John Edwards Confirms Affair

[Gregory Pratt]

And since we're deservedly bashing the man...hell let's note the old story about what happened to their other son a decade ago.

 

Actually, I was recently informed of this excerpt from Bob Shrum's book:

 

Kerry talked with several potential picks, including Gephardt and Edwards. He was comfortable after his conversations with Gephardt, but even queasier about Edwards after they met. Edwards had told Kerry he was going to share a story with him that he'd never told anyone else—that after his son Wade had been killed, he climbed onto the slab at the funeral home, laid there and hugged his body, and promised that he'd do all he could to make life better for people, to live up to Wade's ideals of service. Kerry was stunned, not moved, because, as he told me later, Edwards had recounted the same exact story to him, almost in the exact same words, a year or two before—and with the same preface, that he'd never shared the memory with anyone else. Kerry said he found it chilling, and he decided he couldn't pick Edwards unless he met with him again.

 

Edwards is a weird bird.

[Rex Kickass]

I see what you are saying. I do think that candidates for high office have a very difficult road to travel, and certainly there is no good answer on how they choose to use or expose their family. It would seem that there is no truly good option there. This is why I don't tend to concern myself much with those decisions.

 

But I disagree that its not our business. For me, I expect elected officials to be trustworthy. I expect them to be of high moral character. That's not to say I think they are, in fact, often they are not. But I refuse to lower my expectations in this area. Not that I necessarily want an angel - a few smaller skeletons in the closet, from their past, are not the end of the world. But to cheat on your spouse, who has cancer, while espousing the things that Edwards was espousing, is dispicable to me. It shows poor judgement and weak moral character. Therefore, I do in fact judge him on this, and I don't feel bad doing it.

 

Now, if John and Elizabeth have come to terms with this and moved on, that is 100% their business. I would not seek to dictate their marriage. I simply seek to dictate who gets into office, and I will continue to want that bar set high.

 

When push comes to shove, as long as what my elected's do behind closed doors is their business - provided it's legal. You're right, if you have a politician railing against one thing or another and then doing the very things he claims to despise - they have a right to be embarrassed. But this man is currently running for nothing. This man is currently not an elected official. And his private life should be just that, private. It holds about as much importance to you and me as Lindsay Lohan's drinking habits or sexuality.

 

[EvilMonkey]

When push comes to shove, as long as what my elected's do behind closed doors is their business - provided it's legal. You're right, if you have a politician railing against one thing or another and then doing the very things he claims to despise - they have a right to be embarrassed. But this man is currently running for nothing. This man is currently not an elected official. And his private life should be just that, private. It holds about as much importance to you and me as Lindsay Lohan's drinking habits or sexuality.

He may not be running for anything, but rumors are (or at least were) high for a cabinet position.

[WilliamTell]

This story would've fit the old special forum completely. Sex, Lies, and Politics. It's unfortunate, I have never minded Edwards even though I'm conservative.

 

 

[DrunkBomber]

This story would've fit the old special forum completely. Sex, Lies, and Politics. It's unfortunate, I have never minded Edwards even though I'm conservative.

Im the same way.

[mr_genius]

Edwards is a total snake oil salesman. Totally 'me first gimme gimme' politician. His whole thing about poverty has always been about him getting more money, more power. I have no respect for John Edwards, never have. It's Democrats like him that really hurt that party.

 

edit: this 'scandal' actually hasn't changed my mind at all about this guy. it's a media frenzy and it's stupid. the guy is a fraud and always has been.

Edited August 9, 2008 by mr_genius

[kapkomet]

Edwards is a total snake oil salesman. Totally 'me first gimme gimme' politician. His whole thing about poverty has always been about him getting more money, more power. I have no respect for John Edwards, never have. It's Democrats like him that really hurt that party.

 

edit: this 'scandal' actually hasn't changed my mind at all about this guy. it's a media frenzy and it's stupid. the guy is a fraud and always has been.

I agree.

 

Now I'm going to address Rex's point, and Rex, I mean no disrespect to you, but this one I'm pretty passionate about, so I'll preface this post with that commenet.

