Edwards suffers political downfall from affair

[tommie gorman]

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.

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 Feb. 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 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 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."

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.

Speaking to reporters 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. A Kerry spokeswoman said Saturday that the Massachusetts senator would have no comment on Edwards.

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 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

[tommie gorman]

I guess Bill was smarter after all. At least he had his swallowed.