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.
not very long... and went did she stop standing by him? they've worked through nothing... she was standing by his side over a year ago when he was in the running...
Au contraire, HairBoy.
Oh, and by the way, pack your bags because you're going to the charming Republic of HasBeenistan.
Ann Coulter will have a great time with this one! I can't wait to read her next column!
I thought the way he used her was just creepy at the time.
It was a bargaining process. She leveraged a lot of $$ out of him somewhere between the time he made the statement and when she stated she would not seek a paternity test.
This is a good point. Medical privacy being what it is - they could have gone into the clinic, receive and A-OK, then stepped out to microphones and claimed a reoccurrence without anyone who knew better being ale to contradict it. I wouldn't put it past him.
“IF” Edwards was meeting with Reille Hunter to “keep” their AFFAIR from going public: then Why Oh Why did He meet HER in secret at THE BEVERLY HILTON?? Can one name a more public place??? Like Ann Coulter says: “If a Demorat had any brains, they would be a Republican!” Edwards proves it in Spades!
Certainly he is. Everyone amongst his peers knows "you never admit to anything."
Edwards took the sissy route (imagine that).
Can't swim with the big dogs, Johnny-Two-Time, if you're gonna pretend to have a conscience.
He should go to the convention. He would probably be treated like a hero.
good theory #1
good theory #2
Wonder why the libs threw him under the bus.
An outcast from the party of moral authority, the party of Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Barney Frank et al...
Had I been a donor and a supporter of Silky, I’d be mad as hell right now. As it is, it’s just more of the fun of politics.
Kiss your political life bye-bye, Johnny.
Now we know what the “hush” money was for. For her to deny a DNA test on the baby.
Meanwhile, Hunter refuses to have her baby tested. Am I so cynical that I can only believe money changed hands with Ms Hunter the beneficiary. Look as Slick, Edwards will be good to go in short order. As Edwards said, look at McCain, there is a double standard with Republicans getting away with adultery. Yep, just look at former Republican Speakers, Senators and Representatives whose careers are thriving after indiscretions. Livingston, Gingrich, Craig, Foley, etc. Tell it to Barney Frank (likely the lying sack would agree).
The media is shocked, SHOCKED I tell ya! Meanwhile, Fox News still can’t figure out why the story was sat upon for two weeks.
Neither am I, but this guy has never had a real job in his life. Remember that dhimmicrats celebrate and endorse all levels of perverse behavior. Give Forrest Gump a couple of years and he'll be back.
didn’t edwards
not run for the u.s. senate again,
because he would have lost?
With all the ink that has finally spilled on this, what I haven't heard explored was his decision to carry on towards the White House when his wife learned she had cancer. There was plenty of talk here and elsewhere about how weird that decision was. But with this new piece of the puzzle, weird becomes downright bizarre.
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