For those who missed the John and Elizabeth Edwards appearance on “60 Minutes” last night, here’s a transcript . My view? A characteristically effective performance by the former North Carolina senator. Is the announcement of Mrs. Edwards’ cancer serving as a boost to his campaign? Indisputably. Will most viewers seeing him answer a question on that see Edwards as crass and opportunistic? Don’t think so. Elizabeth has always been one of his greatest assets, personal and political, and I think they both handled Katie Couric’s questions deftly and persuasively. Notice in this quote — “do not vote for us because you feel some sympathy or compassion for us” — that Edwards said “us,” and not in the royal “we” sense.
In case anyone’s forgotten, Edwards used to talk juries into giving millions of dollars to plaintiffs with no case whatsoever.
That said, I still think there is great political risk here for Edwards — but it doesn’t lie in the announcement itself or the subsequent talk. The problem will be if Mrs. Edwards starts to visibly falter later on in the campaign. Many may instinctively respond by thinking that her husband should have made a different decision to keep her out of the limelight and to take care of her.