Affair, lies wreck Edwards’ political future
John Edwards, who parlayed a populist message and his image as a devoted family man into two serious runs for president, derailed his political career Friday when he admitted to an extramarital affair and repeatedly lying about it.
The former North Carolina senator and the Democratic Party’s last vice presidential candidate admitted to a short affair in 2006 and said in a statement that he had “made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs.” He said he took responsibility, but he also blamed his rapid political ascent, which he said made him “increasingly egocentric and narcissistic.”
Although he confirmed the romantic liaison with Rielle Hunter, who filmed videos for his presidential campaign, Edwards denied he had fathered a child with her, an allegation that had appeared in the National Enquirer. The tabloid wrote that it had followed Edwards to a rendezvous with Hunter and the baby at the Beverly Hills, Calif., Hilton last month, sparking a vigorous Web-based debate after most mainstream media outlets did not publish stories on it.
The acknowledged affair seems certain to kill any role for Edwards in the Democratic National Convention, set to begin Aug. 25 in Denver, and to eliminate him from consideration as Barack Obama’s running mate or a member of his White House cabinet, should he win.
“I don’t think he’s going to be making a living in politics any time soon,” said John J. Pitney Jr., a political analyst at Claremont McKenna College.
The National Enquirer first reported the affair on Oct. 11, but Edwards, his aides and Hunter denied it. But the tabloid continued to pursue the story. This week, it published a grainy photo it said showed Edwards holding the baby at the Beverly Hills hotel.
Sympathy for wife
Edwards’ admission Friday stunned supporters who had taken his earlier denials to heart, and it came as particularly sour news for admirers of his wife, Elizabeth, whose battle with cancer had become an integral part of Edwards’ campaign and the family’s story. The couple’s eldest son, Wade, died in a car crash in 1996, and they decided to have two more children who often joined them and their adult daughter on the campaign trail.
Elizabeth Edwards was diagnosed with breast cancer on the same day her husband and Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry lost the 2004 presidential election. The couple announced in March 2007 that the disease had returned in a treatable but uncurable form.
In a statement, she said her husband had made “a terrible mistake,” but praised him for his “courage” in deciding to talk now about the affair. She said their reconciliation was “a long and painful process.” In a plea for privacy, she lashed out at the National Enquirer without naming it for “a recent string of hurtful and absurd lies.” “The toll on our family of news helicopters over our house and reporters in our driveway is yet unknown,” she said.
Bob Schieffer reported on CBS Evening News that he spoke with Edwards and his wife, who “was obviously in tears.” “This is really, really tough,” he said she told him.
Edwards, 55, also discussed the relationship in an interview with Bob Woodruff of ABC News that aired on “Nightline.” He said that his affair with Hunter, 44, who could not be reached for comment, occurred while his wife’s illness was in remission and that he loved only his wife. He also said the affair had ended prior to when Hunter became pregnant.
Paternity denied
Edwards told Woodruff he had not told his wife he intended to meet Hunter last month, but he said he told her about the affair in 2006. “She was mad. She was angry. I think furious would be a good way to describe it,” he said.
In his statement, Edwards said he had told his 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.”
He also said that he was willing to take “any test necessary” to prove he did not father Hunter’s child. “I am truly hopeful that a test will be done,” he said.
And he struck a tone of contrition, while also seeming to blame his fame as a politician who was talked about as a presidential prospect from the moment he arrived in the Senate.
“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,” 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. I have been stripped bare.”
Edwards said he made no payments to Hunter or Andrew Young, a former aide who has claimed to be the father, and was not aware of any made by supporters.
But Fred Baron, a Dallas lawyer who was the finance chairman of Edwards’ presidential campaign, said he has provided support to Hunter and Young because they were being harassed by supermarket tabloids. “We needed to get them out of North Carolina,” he said.
Baron said he had rented separate houses in Santa Barbara for Hunter and Young, but scoffed at media reports that they were multimillion-dollar homes. He said he provided the assistance without condition and that Edwards was not aware of it.
Broader impact
Most top political advisers to Edwards could not be reached or declined to comment.
“I’m terribly surprised, and profoundly disappointed and devastated,” said Chris Kofinis, Edwards’ communications director during the primaries. He said former colleagues have been exchanging phone calls and e-mails. “Everyone is, I think, incredibly disappointed and devastated and heartbroken.”
Joe Trippi, one of Edwards’ top advisers, told CBS News, “I don’t know if numb’s the word, but, you know, it’s more disappointing. My biggest concern is their family right now.”
University of California, Berkeley, political analyst Bruce E. Cain said the timing could be problematic for Barack Obama as the senator from Illinois continues to try to draw the Democratic Party together after a deeply fractious — and long — primary season.
“It roils the gender waters at a time when they’re trying to reconcile with Hillary Clinton’s supporters,” Cain said. “The 25 percent or so that haven’t gone over think Hillary was the victim of male sexist bias in the media and among the public. … The humiliation of Mrs. Edwards puts this in the spotlight at the point when they’re trying to negotiate with Hillary’s people.”