SSC announces replacement for Edwards, wife

From liberal presidential candidate to conservative political journalist, the Salem State College Speaker Series has gone full circle this week.Just days after former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth backed out of their Sept. 23 appearance at the school, Salem State announced syndicated political commentator George F. Will as the couple’s replacement.The event titled “The political argument today” will take place at the same time and date the Edwards were set to appear.Will is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer with a twice-weekly syndicated Washington Post column and a contributing editor at Newsweek Magazine. He has also served on the editorial board of the conservative National Review and a panelist on ABC television’s This Week with David Brinkley.He won the Pulitzer in 1977 for commentary and is also the recipient of the 1978 National Headliners Award, the 1980 Silurian Award and was named Best Writer by the Washington Journalism Review in 1985.Will has written 16 books, two of which are about his second passion, baseball.The Edwards backed out of their appearance at the school this week after John Edwards admitted to having an affair with a former campaign employee last month.The college initially expected the speech to go on as scheduled, but as Elizabeth Edwards began facing criticism for looking the other way while her husband lied and John Edwards distanced himself further from the Democratic Party just two months before the election the likelihood of the event taking place was slim.Salem State says it will honor the wishes of ticket holders regarding the event and either honor the tickets the day of Will’s speech or refund the cost for those who no longer want to attend.