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Did Anyone Else Give Money to John Edwards?

Today jury selection is underway in the trial of former presidential candidate John Edwards. In case you’re not aware Edwards is being charged, in part, with using campaign donations to pay his mistresses’ expenses. So, I was wondering if anyone else wants to admit that they, like me, were dumb enough to donate money to Edwards’ campaigns? After the last few election cycles I’ll never donate to another candidate during a primary fight.

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Permalink Reply by Steph S. on April 23, 2012 at 12:48pm

I did not give any money to Edwards. I usually donate to animal shelters and animal rehabilitation (refuges). I also give to humanist and Atheist organizations too. I also give to the parks and wildlife and nature charities.

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Simeone on April 24, 2012 at 1:26am

Well, I've learned my lesson. I'll never make the mistake of supporting a politician again.

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Simeone on April 27, 2012 at 4:39pm

John, I’m not at all comfortable with the idea of an open philanderer serving as president. In my opinion, cheating on one’s spouse—even if the victimized spouse is unwilling to leave the marriage—is reprehensible conduct. If a person cannot be faithful to someone who wishes they were the cheaters decision to cheat is simply wrong. Children in America today have way too many bad examples of men running around who can’t keep their pants on and don’t respect the women they claim to love enough to be faithful. If a man isn’t strong enough to love a woman enough to keep his pants on when he’s not at home he’s not strong enough to be president because the president is the de facto moral leader of our country. Presidents, like Clinton and Kennedy, have certainly contributed to the almost accepted notion that it’s normal for a man to seek sexual gratification outside of his marriage and have thus contributed to the number of children growing up without fathers today. The decision to cheat is simply one of the most irresponsible, selfish and abusive decisions a person can make.

Having said that, if someone was running for the presidency and they were part of a truly open marriage (where both parties to the marriage were aware of the others partners, had their own partners and enjoyed the arrangement) I would not automatically exclude them as a candidate. To me the difference boils down to the amount of respect one has for their partner. If both partners agree, are on equal footing and are honest with the partners they take outside of the marriage their conduct is acceptable to me. That doesn’t mean that I’d be part of that kind of a relationship. What it means is that to me there’s a difference between honestly having affairs and doing so because you know you can get away with it and you simply don’t care enough about your partner to be faithful.

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Simeone on April 27, 2012 at 5:02pm

It's true that many women cheat. I was discussing men because only men have been president so far. As I was trying to say before, I'm not strictly opposed to extramarital sex. What I am strictly opposed to, though, is having extramarital sex when your partner isn't happy that you're doing it.