Campaign Trail of Tears

John Edwards and Gene Nichol both lamented to the Washington Post that cynics believe poverty is no longer an important political topic since Edwards lost the Democratic primary and admitted his scandalous extramarital affair. I thought Barbara Ehrenreich’s NYT piece showed that many people still want to fight poverty in this country, though the catastrophic downturn that has so many people worried may mean we need extra prompting to remember those at the bottom. I also think Edwards might have a leg to stand on if he didn’t seem to have forgotten the poor as soon as he didn’t need their votes.

Other Edwards initiatives have fallen by the wayside. One week before confirming the affair, he pulled the plug on College for Everyone, a program he started in 2005 at Greene Central High School in Snow Hill, N.C., which paid the first-year college tuition of any graduate who stayed out of trouble and worked 10 hours per week, at a total cost of about $300,000 per year. Edwards touted the program often on the campaign trail, calling it the first step toward a nationwide financial aid initiative.

But Assistant Superintendent Patricia McNeill said many had been bracing for the program’s end once Edwards dropped out of the presidential contest. ‘Our children today are very astute and they are cognizant of what goes on in the political world,’ she said.

Among those who were taken by surprise was Lavania Edwards (no relation), a pre-kindergarten teacher who is still looking for help to cover the college costs of her son Malik, who graduated from high school last week. ‘We were really planning on that helping,’ she said. ‘I was disappointed and I wondered what happened in that they couldn’t continue with the program — or why no one came out to us with a definite answer.’

Edwards said he had to pull the plug because campaign supporters were less likely to give money to the program once he was out of the race. ‘But it served its purpose,’ he said. ‘A lot of kids benefited.’”

Called out by students in need, Edwards responds with what sounds suspiciously like cynicism to me. I wonder how many kids could’ve gone to college on the money Fred Baron spent cleaning up the J-man’s tawdry affair. His efforts to help New Orleans residents whose homes were foreclosed on by a subprime lender owned by his old hedge fund met with a similar end.

‘I just thought he was trying to cover his tracks while he was a candidate. I even told my wife that if he didn’t win, we would feel these repercussions just like we’re doing,’ said Ernest Grant. ‘It was probably all for show in the end.’”

It seems Edwards sowed more than one cynic on the campaign trail, all by his lonesome. I’m glad he’s not looking for a comeback.