John Edwards Admits to Creepin'

The talking heads on television are in a feeding frenzy.

Speculation of infidelity by John Edwards first surfaced during the dawn of the Democratic primary season (in late 2007) with a story by none other than the National Enquirer. The Edwards Camp issued a number of denials and since the story had been broken by a sensational supermarket rag - like the Enquirer - most "reputable" news services let the story wane. And let John Edwards raise money and continue his quest for the Democratic nomination.

Well, the Enquirer came back a few weeks ago with news that this woman that Edwards has been creepin' with was with child... and John Edwards was caught by paparazzi in Los Angeles visiting with Rielle Hunter and his lovechild late one night. Another series of denials. But this time the story stuck.

Edwards has decided to 'fess up... he has taped a segment on Nightline which will be broadcast on ABC on the evening of Friday, August 8, 2008 (yeah, the same night of the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics on NBC). In the interview, Edwards acknowledged the affair with 42-year-old Rielle Hunter, which began after she was hired to make documentary videos for his campaign. But he continues to deny being the father of her child, even though, he has yet to take a DNA test.

A former Edwards campaign aide, Andrew Young, claims he is the father of Frances Quinn Hunter, who was born on Feb. 27, 2008. The Charlotte Observer reported last week that a copy of the infant’s birth certificate did not list the name of the father.

This news is obviously tough on his family. His wife, Elizabeth, is still recovering from a bout with cancer and recall that their teenage son was killed in a traffic accident over a decade ago. Elizabeth Edwards pours out her heart in a post that she wrote on DailyKos.com earlier today:

Our family has been through a lot. Some caused by nature, some caused by human weakness, and some – most recently – caused by the desire for sensationalism and profit without any regard for the human consequences. None of these has been easy. But we have stood with one another through them all. Although John believes he should stand alone and take the consequences of his action now, when the door closes behind him, he has his family waiting for him.

John made a terrible mistake in 2006. The fact that it is a mistake that many others have made before him did not make it any easier for me to hear when he told me what he had done. But he did tell me. And we began a long and painful process in 2006, a process oddly made somewhat easier with my diagnosis in March of 2007. This was our private matter, and I frankly wanted it to be private because as painful as it was I did not want to have to play it out on a public stage as well. Because of a recent string of hurtful and absurd lies in a tabloid publication, because of a picture falsely suggesting that John was spending time with a child it wrongly alleged he had fathered outside our marriage, our private matter could no longer be wholly private.

The pain of the long journey since 2006 was about to be renewed.

John has spoken in a long on-camera interview I hope you watch. Admitting one’s mistakes is a hard thing for anyone to do, and I am proud of the courage John showed by his honesty in the face of shame. The toll on our family of news helicopters over our house and reporters in our driveway is yet unknown. But now the truth is out, and the repair work that began in 2006 will continue. I ask that the public, who expressed concern about the harm John’s conduct has done to us, think also about the real harm that the present voyeurism does and give me and my family the privacy we need at this time.

Read the major news service stories about the Edwards Affair here and here and here.

Read Elizabeth Edwards's post on DailyKos.com here.


plez sez: my heart goes out to the wife and family as this display of human frailty gets played out in public -- tabloid style.

power. money. two awesome aphrodisiacs that direct the actions of many. john edwards isn't the first presidential candidate who has taken the opportunity to creep with sexy young available women, he won't be the last. think about gary hart's ride to bimini on a boat named "monkey business" with donna rice back in 1988... ah, nothing new here! except, now we have a 24-hour news cycle and if not for that one picture of gary hart, he may still be a player in national politics. think about bill clinton getting his knob polished in the oval office by monica lewinsky; if not for that episode, hillary clinton might be the democratic nominee this year!

the consequences of his actions will probably relegate john edwards to a footnote in this presidential campaign. he was never a big challenge to either Obama or Clinton, but it appeared that he could've played a role in either of their administrations. there was vice president talk. there has been talk of attorney general in a Barack Obama administration. i doubt he'll be in denver for the democratic national convention, where he would've been given time on stage... he'll have to be content to eat humble pie at his big house in north carolina.

this whole sordid episode is kind of creepy, seeing as his wife is still recovering from a second bout with cancer. but it gets worse. it appears that one of edwards's campaign aides, by the name of andrew young, admits to lining up for sloppy seconds and got ms. hunter preggers. YUCK!

...as TLC so aptly sang it, "so i creep!"

"Creep" by TLC

So I creep yeah
Just keep it on the down low
Said nobody is supposed 2 know

So I creep yeah
'Cause [s]he doesn't know what I do
And no attention goes to show oh

So I creep...