Least anyone accuse us of not airing our dirty laundry, former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards will admit to having an extramartial affair tonight on ABC-TV.
John Edwards has admitted that he had an extramarital affair with a former videographer in his presidential campaign and repeatedly lied about it.
In an interview airing tonight on ABC’s “Nightline,” the former North Carolina senator and Democratic presidential contender acknowledged the affair, which came during a campaign in which he stressed the importance of family and in which his wife, Elizabeth, who suffers from an incurable form of cancer, played a prominent role.
I’m not sure the former North Carolina Senator will be able to recover from this politically speaking. But if Newt Gingrich can survive after being a serial adulterer, anyone can.
I am so sorry for his wife. How terrible for her. I am glad, however, that I never voted for him. Edwards always seemed “holier than thou”
Can’t say this makes me very happy, but at least he admitted it. What is it with powerful men that makes them risk everything on this stuff?
At least Edwards is in good company:
Newt Gingrich
David Vitter
Gavin Newsom
Bill Clinton
John McCain
Rudy Guliani
Larry Craig
Henry Hyde
To name a few.
Edwards spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri sends over a statement from the former Senator:
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 recognized 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. When a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story, I used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it. But being 99% honest is no longer enough.
I was and am ashamed of my conduct and choices, and I had hoped that it would never become public. With my family, I took responsibility for my actions in 2006 and today I take full responsibility publicly. But that misconduct took place for a short period in 2006. It ended then. 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. I only know that the apparent father has said publicly that he is the father of the baby. I also have not been engaged in any activity of any description that requested, agreed to or supported payments of any kind to the woman or to the apparent father of the baby.
It is inadequate to say to the people who believed in me that I am sorry, as it is inadequate to say to the people who love me that I am sorry. 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. I have been stripped bare and will now work with everything I have to help my family and others who need my help.
I have given a complete interview on this matter and having done so, will have nothing more to say.
this is very dissapointing but if he drags his wife into this interview and has her standing next to him while he admits this i will lose all respect for him. whats with these politicians who screw up like this then drag their wives into these press confrences? just man up admit you have no morals and stand alone in your shame if you have any. the only thing worse than a guy who cheats on his pregnant wife is a guy who cheats on his wife who is fighting cancer. if he’s any kind of a decent human being he will leave her out of it. at this time her health is far more important than his political damage control.
Edwards needs to re-register as a Republican
US Senator John Edwards On President Bill Clinton…
Posted by: El Caudillo | 08/08/2008 2:06 PM
From 1999:
“I think this President has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen.”
– US Senator John Edwards, FEB 12, 1999
John Edwards’ interview with Bob Woodruff is one on one.
At least one person has the class not to force his wife to stand next to him and smile awkwardly at this difficult moment.
He didn’t have a choice but to admit it. Edwards got busted at that hotel room at 2:40 am by an Enquirer reporter last month while trying to convince his mistress to keep the affair a secret. I can’t even imagine if this had hit at this moment and he had been our nominee. Complete disaster. In the end, Edwards is not a good guy…
Tome for the press to step up its investigation of John McCain’s alledged affairs with pretty youing blonde lobbyists.
TLC, first of all he doesnt have any class secondly she might have just refused to sit with him on this. i know he said she wanted to be there and he told her no but remember, he is a liar.
At least he did not kill the woman like your esteemed Senator from MA……
By the way does Senator Byrd a democrat still wear his Klan gear?
Personal life vs. Political life
Yes, he’s sleazy. Yes, he shouldn’t have a political career after this. But come on. This is a personal issue. Leave it alone. This affair shouldn’t cause Edwards’ political ideologies to die with it. We need others to take up his goals and ideas because, as uncouth as his behavior was, his political ideals are still worth fighting for.
http://liberalretort.blogspot.com/
There but for the grace of god go I.
Trite, but to the point.
Disappointed – you betcha
Art -is it really necessary for you to blogwhore your post over here? Lets see: Edwards is a private citizen who holds no office and as a candidate won no primaries and very few delegates. He admitted to an affair. Forgive me but where is the overwhelming public interest in this story?
It looks like you used this as an excuse to bash Melahat for what was an incredibly successful Truman Awards dinner because Edwards was the keynote. Yes she’s not on record with a comment but what do you expect her to say?