 

It's BULLSH*T when a candidate asks for a vote from people of the United States of America, only to know that when that person looks in the mirror, they're not what the portray themselves to be. When Barack Obama, Billl Clinton, John McCain, Ted Stevens, George W Bush, Ronald Reagan, etc. asks the American people to vote for him, there's no greater trust the American people give then to vote that person into office. When these assholes betray that trust because they can't be moral, or worse, they just don't give a s***, I'm sorry, these people deserve NO sympathy from me. WE TRUST THEM TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT, and THEY ask for OUR vote. It's not like they kicked someone's ass and took over, or the people DEMANDED that they run for the high offices they hold, they asked US to place trust in them! If we demanded Bill Clinton went into the White House, and he did all the stuff he did, FINE, because we forced the man into that position. HELL NO, HE ASKED THE AMERICAN PEOPLE for their vote to put him there! Same goes with Ted Stevens, same goes with (insert any name here, WITHOUT regard to party.)

 

It's not about Democrat, Republican, etc. It's about character, and that's why it matters. People make mistakes. But don't make mistakes like this, and then turn around and try to hide it, lie about it, and then tell ME (in Edwards case) the TWO AMERICAS bullsh*t, and ask ME for MY vote when you're being a hypocritical f***ing douchebag.

 

There's no greater trust then the American people voting for someone to represent them. To gain that trust and then piss all over it because of a character issue, to me, is over the line, and they should not represent ME as an American, simply because they asked to be put there, and they should be held to a higher standard, PERIOD.

 

I hope I've made my point clear enough and that you all understand it. I'm honestly not trying to be snarky toward anyone here, just so that's clear.

[daa84]

Edwards is a total snake oil salesman. Totally 'me first gimme gimme' politician. His whole thing about poverty has always been about him getting more money, more power. I have no respect for John Edwards, never have. It's Democrats like him that really hurt that party.

 

edit: this 'scandal' actually hasn't changed my mind at all about this guy. it's a media frenzy and it's stupid. the guy is a fraud and always has been.

i agree...the guy is a sleeze's sleeze....coming from an ambulance chasing attorney turned politician im not sure at all why this should surprise anyone

[EvilMonkey]

At least he is one Democrat in favor of drilling.

[Heads22]

I was kind of surprised on CNN last night when I saw Paul Begala just tear into Edwards.

 

Fully deserved, as well.

 

I just feel that cheating on a loved one is just so morally reprehensible. Yes, I know it may not affect how effective of a leader you may be, but it does make you a liar.

 

I lost all my respect for the guy.

[FlaSoxxJim]

At least he is one Democrat in favor of drilling.

 

Zing!

 

To say that I'm disappointed by the lack of judgment Edwards has shown here would be a gross understatement.

 

[Reddy]

I was kind of surprised on CNN last night when I saw Paul Begala just tear into Edwards.

 

Fully deserved, as well.

 

I just feel that cheating on a loved one is just so morally reprehensible. Yes, I know it may not affect how effective of a leader you may be, but it does make you a liar.

 

I lost all my respect for the guy.

 

right and what are the stats that like 70% of men and 50% of women have cheated? nice high horse.

 

but ok... i'm still trying to wrap my mind around it all. there's the part of my that is ashamed, the part of me that says if Elizabeth has forgiven him we should too, the part of me that says that it doesn't change his politics and the part of me that says why the hell, when there's an invasion going on, are we worried about a private citizen's love life and making it front page news? what has the media turned into? it's truly just pathetic and dispicable. The Edwards' had dealt with this privately and they deserved for it to REMAIN PRIVATE. Who gets off making them now have to go through this hell all over again and on an even worse scale. Imagine being one of his kids right now. Imagine being Elizabeth right now. Imagine how f***ing hard it must be to have this all over the front f***ing page when you're NOT EVEN RUNNING OR IN OFFICE. it just pisses me off. And then there's the part that says look at JFK, McCain himself, Gingrich, Clinton. This s*** aint new people. mistakes happen, WE'VE ALL MADE THEM. and honestly, it really sucks now for me too because i've been getting texts left and right, people like you guys waiting to hear what i'm gonna say blah blah blah. EVERYONE that believed in the guy just had a hero destroyed by a money-hungry media. Who gives a s*** if he had an affair? who gives a s*** if George Washington was gay? who gives a s*** about ANY of the stuff that the media these days tries to rip apart? What's the GOD DAMNED POINT in doing this stuff? who are you helping? i think tabloid writers deserve one of the deepest levels of hell for ruining people's lives. god bless america. how bout god f*** america - although he doesn't have to cuz we're doing it to ourselves.

