Of all the curious characters spotted bouncing around inside the Democrats’ big tent this week — the influencers, the ex-Trump White House press secretary, Lil Jon — the most curious of all might have been John Edwards.
He was hanging at a bar in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood early Wednesday evening, hours before Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota would accept his party’s nomination as vice president.
“I wanted to see what was going on!” Mr. Edwards, 71, exclaimed. “Especially this year.”
He’s been out of the loop, west or otherwise, for a long while now.
He was once the Democratic Party’s golden boy — a baby-faced senator from North Carolina, John Kerry’s running mate in 2004 and then a presidential contender himself. It all started to fall apart in 2008. He withdrew from the Democratic primaries. An extramarital affair came to light. The other woman was a videographer paid by his campaign. There was a secret child. A terminally ill wife at home. A campaign finance scandal. Bunny Mellon, the widow of the banking heir Paul Mellon, was involved. It was messy. And then Mr. Edwards went away.
When was the last time he was even at a Democratic convention?
“Two thousand and uh…” his voice trailed off as he screwed up his face, pretending to think. “God, I wish you hadn’t asked me that, this is a memory test,” he laughed. “I think the last time I went was when I was the vice-presidential candidate. 2004.” (It was in Boston that year.)
He said the Democratic National Committee sent him an invitation to attend this year — “which was really nice, very respectful” — and even offered to provide him with a car and driver. (Request for comment from the D.N.C. went unreturned.)
At the bar, he was surrounded by a small group — maybe 15 people — of former staff members. “They all did different things,” he said. His face lit up as he pointed them out, one by one. There was the fund-raiser. The press aide. The former body man. Mr. Edwards motioned at one man and said, “He drove me in Iowa and lost me many times.” (Mr. Edwards had finished second in Iowa in 2008, bested by Barack Obama.)
These days, he works as a trial lawyer. “Very busy, my whole life has been such a blessing,” he said. Then he added, “I loved what I was doing before.” How did it feel to be back at the circus? “I think it’s fascinating,” he said. “I don’t know what’s the right word. It makes me feel, just walking in that place and listening to the leaders speak, it makes you feel better about America.”
He wore a deep-blue linen shirt and an Apple watch, and he looked very tanned, and a little aged, but his hair was still caramel colored, swooped slightly down across his forehead, and he retained some of his boyish airs and those twinkly blue eyes that once upon a time got him in lots of trouble.
His presence was interesting to consider: A one-time Democratic star, brought low by ultra-caddish behavior and then exiled, suddenly back on the scene at a convention that was themed around strong women — stepmothers, mothers, grandmothers, mothers-in-law, Oprah and the candidate herself.
The guy seemed quite happy to be there.
“It’s a good thing we have a woman,” Mr. Edwards said, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris, the presidential nominee. “Somebody of color. That’s just the future, what it represents. I think this whole election is going to be about the past versus the future. She is the future.”
Does she have any shot of winning his home state of North Carolina? “Yes,” he said. “But I think it will be tough.”
The political environment has utterly changed since Mr. Edwards was last on the scene. When he ran for president, he presented as a populist. But asked to interpret former President Donald J. Trump’s populist appeal and the strength of the movement he created, Mr. Edwards seemed stumped. “I think he’s an effective communicator,” he said. Politics now is “totally different,” he said. “The personification of the political debate is not healthy.”
He recalled that when he was first considering his presidential run, he went to seek advice from Joe Biden, who was then a senator, and they spoke for more than an hour. “I think the world of him,” said Mr. Edwards. But he understood why his party wanted Mr. Biden to go. “We all get older,” said Mr. Edwards. “We all do. That’s just a question of life.”
One of his former aides politely interrupted to say that his old boss had answered enough questions and that it was time for him to get back to his party. It was just like old times.
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