As far as MSM goes, i think you are trying to say the blogs like yours will somehow usurp newspapers as a source of news. It took you 5 years to get to a million page views. The LA Times had 115 million page views last month alone.
Perhaps the MSM should focus on McCain’s alleged affairs more or perhaps your fascination with massage parlors
Stop with the hand wringing everyone, he is not the nominee. He brought up important issues during the primary though and he’s given Democrats a great opportunity to grill McCain on his affair with his current wife, you know, where he left his sick wife?
Some say, well that’s different he didn’t lie. Total BS, John McCain has lied in writing, fudging dates in his autobiography to make his new marriage seem less seedy.
Everytime Hannity, Limbaugh or any other right wing tool brings this up about Edwards, we need to throw McCain right back at them, his affair and abandonment of his first wife only seemed to enhance his political career.
And good for Edwards for not dragging Elizabeth out to stand by him during a press conference or interview, he stood on his own. What he did was wrong, that is clear and he lied, even more clear, but we really just need to move on and if Republicans can’t let it go, then use that to our advantage.
Whether it’s a Republican or a Democrat, there is plenty of filth to throw around. I still wonder why people of the Liberal mindset still want to send their tax dollars to these people to expand our government with more hypocrits and liars only to cheat you the taxpayer. If they will backstab their own wives, they will backstab you, the citizen, without hesitation. And we sit here and complain and complain why things are not being done. Well stop putting these clowns in office why don’t you!! It’s time to clean house for once and for all and get rid of this two party system that has hijacked our federal government.
Dan,
I would have more respect for you if would just say something like “this guy is a scumbag and it’s not the kind of example we want and he should be removed from any involvement from the Democratic Party”. Instead you try to brush it off as a story not worth paying attention to while promoting the further investigation of John McCain. There was and probably are more who behave just like Edwards…both Republicans and Democrat….Liberal and Conservative….in our government. I guess the difference between you and myself is you are on a platform that wants to expand government with further taxation and power. Well, I can’t stand to give my hard earned money to people in government who will backstab their own spouse because I find it hard to believe that they then will not backstab me the taxpayer. Not to mention that kind of behaviour opens the door to blackmail if that private information falls into the wrong hands. Politics is tough and the environment that is now is sickening to say the least. I don’t want to expand that, I’d rather shrink it We should start taking our country back and stop handing more of it over to people like John Edwards, Gingrich, Clinton and the like. I’m sick of the scandals as I’m sure you are, but I’m not ready to trust them with more of my tax dollars…none of them. Thank You.
We’re for expanding government? Clinton shrunk government to its smallest size snice the Kennedy administration and W has expanded government to beyond anything even Lyndon Johnson could imagine. Might want to start by examining the GOP record the past 8 years.
There is criticism that the MSM blew the Edwards story; well, he’s not a candidate for anything and McCain is and the McCain mistress story has legs if you will.
Barack Obama – breath of fresh air. Let’s give him a chance to run things for a while.
Dan,
Totally in agreement with Bush expanding government and that’s why I’m not a Republican. But if you think Clinton shrunk government spending and he was responsible for lower taxes and less spending YOU might want to examine what happened in the 90’s with the post-cold war military cuts, selling of government assets, and deposit insurance funds that really helped shrink the deficit by a little over a 1/3 which Clinton had little to with. The increase of tax revenues from a rebounding economy paved the way for the rest. But no DECREASE in spending my friend. And he vetoed the Balanced Budget Ammendment of 1995, which could have put him in a positive light in my view. Although, it would have been ignored or changed by future regimes anyways…my sole opinion. And who controlled the “purse strings” starting in 1994? But I’ll give credit to Clinton for signing welfare reform, that was a biggy. Anyway off point. Why do you tolerate this behaviour from your leaders (Edwards)? What legs (hehe) does the McCain story have? The NY Times has run its businees into the ground breaking this story which totally backfired on them. I’m not a McCain fan, but I don’t see this story having any merit right now. Edwards is a sleez ball and why you don’t come out and condemn him and rip him one for being an idiot is a mystery to me.
Where is Barbara Eden when you need her to expose the hypocrisy of the Harper Valley PTA?
It’s a personal matter between him and his wife and nobody else’s business. No wonder Europeans laugh at our false piety. There is NO ONE who hasn’t done something shameful in their life. This man’s son died and then his wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer. How would you handle it?
Y’all who are hand-wringing over this are acting like a bunch of prissy old ladies.