 

wow... that rant got a bit vicious at the end. sorry folks if i offend.

[BigSqwert]

who gives a s*** if George Washington was gay?

The GOP because gays will ruin America.

[Heads22]

right and what are the stats that like 70% of men and 50% of women have cheated? nice high horse.

 

but ok... i'm still trying to wrap my mind around it all. there's the part of my that is ashamed, the part of me that says if Elizabeth has forgiven him we should too, the part of me that says that it doesn't change his politics and the part of me that says why the hell, when there's an invasion going on, are we worried about a private citizen's love life and making it front page news? what has the media turned into? it's truly just pathetic and dispicable. The Edwards' had dealt with this privately and they deserved for it to REMAIN PRIVATE. Who gets off making them now have to go through this hell all over again and on an even worse scale. Imagine being one of his kids right now. Imagine being Elizabeth right now. Imagine how f***ing hard it must be to have this all over the front f***ing page when you're NOT EVEN RUNNING OR IN OFFICE. it just pisses me off. And then there's the part that says look at JFK, McCain himself, Gingrich, Clinton. This s*** aint new people. mistakes happen, WE'VE ALL MADE THEM. and honestly, it really sucks now for me too because i've been getting texts left and right, people like you guys waiting to hear what i'm gonna say blah blah blah. EVERYONE that believed in the guy just had a hero destroyed by a money-hungry media. Who gives a s*** if he had an affair? who gives a s*** if George Washington was gay? who gives a s*** about ANY of the stuff that the media these days tries to rip apart? What's the GOD DAMNED POINT in doing this stuff? who are you helping? i think tabloid writers deserve one of the deepest levels of hell for ruining people's lives. god bless america. how bout god f*** america - although he doesn't have to cuz we're doing it to ourselves.

 

wow... that rant got a bit vicious at the end. sorry folks if i offend.

 

It's more like it's something that's personally affected my life and it will always hurt my respect level for said person. Always.

[Reddy]

It's more like it's something that's personally affected my life and it will always hurt my respect level for said person. Always.

 

legit.

[juddling]

right and what are the stats that like 70% of men and 50% of women have cheated? nice high horse.

 

but ok... i'm still trying to wrap my mind around it all. there's the part of my that is ashamed, the part of me that says if Elizabeth has forgiven him we should too, the part of me that says that it doesn't change his politics and the part of me that says why the hell, when there's an invasion going on, are we worried about a private citizen's love life and making it front page news? what has the media turned into? it's truly just pathetic and dispicable. The Edwards' had dealt with this privately and they deserved for it to REMAIN PRIVATE. Who gets off making them now have to go through this hell all over again and on an even worse scale. Imagine being one of his kids right now. Imagine being Elizabeth right now. Imagine how f***ing hard it must be to have this all over the front f***ing page when you're NOT EVEN RUNNING OR IN OFFICE. it just pisses me off. And then there's the part that says look at JFK, McCain himself, Gingrich, Clinton. This s*** aint new people. mistakes happen, WE'VE ALL MADE THEM. and honestly, it really sucks now for me too because i've been getting texts left and right, people like you guys waiting to hear what i'm gonna say blah blah blah. EVERYONE that believed in the guy just had a hero destroyed by a money-hungry media. Who gives a s*** if he had an affair? who gives a s*** if George Washington was gay? who gives a s*** about ANY of the stuff that the media these days tries to rip apart? What's the GOD DAMNED POINT in doing this stuff? who are you helping? i think tabloid writers deserve one of the deepest levels of hell for ruining people's lives. god bless america. how bout god f*** america - although he doesn't have to cuz we're doing it to ourselves.

 

wow... that rant got a bit vicious at the end. sorry folks if i offend.

