Thread: What a scum bag.

I cant believe I almost voted for this man. Why the heck has he been denying this for so long.



What a creep!





Edwards admits fathering child with mistress

Former presidential candidate promises to support his 2-year-old daughter

NBC NEWS EXCLUSIVE

By Lisa Myers and Michael Austin

TODAY

updated 4:25 a.m. PT, Thurs., Jan. 21, 2010

For the first time, John Edwards is publicly admitting that he is indeed the father of a 2-year-old daughter conceived with Rielle Hunter, a campaign videographer with whom he had an affair.



In a written statement provided exclusively to NBC News, the former North Carolina senator and Democratic presidential candidate says he’s taking responsibility for the child, Frances Quinn Hunter:



“I am Quinn’s father. I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves. I have been able to spend time with her during the past year and trust that future efforts to show her the love and affection she deserves can be done privately and in peace.



It was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter and hopefully one day, when she understands, she will forgive me. I have been providing financial support for Quinn and have reached an agreement with her mother to continue providing support in the future.



To all those I have disappointed and hurt these words will never be enough, but I am truly sorry.”



Harrison Hickman, Edwards’ close friend and personal advisor, spoke to NBC’s Lisa Myers on Edwards’ behalf.



“The senator wants to say, first of all, that he is the father of Quinn,” Hickman said. “Secondly, he wants people to know that he has provided for her and will continue to provide for her, as he should, both financially and emotionally.”



Edwards is not speaking publicly today, at least in part because of an ongoing federal investigation into whether campaign money was used to try to cover up the affair. He has denied wrongdoing. Hickman said that Edwards wanted to be honest about his child, but also wanted to protect his privacy.



“He’s not doing this as a way to try to bring attention to himself,” Hickman said. “He’s doing this as a way … to begin to put this behind, not just him, but everybody else who’s been affected by this.”



Edwards' attorneys say he's been seeing Quinn and providing financial support for about a year, and just signed a child support agreement with Hunter. A spokesperson for Elizabeth Edwards says she learned last summer that Quinn is her husband's child.



Why wait more than two years to publicly admit paternity?



“He has acknowledged it long before now. The reason it has taken so long for it to become public is that there were a lot of people involved,” Hickman said. “There are a lot of adults involved, there are a number of families involved, and there are also a lot of kids involved.”



Fall of the man who sought presidency

Today’s announcement marks another chapter in the fall of a man once considered a leading candidate for president. Edwards’ personal and political troubles began after the tabloid National Enquirer began reporting in October 2007 on his affair with Hunter, now 45.





Edwards, who has been married to breast cancer survivor Elizabeth for 32 years, denied the affair at first. He called the claims “tabloid trash that’s full of lies.”



In 2008, after his failed presidential bid, Edwards eventually confirmed to ABC News that he had had an affair with Hunter, but he vehemently denied that he was the father of Hunter’s child.



“I know that it's not possible that this child could be mine because of the timing of events,” Edwards told ABC News at the time.



Now Hickman says, “I do not know if he knew it was his daughter at the time, but I know he lied when he said it was not possible … I think he is certainly regretful of that.”



Edwards’ admission today also indicates that his relationship with Hunter continued months after his wife announced that her cancer had returned and that it was incurable.



Elizabeth Edwards is still undergoing cancer treatment and makes occasional appearances about health care. Last summer she opened a furniture shop in Chapel Hill, N.C., not far from the family’s mansion.



“Elizabeth thinks he should acknowledge this,” Hickman said. “It's been a very difficult time for everyone, but for Elizabeth, I think, more than anyone else, it's been a difficult time."



Hickman said Edwards wanted to “do the right thing” and come clean in the summer of 2008, but that he couldn’t bring himself to do so.



“It was complicated … certainly more complicated than I knew,” Hickman explained. “He had to be able to talk to Elizabeth about it. He had to be able to talk to Rielle about it. He had to talk to, us (and) his children about it. He had to deal with legal issues involving support for the child.”



Once the legal issues were resolved, Hickman said, Edwards “wanted to move forward immediately with letting people know about it.”



Hickman said he didn’t know that status of Edwards’ relationships with Hunter or his wife, but other family friends say John and Elizabeth have separated, at least for now, but still talk on a regular basis.



Edwards bought a house for Quinn and her mother to live in in Charlotte, N.C., more than two hours away from his home in Chapel Hill. Now, Hickman said, the former senator is trying to stay out of the public spotlight and focus his energy on family and doing good deeds like helping the poor.



