Posted on 08/09/2008 5:00:04 PM PDT by Coffee200am
Washington - Senator. Vice presidential nominee. Leading presidential candidate. Political outcast.
It was a rapid career ascent for John Edwards. Then it all came crashing down when the North Carolina Democrat on Friday admitted that he had an extramarital affair, though he denied fathering a daughter with the woman.
The revelation shattered the family-friendly image he had cultivated and drained the reservoir of sympathy he had built up when he campaigned side by side with his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth.
The political damage is so severe that Edwards, mentioned as a possible running mate to Barack Obama, is not expected to show up at the Democratic convention this month in Denver.
Edwards admitted in shame to the affair in 2006 with a videographer as he prepared to launch his White House campaign. Acknowledging a sex scandal he had dismissed as "tabloid trash" only last month, Edwards said he had told his wife and family long ago, but "I had hoped that it would never become public."
"I am and have been willing to take any test necessary to establish the fact that I am not the father of any baby, and I am truly hopeful that a test will be done so this fact can be definitively established," Edwards said.
Confession
The former North Carolina senator, who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2004, confessed to ABC News that he had lied repeatedly about the affair with Rielle Hunter, then 42. Hunter's daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter, was born on February 27 this year, and no father's name is given on the birth certificate filed in California.
A former Edwards campaign staff member professes to be the father.
In a statement provided to The Associated Press, Elizabeth Edwards confirmed that her husband had confessed the extramarital affair to her in 2006 but that after a "long and painful process" she was now standing by him.
After the story broke on Friday, Edwards released a statement that said, "In 2006, I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognised my mistake, and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public."
Edwards declared his presidential candidacy in December 2006. His wife campaigned enthusiastically with him and by herself in the months that followed. She announced in March 2007 that her cancer, formerly in remission, had returned and there apparently was no cure.
Edwards dropped out midway through this year's primaries after it became apparent he could not keep up with front-runners Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. He recently endorsed Obama.
Praise from Obama
Speaking to reporters on Friday in Honolulu, Obama praised Edwards as a "great champion of working people" during the campaign and said the couple probably would not attend the party's convention in Denver.
"I think they need to work through that process of healing," Obama said.
Edwards was John Kerry's running mate in 2004 when Kerry lost to President Bush.
In his statement, Edwards said, "In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic. If you want to beat me up feel free. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself."
In her statement on Friday, Elizabeth Edwards said it wasn't easy to find out about the extramarital affair in 2006. She called the affair a "terrible mistake" but said the healing process was "oddly made somewhat easier" after her diagnosis of breast cancer in March 2007.
Mrs Edwards said her family has been through a lot and pleaded for privacy.
The National Enquirer first reported on the affair in October 2007, in the run-up to the Democratic primaries, and Edwards denied it.
Last month, the Enquirer carried another story - the blaring headline referred to an Edwards "love child" - stating that its reporters had accosted Edwards in a Los Angeles hotel where he had met with Hunter after her child's birth. Edwards called it "tabloid trash."
In an interview which aired on ABC News' Nightline on Friday night, Edwards described the affair as being "over for a long time." He declined to give specifics, saying his family was "entitled to every detail" but no one else.
The Edwardses have three children - Cate, Jack and Emma Claire. Another son, Wade, died at 16 in a 1996 car accident.
i’m no dick morris, but i’d say edwards’ political career is over!
now that we know something about her prior history, her apparent unwillingness to pursue a paternity test, etc., and his denial he fathered the child, I’m starting to wonder why he admitted to the affair?
If the affair was over “a long time” what was he doing in her hotel room in L.A. in the middle of the night just two weeks ago? Pure BS...
The guy was as vapid as Kerry, but much less ugly. Of course he was going to have an affair. What else is there for dhimmicrats to do? Think? Methinks not.
Just the same Mr. Edwards, I think we should beat you a while longer, just to make sure.
I have doubts with this article. In socialist Democrat circles this type of behavior is revered.
It is a fitting end to a completely phony political career. The trial lawyering which made him rich was also phoney, but Shakespeare warned us about that.
Mrs. Edwards wrote on ABC blogs that “Republicans scare me.”
Mrs. Edwards, given everything we now know, how you covered up for your lying husband while he was running for president, you are complicit in the lie. Do not use your illness as a sympathy play.
Mrs. Edwards, your “thinking” frankly “scares me.”
Oh I forgot they're no longer the presidents....guess they didn't think they had the ability to cover it up. So instead they destroyed him through the tabloids. Wonder what's next?
LOL
Edwards arranged for the reporters to “catch” him, he outed himself in a two part effort to (a) position himself as a centrist Democrat and to (b) prove Coulter wrong.
The transparent lying is part of (a). He’s not sure how to follow up for (b). Maybe get some leathers and a Harley.
Visiting the kid who he didn't sire?
Think about all this. John Boy and Elizabeth are not going to the convention which is soon. Imagine if they were there and the story breaks later. Obama is in Hawaii on vacation when all this breaks, completely removed from all this. The story is announced on Friday night, non news night, and first night of the Olympics.
John Boy was directed and forced to do this now. He would never stop lying unless greatly threatened. Maybe other affairs would be revealed unless he does it NOW.
It's the timing folks. This was all set up to protect Obama.
Too bad Edwards isn’t the nominee for the Dems. I wonder if this will have any effect on Obama’s numbers.
There are lots of small business, insurance companies, corporation to sue. He’ll do fine. 15 k per month is chump change rather than a divorce. Heck, for his income bracket his fellow lawyers would charge him over a mil to handle a divorce. Probably pick up a twenty something trophy wife in a few years. You know, for the children. He’ll groom Silky Phoney Jr. into a monster, a la old Joe Kennedy and live through him.
Given the way The Edwards’ acted when they announce she had terminal cancer, I wouldn’t put anything past them now. That was a cold and calculated political move. A caring an loving husband and wife would have dropped everything to extend her life and spend their remaining time together. That is if the cancer story is even true.
BTW - Only a paternity test will solve this. Nothing else can be trusted.
Even for a Rat, this is a phenomenal set of accomplishments
Also, considering on Hannity & Colmes last night - and being repeated as I type - the mistress basically stated she is waiting for Mrs Edwards to die and then she will move in. I feel no sympathy whatsoever for any of them. In fact, knowing this and she still sticks with Edwards, goes to show how stupid Mrs Edwards is. A sane and normal woman would kick him out on the street, ensuring he is poor when he lands on it.
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