Friday, May 08, 2009

Edwards' book mystery: Who is 'Jim'?

In Elizabeth Edwards' new book, "Resilience," she scorns her husband's former mistress (Rielle Hunter, whom she refuses to name). But she brushes another former campaign worker with the same brush, calling them both "pathetic."

Edwards compares the mistress with a young man who first volunteered in John Edwards' 1998 Senate campaign. She describes him as "John's obsessed fan."

"I will call him Jim," she writes.

Jim "volunteered for everything," drove the candidate around, washed his car, took care of his dry-cleaning. "There was no job too menial for Jim," she said.

Jim and his wife, who worked a late shift, would leave McDonalds breakfasts outside the Edwards' door until Elizabeth told her to stop. Jim's obsequiousness got to Elizabeth until a lie on his part finally forced his departure from the campaign. But he hung around. He tried to vacation where they vacationed and sent daily emails to the Edwards' friends.

"The existence of a Jim made it easier to accept the existence of this woman," Elizabeth wrote. "...My life at some level is tragic. Theirs is worse; theirs is pathetic."

Campaigns, particularly those as intense as John Edwards', are close-knit communities. A lot of people who worked on the campaign probably know him. Wherever he is, he may be as unhappy with Elizabeth's description of him as Rielle Hunter is.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Andrew Young.

Anonymous said...

Am I right?

Anonymous said...

Piss on John Edwards!

Anonymous said...

Morrill knows for a fact it is Andrew Young. He is holding back for some reason. I bet he is working on a big expose for when the paternity test comes out.... :).

Anonymous said...

http://whatsnottolike.wordpress.com/2009/05/10/hunter-edwards-affair-and-timeline/
is a very useful chronology of this curious case, especially in the financial area - raising many questions for a grand jury to look into.

Anonymous said...

Uhhh, "Jim" aka ANdrew did a whole lot more than what is described here and not without E's involvement and direction. He was virtually the Edwards' personal handmaiden- everything from grocery shopping to housecleaning, yard work supervising, Christmas tree bringing, diet coke buying, moving the family from house to house to house. He was not just "hanging around" unbidden- he was a trusted loyal supporter who would have done anything for them. For E to disparage him at this point is bizarre considering he gave years of his life to them and ultimately ruined it for them.