According to the New York Times:
John Edwards, the North Carolina Democrat making a second bid for the presidency, announced late Wednesday night that he would hold a news conference Thursday, a day after he and his wife, Elizabeth, visited Mrs. Edwards' doctor to assess her health following her recovery from breast cancer.
The Washington Post reports that Edwards' aides are describing this as "a major development in his 2008 presidential bid."
John Aravosis at AmericaBlog lists four main possibilities regarding what this could be all about:
1. That everything is okay. Unlikely. You don't announce a press conference with your wife, and not tell the details in advance, if it's the good news that her doctor's appointment went well.2. That Edwards is dropping out of the race and that his wife is seriously ill. Obviously we don't know, and I don't like speculating about someone's health like this. But this seems the most likely possibility at this point.
3. That Edwards is taking a break from campaigning to tend to his wife. This is also possible, but geez, that's still not good news for his campaign or for his family of course.
4. And finally, it's possible that Elizabeth Edwards' cancer is back, but that John Edwards is trying to decide what to do. He may actually not have decided, and is perhaps giving it until tomorrow to decide. That would explain announcing the press conference, but also explain why the vagueness.
Ugh, this does not look good. I would really, really hate to see something so awful happen to a good woman and to her husband. I would also hate to see John Edwards' passionate voice - for economic fairness, social justice, environmental protection, and much more - taken prematurely from the 2008 Presidential race. I am hoping for the best. If you're religious, you might want to pray for the Edwards' family.
I hope everything is okay.
John Edwards: "The campaign goes on. The campaign goes on strongly ... you can either cower in the corner or you can go on ... we leave here, this press conference, to go to Boston and then to California ... together".
Tim Johnson MD - 3 kinds treatment - chemo, targeted, some other thing. Will be treated whether one spot or several spots. "Incurable but treatable". Found it in the bone. Common for breast cancer to go to bone. Many women live for many years after such a diagnosis. It's treated in a variety of ways and becomes a chronic condition.
She says she can go through treatments and still function - her ability to function will be related to what medicines are used and treatments used.
Stephanopolous: "The only thing that could stop him would be Elizabeth's health", but he says they're in it and to stay. Fought through loss of son. It's brought them closer together. Clear "it's a joint decision ... interesting to see how the public reacts to the fact that Elizabeth will be living with cancer ..." Even though Edwards is trailing in polls he's leading in Iowa.
That's what I got. Sorry, I missed the first half of the special report.