John Edwards is a creep, not a criminal

[karynnj]

13. It's not TPTB, it is something much more plebian

It might be that having a person who had personal reasons to dislike him in a position with jurisdiction has led to a borderline legal case. That isn't TPTB, it is a person - in about the position Edwards was in in 1998. While the trial is unprecedented, it is possible that the circumstances are unprecedented too. The closest counterpart is the Ensign case, but that is not closed and years behind this one as to time line. In addition, there it looks likes his dad tried to buy him out of trouble.

There have been past cases of accusations of parents contributing more to an election than allowed by giving their child money before an election. These have always been a far grayer area than contributions from people with no real personal connection - other than they are supporters.

I don't think the main motivation was hate - and certainly not fear, I think it was seen as a political opportunity. I would imagine that he intends to claim in his Senate campaign that he fought corruption at the highest level - and this case and the one against Easley are the capstones of that.

I also think this meme that TPTB "hated" him is ridiculous. They were the ones who favored him in the first place. He was a media and party favorite from 1998 and was quickly designated a serious candidate in both 2004 and 2008. It was TPTB that pressed Kerry to put him on the ticket - a gift Edwards trashed by being uncooperative.

I suspect the reason for his downfall being quicker and more severe than anyone else's is that the height he reached was all based on trusting him - as he never stood on his record. Getting people to trust him was possibly the biggest talent he had - and it was a huge asset when he was a lawyer and when he was a politician. Charisma and steady, wide open blues eyes won't work now that the trust that they previously engendered was betrayed. I suspect that the reason he is so alone is that there are few close to him he did not betray at a very very deep level.