 

Remember when the Democrats went apes*** over Larry Craig? It wasn’t the fact that he may have asked for gay sex or was gay, it was the hypocrisy, remember?

 

Now think back to ALL THE F--KING LECTURES from Elizabeth and John Edwards about morality, family, trust, etc.

 

John Edwards dragged his cancer stricken wife out in front of the media and talked about how he was a good man standing behind her in her time of need. Well....turns out he was screwing someone on the side at that time. Sorry if you don't feel that it is newsworthy but some people think it is.

 

This story was broke by a tabloid then picked up by a few right-wing blogs then Fox News got involved. Only after that did the MSM pick it up.

 

Honestly....i'm sure in about 3 or 4 months a Republican will f--k up in one way or another and it will be "A-ha" politics all over again. It turns from "what the Rep/Dems can do for you " into "See..we aren't as bad as the other guys" It sucks all around

 

 

 

[Reddy]

Remember when the Democrats went apes*** over Larry Craig? It wasn’t the fact that he may have asked for gay sex or was gay, it was the hypocrisy, remember?

 

Now think back to ALL THE F--KING LECTURES from Elizabeth and John Edwards about morality, family, trust, etc.

 

John Edwards dragged his cancer stricken wife out in front of the media and talked about how he was a good man standing behind her in her time of need. Well....turns out he was screwing someone on the side at that time. Sorry if you don't feel that it is newsworthy but some people think it is.

 

This story was broke by a tabloid then picked up by a few right-wing blogs then Fox News got involved. Only after that did the MSM pick it up.

 

Honestly....i'm sure in about 3 or 4 months a Republican will f--k up in one way or another and it will be "A-ha" politics all over again. It turns from "what the Rep/Dems can do for you " into "See..we aren't as bad as the other guys" It sucks all around

 

if you read my post i was ripping on the media, not the GOP.

 

and he didn't drag out his wife. that's ridiculous.

 

and, to play devil's advocate, who would know more about the importance of morality than a family that just saw, coped with, and got over an act of immorality at its worst?

[Gregory Pratt]

what are the stats that like 70% of men and 50% of women have cheated?

 

Those "stats" are probably bogus. People make mistakes, but Edwards' case is not one that makes me sympathetic for him at all.

[lostfan]

It's more like it's something that's personally affected my life and it will always hurt my respect level for said person. Always.

So do you lose all respect for Martin Luther King, since J. Edgar Hoover thought he was a Communist and caught him cheating on his wife in hotel rooms? Just curious.

 

Sure, it isn't cool and all, but it's not like people who cheat on their loved ones are violent criminals or anything.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Remember when the Democrats went apes*** over Larry Craig? It wasn’t the fact that he may have asked for gay sex or was gay, it was the hypocrisy, remember?

 

It was the hypocrisy, as it was for Elliot Spitzer, as it is here as well, sadly.

 

Anybody who stumps to talk up the importance of family values, etc., and then is found to be sorely lacking in them in his own life, has made the issue one he can and should be taken to task over.

 

Not because a moral lapse makes you a bad politician or even a bad person. But because you're privately participating in the very thing you're publicly rallying against.

 

Eventually it had to happen, juddling and me agreeing on something in the Filibuster.

 

[Texsox]

We probably should be immune to this sort of thing by now. Politicians are real people and mirror the population. While I am sympathetic to his current status as a private citizen, this did occur while he was running for office, so it would seem fair comment. I also think too many of the comments are based on his party, just like I said with Larry Craig. I forget, is this evening up for Craig, or does this place the Dems -1 and they need a GOP to get caught so they can catch up?

[southsider2k5]

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5553013

 

Wolfson: Edwards' Cover-up Cost Clinton the Nomination

Aides Say She Would Have Won Iowa if Edwards Affair was Exposed

By BRIAN ROSS and JAKE TAPPER

August 11, 2008—

 

 

Sen. Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic presidential nominee if John Edwards had been caught in his lie about an extramarital affair and forced out of the race last year, insists a top Clinton campaign aide, making a charge that could exacerbate previously existing tensions between the camps of Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.

