Opinion
Two Offerings Chronicle John Edwards’ Implosion
The culmination of Edwards’ slow motion train wreck, at least so far, came in the beginning months of 2010. In January, journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin published a 448-page account of the 2008 election, Game Change, that portrayed John as an egomaniac and Elizabeth a psycho chick. One month later, Edwards’ former top aide, Andrew Young, published his own exposé, The Politician. Any remaining scraps of Edwards’ decency went out the window.
Readers fascinated by the inner workings of campaigns and politicians’ cultic appeal will find the tomes a lively read. Their reliability is another question: Game Change uses anonymous sources, and a self-admitted imposter penned The Politician. Take them with a grain of salt, but still take them. They offer valuable insights into the anatomy of political scandal.
David N. Bass