaign funds that is the problem.

[JDPriestly]

24. I was thinking about this this morning.

I consider these bail-outs to be the first volleys by the right wing in the class war. I really never thought it would happen. But as military strategists do, those fighting on the side of the wealthy against the poor and the middle class first attacked the strongest flanks of what they see as the opposing side -- Spitzer the foremost expert on Wall Street fraud and crime -- and Edwards the foremost spokesman for the poor and middle class.

In fact, McCain is far worse than Spitzer or Edwards. And then, as Ms. Palin's daughter said, the Palin family is no paragon of sexual virtue.

And then, there is Giuliani. Somehow his blatant disregard for his then wife and the institution of marriage did not disqualify him from speaking at the Republican Convention.

I am disgusted with Edwards for having ruined his chance to be president, but I respect his dedication to helping people like me have a fair chance in life. Having an affair with some idiotic flirt does not mean that a person cannot fight corruption.

If we shunned politicians who cheat on their wives while their wives are fighting cancer, we would shun Gingrich. He would not be given the time of day on TV. But, unfortunately, we the American media is very forgiving when it comes to Republicans. No matter what horrible things they do to their wives, they can still get a gig on Fox. And we all end up watching their occasional appearances in other public venues -- can't avoid them.

[karynnj]

30. Edwards is NOT really the "foremost spokesman for the poor and middle class. "

In 2004, he ran to right of every other candidate. (Yes, even Leiberman, who was by far the worse on Iraq, but better on the environment and other issues.) In both 2004 and 2008, every other candidate had more they ACTUALLY DID for the poor and middle class.

The reason his lying about this affair hurts is because he was not honest about prior positions at various times. His appeal was based around his words and positions in 2008. If he would have had a several decades long record working on these issues, it would be as you say, but as that wasn't the case, everything rests on whether his words are to be trusted.

[tritsofme]

20. I just thought of a way he can help the Democratic Party in every election for the rest of his life.

By never showing his face in public during an election year.

[WA98296]

23. I still love John and Elizabeth, and hope that he continues to work for the betterment of the U.S.

[philly_bob]

25. Me too. n/t

[Raine]

32. I love Elizabeth

but John ... :thumbsdown:

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

28. I'm amazed this thread is still up. Forget Edwards - Product Liability is the way to go

to defeat hackable electronic voting systems.

They don't work. They are subject to manipulation. They suck. We deserve our money back.

*Edit - I said forget Edwards as so many seem to have missed the point about a class action product liabilty lawsuit and instead have focused on Edwards instead of the central idea. I still think it would be cool if Edwards made this his new goal. It's more achievable than "ending poverty".

[MasonJar]

29. Great idea! Have you e-mailed it ti Edwards?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

31. No! Not Now!!!!! Elizabeth, Yes. John, No Way, No How.