Katie Couric Interviews John and Elizabeth Edwards
“You know, you really have two choices here. I mean, either you push forward with the things that you were doing yesterday or you start dying. That seems to be your only two choices. If I had given up everything that my life was about – first of all, I’d let cancer win before it needed to. You know, maybe eventually it will win. But I’d let it win before I needed to. And I’d just basically start dying. I don’t want to do that. I want to live. And I want to do the work that I want next year to look like last year and… and the year after that and the year after that. And the only way to do that is to say I’m going to keep on with my life.” Elizabeth Edwards
COURIC INTERVIEWS THE EDWARDS
CBS News reports that when John and Elizabeth Edwards announced this past Thursday that her breast cancer had returned and spread to her bones, and that his presidential campaign would continue, they sparked a national discussion about the choices involved.
At this stage Elizabeth’s cancer is incurable and treatment doesn’t always prolong life. Was it the right decision to stay in the race? Can John Edwards run for president and care for his wife and family, a family that has already suffered the death of a son more than a decade ago? Can John Edwards be president without being distracted by his wife’s illness? Those are some of the questions 60 Minutes correspondent Katie Couric asked the couple this weekend after a campaign event in Las Vegas.
Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, who has been diagnosed with a recurrence of breast cancer, defended his decision to remain in the race. She said she couldn’t live with denying him the chance to be president. “That would be my legacy, wouldn’t it, Katie?” according to a transcript of the interview with Couric.
“That I’d taken out this fine man from — from the possibility of — of giving a great service. I mean, I don’t want that to be my legacy,” Edwards said. After working as a lawyer, John Edwards said this was a chance to give public service to “a country that I love — both of us love, as much as we love our lives.”
When Couric asked whether the cancer had spread to any other part of her body, Mrs. Edwards said, “There are a couple of hot spots, on the bone scan, in my right hip, for example.” She did not mention any other areas having been affected.
Sitting with her husband, Mrs. Edwards, 57, said that she had wondered if treating her hip with radiation would cause it to weaken and be more susceptible to breaking. But she said the doctors she had consulted had told her that “it was too small an area for that to be a risk.”
Mrs. Edwards’s health has been a prime topic of discussion for the past few days among Americans debating whether Mr. Edwards, who is seeking the Democratic nomination, should continue to pursue his political ambitions. Some critics have suggested that he might try to exploit her condition to win votes.
Mr. Edwards, 53, challenged such speculation last night.
“First of all, there’s not a single person in America that should vote for me because Elizabeth has cancer. Not a one,” he said. “If you’re considering doing it, don’t do it. Do not vote for us because you feel some sympathy or compassion for us. That would be an enormous mistake.”
The Edwards Faced With Difficult Decisions
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SLIDESHOW: THE EDWARDS TEAM
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