Basu: Thinking of Elizabeth Edwards, and her husband's betrayal ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Sex and politics: "Last fall, at the invitation of John Edwards' presidential campaign, I sat down with Elizabeth Edwards for a one-on-one chat. Among other things, we talked about women who stand by men who cheat on them.
That was the month before the National Enquirer published allegations about an affair between John Edwards and Rielle Hunter - which he would denounce as 'tabloid trash,' before acknowledging their truth last week.
By Sept. 15, when I spoke with his wife - according to his timeline - Elizabeth already knew.
We had been discussing her contention that her husband would serve women better as president than Hillary Clinton. He had shown more commitment, she argued, to universal health care and elimination of poverty, adding, 'If she's talking about it, I'm not hearing it. ... The most feminist thing she's done is tell women to vote for her.'
So I asked Edwards about a common - but I thought unfair - position Hillary opponents were taking by faulting her for staying with Bill Clinton after his liaisons with Monica Lewinsky.
She could have layered it on and said, 'Well, it's fair game to judge her for standing by someone who lied to her and disgraced the office.' Or she could have been magnanimous and said, 'It's not fair to blame the victim for her husband's actions.'
But Edwards did neither. She simply said, 'I don't think any of us are in a position to judge other people's marriages. It's such an intimate and personal relationship.'
By then, the two women were already members of the same sorry sorority.
On Friday, as news of Edwards' admission spread, Hillary Clinton said, 'My thoughts and prayers are with the Edwards family today, and that's all I've got to say.'"
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