Scandal Might Cost Edwards His Role at Democratic Convention

The pictures of John Edwards with his alleged love child continue to tarnish Edwards’ reputation. The Gun Toting Liberal has posted what they bill as a clearer picture (above) than the one I posted yesterday from The National Enquirer, but in this one the “love child” looks much more like Dick Cheney than John Edwards. The mystery deepens.

More seriously, the scandal is beginning to have real repercussions for John Edwards. MaClatchy reports that Edwards was promised a prime time speaking role at the Democratic convention following his endorsement of Obama:

If Edwards fails to clear up the story in short order, he risks party officials deciding not to have him speak or, if they do, creating a distraction from a week focused on Barack Obama accepting the nomination.

“If there is not an explanation that’s satisfactory, acceptable and meets high moral standards, the answer is ‘no,’ he would not be a prime candidate to make a major address to the convention,” said Don Fowler, a former Democratic National Committee chair…

“He absolutely does have to (resolve it). If it’s not true, he has to issue a stronger denial,” said Gary Pearce, the Democratic strategist who ran Edwards’ 1998 Senate race. “It’s a very damaging thing. …

“The big media has tried to be responsible and handle this with kid gloves, but it’s clearly getting ready to bust out. If it’s not true, he’s got to stand up and say, ‘This is not true. That is not my child and I’m going to take legal action against the people who are spreading these lies.’ It’s not enough to say, ‘That’s tabloid trash,’ ” Pearce said…

An appearance at the convention would only highlight the unresolved story, said Chris Lehane, a Democratic consultant and former aide to then-Vice President Al Gore. A convention speaking appearance could become the moment that drives news media coverage of the alleged affair to explode.

“You want to address these issues long before you get to that point,” Lehane said. “Otherwise people who haven’t written about it before, now start writing about it.” Edwards’ decision not to take questions about the alleged affair has allowed doubts to linger and political bloggers to speculate. The National Enquirer has reported that he fathered a child with a former campaign worker and met with her in a Beverly Hills hotel last month. He made no response to the National Enquirer’s posting on Wednesday of what it said was a photo of Edwards and his illegitimate child. Two weeks ago, after the National Enquirer ran the story about the hotel liaison, he dismissed a reporter’s question in Houston and used the “tabloid trash” line.

The article proceeds to describe how Edwards, rather than explaining the situation, has been avoiding reporters. It is appearing that such stonewalling will not work much longer as reputable news sources such as McClatchy are picking up the story despite showing intitial reluctance. The convention angle makes it easier for such news sources to justify coverage. Similarly yesterday two publications found reason to write about the story after it was revealed that Edwards’ alleged mistress, Rielle Hunter, had previously dated Jay McInerney, who modeled a character in one of his novels on her.

2 Comments

  1. 1
    Lee Stranahan says:

    I’m sure Ron knows how little fun it’s been being ahead of the curve on this story but warning of an impending problem isn’t the same as creating the problem.  Read Horton Hears A Hoo…

  2. 2
    Snoop-Diggity-DANG-Dawg says:

    1) Shock
    2) Denial
    3) Anger
    4) Despair
    5) Acceptance
    Call me when you get to ‘anger’.
    Good thing the MSM toadies are so diciplined. We need to protect Elizabeth, you know. Well, or at least show her the same consideration The Best Husband & Father in the World shows her.
    Cuz’ we wouldn’t want her to find out who she’s really married to. The same way Hillary Cinton was shocked to discover Billy-Jeff receiving oral testimony.
    The truly great part, is that a $100 million trial lawyer like John Edwards will never allow this slander to continue. He’ll sue the National Enquirer off the planet, right?
    Right?
    Right?
    Right?…

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