Any of our business?

My mother is a teacher in her early sixties. She lives in Deerfield, enjoys a comfortable lifestyle, and usually votes Democratic (Kirk is always the exception). She doesn’t follow politics much, but she always votes. Needless to say, she uses heuristics to make her choices. She’s less concerned with how a candidate stands on campaign finance reform. She wants to know how he performed on Oprah or if he cheats on his wife.

I asked my mom about John Edward’s decision to stay in the race, despite announcing that his wife, Elizabeth, has cancer. Dr. Lisa Carey, the oncologist treating Edwards, categorized the cancer as metastatic Stage 4 cancer, which is largely confined to the bones. She said the prognosis was good.

My mother believes that it is deplorable that Edwards is still in the race. “He has young children, and cancer is unpredictable. Who knows how many good years she has left?”

To many, the fact that the Edwards campaign is continuing on full speed is a sign that he candidate places personal ambition over an obligation to family. Many voters, especially soccer moms, would feel compelled to curtail their professional responsibilities if their spouse was diagnosed with an incurable disease. To these voters, Edwards, who prides himself on being a populist, is very hard to identify with.

"From our perspective, there was no reason to stop," the candidate said. "I don't think we seriously thought about it."

He said, "You can go cower in the corner and hide or you can go out there and stand up for what you believe in. We have no intentions of cowering in the corner."
In this age of YouTube and 24/7 media coverage, a candidate’s personal life is not only in bounds, it can be a major factor in the outcome of the election. My mother represents an important demographic. By staying in the race, is Edwards bravely pursuing the presidency despite medical setbacks? Or is he selfishly putting personal ambition over family?

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