Revelation of affair destroys credibility of top Democrat

UNITED STATES: JOHN EDWARDS, who employed a populist message and an image as a devoted family man in two serious runs for president…

UNITED STATES:JOHN EDWARDS, who employed a populist message and an image as a devoted family man in two serious runs for president, derailed his political career at the weekend 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.

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The tabloid wrote that it had followed Edwards to a rendezvous with Hunter and the baby at the Beverly Hills Hilton hotel last month, sparking a vigorous internet 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 on August 25th 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 jnr, a political analyst at Claremont McKenna College.

The National Enquirerfirst reported the affair on October 11th, 2007, 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 hotel.

Edwards's admission on 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's campaign.

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 Senator John Kerry lost the 2004 presidential election.

The couple announced in March 2007 that the disease had returned in a treatable but incurable form.

In a statement, she said her husband had made "a terrible mistake," but praised his "courage" in deciding to talk about the affair. She said their reconciliation was "a long and painful process."

In a plea for privacy, she lashed out at the National Enquirerwithout naming it for "a recent string of hurtful and absurd lies."

- (LA Times-Washington Post service)