Sources: Edwards to admit paternity of ex-mistress' child

Sources: Edwards to admit paternity of ex-mistress' child

Raleigh, N.C. — Sources have told WRAL News that they expect former U.S. Sen. John Edwards to admit that he is the father of his former mistress' 18-month-old daughter.

Edwards, a two-time Democratic presidential candidate, confessed last August to having an affair with Rielle Hunter, who served as a videographer on Edwards' 2008 campaign. He has denied fathering her daughter, saying his relationship with Hunter ended before the child was conceived.

The name of the girl's father isn't disclosed on her birth certificate.

Andrew Young, a long-time Edwards aide, initially claimed to be the father of Hunter's child, but he is reportedly writing a book in which he will claim Edwards is the father.

<SNIP>

http://www.wral.com/news/local/politics/story/5791651/

And to think I admired that man! Yuck!

If this is true... I have to wonder why the fuck this asshole couldn't come clean about this all at once.

We have early voting in Tennessee, so I voted a week or two early. Then, right before the actual day of the primary, he withdrew. I hate that I wasted a vote. But I couldn't have imagined him cheating on his sick wife.

Imagine what would have happened had he been a serious contender for the nomination.

It's not as if she was a virgin until he came into her bed...

He lied his ass off.

"He has denied fathering her daughter, saying his relationship with Hunter ended before the child was conceived."

I don't think this is a surprise to anyone.

:eyes:

is that a year and a half ago, he was a viable Presidential candidate. He had been working Iowa quite hard, and if Barack Obama had decided to sit 2008 out, and try his chances in 2012 or 2016, I think Edwards would have won. He would have gotten the "anybody but Hillary" vote, except for a few people who liked Richardson.

Of course, the scandal would have exploded full force if he were our nominee, and we might be hearing the phrase, "Vice-President Palin" in the news right now.

I am so glad that he didn't get the nomination...boggles my mind that he'd have been so reckless in his personal life, given the visibility and stakes of the election. How he could do that to Elizabeth, given her situation, is really disappointing.

he did it to us. He stood there on the night before the Iowa caucuses, and told us that he was fully qualified to be our nominee, all the while knowing that his own failure to keep his pants zipped was going to eventually spring forth to the light.

Is it that much to ask that a candidate for high office simply have sex only with their spouse while they're running for that office?

He had a cancer-stricken wife at home while he was out catting around. I hope she makes him pay big time every single day for the rest of her life for what he did to HER.

while I do feel that Elizabeth and her children were the most seriously wronged persons here, the rest of the country would have been a worse place with President McCain in the WH right now. And that's another place that Johnny's lies would have gotten us.

I'm with you, I hope she gets everything, and he has to live out of a cheap motel, but we know that's not happening.

the Edwards family, the baby and the mom.

Kids are born out of wedlock every day. Who cares? The kid is alive and healthy. What else matters? This is bs.

The president of Paraguay has had SEVERAL women claim him as the father of their child and his popularity wasn't hurt in the least. We're one uptight, nosy, judgmental people.

but I damned well guarantee you that the same effort you see in the birthers would have been directed at John Edwards had he been our nominee. And this time, there would have been something there.

The stakes are far too high for a man who is reckless to ask honest people for their votes towards bringing about change. That's what people admire about President Obama, he talks the talk AND walks the walk.

They're perfectly capable of inventing one. It's a wash, imo. Look at Palin and her fake victomhood.

but it's all those folks in the middle who can be swayed by either side who cause one side or the other to win or lose elections. Last time out, they saw a decent, honest man in Barack Obama, if they had the choice between philanderer John Edwards, and kooky ex-POW John McCain, well, things just might have been a bit different.

Glad we nominated the right person!

than with his smug, self-righteous condemnation of others guilty of the same thing. Let the vultures come home to roost for Johnny Boy.

didn't he have some shit to say about Clinton?

I think he was also against gay marriage, and spouted some religious belief / sacred bond of marriage shit as his excuse.

"I think this President has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen".

Blow it out yer ass, Johnny.

reality may suck, but the reality is that Mr. War Monger Edwards knew that.

of Edwards to let himself get even close to the nomination. It was reckless. I don't care that he had an affair--people do that sometimes. But he ran the risk of blowing the election for us. That sucks.

Thank our lucky stars that Obama won and Edwards never became a viable candidate. This would have been a total catastrophe.

Why would she get knocked up in those circumstances?

:shrug:

:wtf:

It's not just her fault.

This is waaaaaaaaay beyond that.

...retire in style.

JMHO

...:evilgrin:

Getting knocked up by a powerful and/or rich man gives power to the baby-momma. She could then extort him for a ton of money.

A smart man whose policies and statements on poverty I still admire, and who I will still admit I voted for in the primaries, fallen by his own personal failings. A modern Greek tragedy of sorts.

He could have made a great President, Vice President, or Attorney General had he not literally screwed up.

Because having an affair, and not claiming parternity, and lying about both numerous times, does not a smart man make.

and I don't mean the delicious jamaican dish here.

I believe my exact words were "under no circumstances would I buy a used car from this man."

who were downright nasty sometimes. I supported Kucinich for his health care policy and his foreign policy stance and it was disheartening to see others support Edwards because 'he had a better chance' although they really liked Kucinich. Edwards did succeed in drawing support from Kucinich :( and "crazy" ideas such as single-payer were marginalized, now we are looking at mandated insurance buying.