 

"I believe we would have won Iowa, and Clinton today would therefore have been the nominee," former Clinton Communications Director Howard Wolfson told ABCNews.com.

 

Clinton finished third in the Iowa caucuses barely behind Edwards in second place and Obama in first. The momentum of the insurgent Obama campaign beating two better-known candidates -- not to mention an African-American winning in such an overwhelmingly white state -- changed the dynamics of the race forever.

 

Obama won 37.6 per cent of the vote. Edwards won 29.7 per cent and Clinton won 29.5 per cent, according to results posted by the Iowa Democratic Party.

 

"Our voters and Edwards' voters were the same people," Wolfson said the Clinton polls showed. "They were older, pro-union. Not all, but maybe two-thirds of them would have been for us and we would have barely beaten Obama."

 

Two months earlier, Edwards had vociferously, but falsely, denied a story in the National Enquirer about the alleged affair last October, and few in the mainstream media even reported the denial.

 

The lie "certainly had an impact on the election," Wolfson said.

 

Former Clinton adviser James Carville told "Good Morning America" that Wolfson's comments are just speculation.

 

"My instinct tells me she probably would have done better if Senator Edwards wouldn't have been on the ballot," said Carville. "But that wasn't the circustances at the time. I think Howard is fine in engaging in this kind of speculation, but it doesn't really mean very much."

 

Wolfson said the Clinton campaign was aware of the issue, but did not try to fan the flames.

 

"Any of the campaigns that would have tried to push that would have been burned by it," said Wolfson.

 

But he says he is mystified about the failure of the national media to pursue the story as it has allegations of other candidates' affairs.

 

"I can't say I understand the rules of the media and I'm not sure they do either," he said.

 

Wolfson's suggestion comes at a delicate time in negotiations between the Clinton and Obama camps, as the Obama campaign decides whether the convention later this month should feature a roll call vote allowing Clinton's delegates to voice their enthusiasm for their candidate. Many Clinton supporters are already resentful of Obama, whom they see as having only won the nomination with the support of a sexist media and Democratic establishment. Wolfson's argument that these same players helped keep Edwards in the race, thus hurting Clinton -- a highly debatable contention -- will likely only fan the flames of Democratic division.

 

Wolfson's contention is not shared by the Obama campaign, whose officials never bought the argument that Clinton was the second choice of Edwards voters. Immediately after Edwards dropped out of the race at the end of January, Obama won eleven straight contests in a row.

 

And Clinton's steadfast refusal to say she regretted her vote to authorize use of force in Iraq -- unlike Obama, who always opposed the war, and Edwards, who said his vote for war was a mistake -- turned off many anti-wars liberals in Iowa, who make up a disproportionate number of caucus goers.

 

In May 2007, Mike Henry, then Clinton's deputy campaign manager, thought the terrain so hostile to Clinton he wrote a memo to "propose skipping the Iowa caucuses and dedicating more of Senator Clinton's time and financial resources on the primary in New Hampshire on January 22, the Nevada caucus on January 19, the primaries in South Carolina and Florida on January 29, and the 20 plus state primaries on February 5th."

 

There was no comment from the Obama campaign.

 

Click Here for the Investigative Homepage.

 

 

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

[EvilMonkey]

We probably should be immune to this sort of thing by now. Politicians are real people and mirror the population. While I am sympathetic to his current status as a private citizen, this did occur while he was running for office, so it would seem fair comment. I also think too many of the comments are based on his party, just like I said with Larry Craig. I forget, is this evening up for Craig, or does this place the Dems -1 and they need a GOP to get caught so they can catch up?

It depends on how far down the political food chain you want to go. The Dems have had a rough time with mayors of big cities lately (Kwame in Detroit, Sharp James in Newark).

[lostfan]

If Hillary Clinton didn't run such a sloppy campaign, if she didn't ignore caucus states, and if she had taken the Obama campaign seriously sooner, maybe she is the nominee now.

 

However, in related news, if my aunt had a dick she'd be my uncle.

[juddling]

Eventually it had to happen, juddling and me agreeing on something in the Filibuster.

 

 

Well then Jim.... cheer to you!!!