On Friday, it was revealed that John Edwards had been engaged in an
extramarital affair during 2006. Here are my thoughts:
•
To many the National Enquirer is nothing more than a tawdry rag that
prints unfounded accusations. (As someone who’s been in the magazine, I
can confirm that this is often the case.) Nevertheless, the National
Enquirer isn’t always wrong. In fact, the tabloid is often the only
publication with the courage to print lingering truths about public
figures. While the national media chose to ignore the Edwards rumors
--which only gives credence to GOP accusations of liberal media bias--
the Enquirer aggressively pursued the story to the end. Maybe next
time, we’ll believe them…
• I have never seen Edwards look more
unconvincing than in Thursday’s ABC interview in which he denied being
the father of the child. Shady Fact #1: Edwards paid the woman more than $100,000 to do video production despite having no experience. Shady Fact #2:
When asked if he had given the woman hush money, Edwards said that he
hadn’t, but that it was possible one of his friends or supporters had
done so (unbeknownst to him of course) in order to protect him. Shady Fact #3:
The National Enquirer reports having a picture of him holding the baby
in front of a Los Angeles Hotel, a charge that Edwards denies. At this
point, if I have to choose between trusting Edwards and The Enquirer,
I'm riding with the paper... Shady Fact #4: When asked if he
was the father, Edwards said that he couldn’t be “based on the timing.”
If I had a dollar for every man who has said that one… Bottom line, if
Edwards is not the father, he will be as surprised and happy as this brother.
•
John Edwards political career is over. Of course, after losing two
national election bids and failing to win his own state, this is far
from a bold prediction. Still, in a world of crazy comebacks and
unpredictable outcomes, Edwards remains dead in the political water for
two reasons: 1) After positioning himself as America’s moral conscience
on topics like housing, poverty, and (ahem) deadbeat dads, people will
forever see Edwards as a slickster with an angle rather than a
principled platform. 2) Female voters will never respect a candidate
who cheated on his terminally ill wife.
• The conservative media
has gone to great lengths to link the Edwards scandal to Barack Obama
and the November election. Somehow, they argue that voters will use the
Edwards scandal as a reason to doubt the morality and ethics of the
broader Democratic party. First, if Democratic voters cared that much
about John Edwards, they would have voted for him. More importantly, if
voters decide to use the elections as a referendum on sex scandals, the
Republicans still have the market cornered on furtive freakiness.
Fortunately, John McCain has refused to participate in this senseless
attack. To be sure, given McCain’s own history of womanizing,
this is a pragmatic rather than principled decision. This, of course,
raises another question: Why are we so outraged at Edwards but continue
to give Senator McCain a pass?
