John Edwards, the North Carolina Democrat making a second bid for the presidency, called a news conference for Thursday to discuss the future of his campaign, a day after he and his wife, Elizabeth, visited Mrs. Edwards’s doctor to assess her recovery from a bout of breast cancer.
Mrs. Edwards, in a brief interview from her home in Chapel Hill, N.C., said she and Mr. Edwards would discuss her health at the news conference, but she declined to elaborate.
“I’m still here,” she said.
Jennifer Palmieri, communications director for the Edwards campaign, would not comment. The news conference is to be held in Chapel Hill.
Mr. Edwards canceled a campaign appearance in Iowa on Wednesday to join his wife on what he had described as a presumably routine follow-up examination.
Mrs. Edwards, 57, received a cancer diagnosis in 2004 almost on the day that Mr. Edwards, the vice-presidential candidate, and Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, were defeated in their race for the White House.
Mr. Edwards has said he waited to announce a second bid for the presidency until he and Mrs. Edwards’s doctors were confident about her recovery.
Since then, he had established himself as a strong third contender in a race that includes Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois. A decision by Mr. Edwards to withdraw, should he decide to do that, could have a profound impact on the dynamics of the Democratic contest.
After the campaign announced its intention to hold the news conference, concern grew quickly among former and current aides to the Edwards family. One close family friend reached Wednesday evening declined to comment on the announcement, but said it would affect, at least temporarily, the future of the campaign.
I think it's pretty clear what this means.
Fuck the campaign, although frankly, I was kind of hoping that Edwards would be the one standing after Obama and Hillary knocked each other out. But as another 50+ year old woman who was fortunate enough to have just had yet another clean mammogram (the bone density test was another story), and suddenly realizing that the good health I've enjoyed all my life can no longer be taken for granted, I fear for what this means for Elizabeth Edwards and the rest of the Edwards family.
John Aravosis is right: You don't hold a press conference about the future of the campaign when everything after an exam is A-OK.
Breast cancer is a hideous disease, and not just because of the disfigurement that often goes with it. A women has a one-in-three chance of dying of the disease. By age 40, you have a 1-in-54 chance of developing the disease, which makes every clean mammogram something to celebrate.
Already this year we lost Molly Ivins to the disease after a long struggle. We've seen Jane Hamsher be about as brave as it's possible to be in undergoing treatment for a second recurrence and then going to cover the Libby trial.
As disappointed as I'll be if Edwards is suspending his campaign (which with the short timetable would pretty much knock him out of the race) or withdrawing entirely, my thoughts today are with the Edwards family. Here is a family that has already undergone the worst thing a parent can endure, in the loss of a child and may now be facing a bout with this awful disease. The next time a Republican who's been married three times like Newt Gingrich or Rudy Giuliani talks about how Republicans are the party of family values, think about John Edwards for a moment. The next time one of your wingnut colleagues talks about Republicans being the party of family values, think about the Edwards family.
UPDATE: Listening to Edwards' press briefing. My reception isn't good, but it sounds very, very bad, for all that he's putting on a good face. The recurrence seems to be in the bone. It's a small size, and he's talking of "optimism" and that it's "treatable", but it's not "curable." He's drawing a parallel with diabetes, as if this were a manageable disease, which I think is probably overly optimistic; but hopefully their optimism is not misguided. Elizabeth is speaking now. DAMN, this is one strong woman, but this is a bear of a disease, and bone mets are never, ever good news.
They are not suspending the campaign. I'm not sure what I think about that. I admire their courage, and I'm not going to second-guess their decision.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Jane Hamsher, who's in a better position than anyone to comment, weighs in.
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