That was most definitely not the case.

There was nastiness going both ways...

and hopefully I was not one of them. I did post many links to his voting records and prior statements on a variety of topics and tried to keep the conversation civil, but that was not always easy when faced with less civil replies.

why I didn't trust him. I've never been swayed by just words. Besides, the man was an ambulance chaser.

my record for never being wrong when sizing people up still stands :D

speeches and voting record it was easier to question his honesty.

Good for you :)

...he's fucked.

I was really hoping he would have been attorney general someday, and possibly president. He threw it all away for nothing.

It's wrong and it never leads to anything good.

on edit, I feel for Elizabeth Edwards. She's got to be hurting something fierce.

NOT.

the reasons he gave for supporting the Iraq War were lawyer-bunk.

:(

I understand that affairs happen, I'm no prude nor am I entirely innocent.

John Edwards was an early favorite of mine in 2008. My problem is with his treatment of his wife. The guy just flat out lied, then when he couldn't cover up his infidelity any longer, he had to recruit Elizabeth to continue to live the lie and put her, with her cancer and all else, in an untenable position. She was forced to go along to a certain point. Then, Edwards suddenly dropped out. Many here at DU wondered what the hell and why?

EFerrari upthread mentioned what we all know to be the truth: that there is a lot of prurient interest in this matter disproportionate to the relevance. Right-wing nuts are obsessed with sex, so this will be a hot topic on the conservonut talking points list tomorrow. As she said, the kid is healthy and will be taken care of. I agree. So it shouldn't be a big deal and is just another example of America and it's hangups about sex and 'family values'. At least I think that's what she was getting at, I don't claim speak for her point of view but she makes a valid point.

Sheesh, I'm really torn on this one, but one thing is for sure: John Edwards really fucked up.

Let's keep moving.

some who achieve haven't been caught yet but they ALL do it, every last one of them

the faux outrage is ridiculous

the wives know what they're signing on for when they marry a politician

it's a fact of biology and it isn't going to change just because a politician happens to be on our side

a person can have sincere decent beliefs and still be a male with blood in his veins

our unrealistic expectations and silly ideas are causing us to snoop into something that's none of our business

the republicans stand by their adultering fucktards, no matter how terrible their policies or beliefs, but we're ready to drop the best of the best at the drop of a blowjob

we are crippling ourselves because we prefer to believe bullshit and pretend that men are angels

"don't cheat on your wife" is cheap advice from the cheap seats, from folks who have never had the opportunity or the crowds of admirers and apparently have unrealistic fantasies about what they themselves would do in that situation, i doubt anyone here on this thread is jesus christ, for that matter didn't jesus have mary magdalene? at the end of the day a man is a man and if he's surrounded by groupies, sex will happen

I feel nearly the same way. Truth be told, I would have preferred that Elizabeth were the candidate. She is one terrific lady and has the ability to explain complicated issues simply, but not simplistically. She is the one with the passion and the heart. Her husband . . . not so much.

I can not forgive John Edwards for humiliating and betraying her and us, his supporters. I am glad he was not the Democratic nominee. He said a lot of the right things about poverty, health care and the war in Iraq, but would have been neutered by his thoughtless actions. More importantly, he could have brought the Democratic Party down with him. He should have known that. If he didn't, he is delusional. If he did, he is a self-absorbed creep.

I wish Elizabeth only the best. She did not deserve this.

Moving on now.

That's next, right?

- it was just a matter of when.

How can you expose your wife, with a weak immune system, to potentially STD?

:crazy:

At least the child won't live in poverty, there is plenty of hedge money for all of Mr Edwards' baby mommas.

If she hasn't already, I hope Elizabeth can find peace through all this unjust chaos. It's her decision to stay or leave and to forgive or not to forgive obviously. May her decision(s) be the best for her.

when a) she knew about this affair and still continued to champion his candidacy; and b)when she trashed Rielle Hunter in her last book. Sure Rielle deserved it but she had to know there was at least a possibility that Hunter's child was half-sister to her own children.

This isn't your business and what you think really isn't important.:shrug:

One more lie.

Every child deserves recognition and support from the parents. Better late than never at all.

I'm glad he is admitting paternity. Disappointed that he couldn't keep it in his pants.

Or to their responsibility.

I'm not commenting on his infidelity, that's the personal business of those involved. But for gawd's sake, he should have at least tried to act like a grownup when the news broke. This is a political leader, you would think he would have the balls to admit the truth before this. And if he didn't know, then he shouldn't have been denying all over the place until he did know for certain.

I'm surprised he turned out to be such a weasel.



In a word: wimp.

I do feel a little sorry for Elizabeth, but about the same amount of sorry that I feel for Hillary.

and I always will.
The messenger is just a man--but the ideals are what is important.
I honestly don't give a shit if he fucks goats on the 3rd Sabbath of the new moon in the PETA parking lot.
It is HIS personal life. It belongs to him and Elizabeth. It is THEIR issue.
Not mine and I could really care less. :shrug:

Edwards.
So it isn't exactly shocking.

:rofl:

I heart Borowitz.

http://twitter.com/BorowitzReport

(He could have had "Billie Jean" during his denial, come to think of it!:rofl: )