Hickman says that for Edwards, Quinn has the same status as the three children he has with Elizabeth.



“He talks about her being a beautiful child and a happy child,” said Hickman. “I think he’s very proud of this child. I think he’s proud of all of his children. I think, you know, today he’s glad to be able to say publicly that he is.”



'He wants to be a good father'

Edwards’ admission comes on the heels of the political expose “Game Change” by journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, which sent shock waves around Washington, D.C., with its account of the 2008 presidential election. A portion of the book, which ran in New York magazine, dealt with intimate details of Edwards’ affair and his strained relationship with his wife.



The admission also comes in advance of a tell-all book by Andrew Young, a former Edwards campaign worker who originally claimed to be the father of Hunter’s child.



But Hickman says that the book had no bearing on Edwards’ decision to go public.



“I don’t know that anything that it says could be any worse than things that have already been written by the marginal press,” he said.



Americans consider Edwards the “most disappointing” public figure, according to Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll results released in December 2009.



When asked about Edwards’ reaction the poll, Hickman said, “If anybody knows that he’s been a disappointment, it’s John Edwards … He knows saying he's sorry isn't enough, but he is incredibly remorseful about the pain he's caused people … He wants to be a good father and, you know, be a good person again.”



Tune in to Friday’s TODAY as Lisa Myers takes a look at the federal investigation of Edwards’ campaign funds and Andrew Young, the former aide who once claimed to be the father of Rielle Hunter’s child.



Vidya Rao produced this story for TODAYshow.com







© 2010 MSNBC Interactive. Reprints

URL: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/349637...ple/?GT1=43001







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© 2010 MSNBC.com







What a creeper! He knew from day 1 that baby was his but put career & presidendial bid over her life. What a creep.

[quote name='Gypsy' date='21 January 2010 - 10:23 AM' timestamp='1264087424' post='102613']

I voted for Edwards back in 2004. He was my senator and I supported him. As I have stated before, he did many good things for the people of NC that never made the papers or the 6PM news. The first time I met him, I thought of something my oldest friend would say of my ex, "He thinks he's too good looking to be monogamous". I tried to brush it off, but it was there. Bottom line was, he was helping my best friend during a horrible time and that was all that mattered to me.

His young daughter is cared for and at two years old, she will be fine. What he has done, not only to his children, wife and parents is what is unforgivable.

[/quote]



I tend to want to separate his political life from his personal life. I think if we are going to go down that road, guys like Ensign, Vitter and Craig should be out also.



Strom Thurmond got his 16 year old maid pregnant when he was 22 and the secret was kept until after his death.



Did it make him an unfit Senator?

[quote name='webrockk' date='21 January 2010 - 11:02 AM' timestamp='1264089751' post='102626']

Since the lionshare of politics is conducted out of the view of public scrutiny, how would one ever know if they are unfit...until, of course they're exposed?



IMO, ethics and integrity failings in ones personal life should send up a huge, flashing neon 'danger' sign, as the trip from the house to the office is far too short a drive for a magical transformation to occur every morning.

[/quote]



Then why isn't anyone calling for the heads of the three Senators who have committed adultery and are still in their seats? Apparently the Republicans feel their guys can keep their sexual misconduct seperate from their work.

[quote name='Blueneck' date='21 January 2010 - 11:05 AM' timestamp='1264089901' post='102631']

Then why isn't anyone calling for the heads of the three Senators who have committed adultery and are still in their seats? Apparently the Republicans feel their guys can keep their sexual misconduct seperate from their work.

[/quote]

What galls is is how, in this modern age, he could have possibly hoped to keep such a story under wraps while holding one of the highest-profile positions on earth.

I am reminded of Bob Dole's comment about Bill Clinton:

"If his own wife can't trust him why should you trust him?"



I think integrity matters. The infidelity itself is a personal matter between the people in the relationship. If they can get past it then so can I, but not without doubts regarding the person's makeup. In fact, I think Hillary was a gutless/manipulative loser for putting up with Bill. I'd be saddened and a little ashamed if my daughter put up with the serial infidelity just to maintain "her position".



But if a public figure constantly and conspicuously lies about stuff to his "employers", the voters, then they should be fired. If I lied to my boss over and over again I'd get canned.

[quote name='Djinn' date='21 January 2010 - 11:22 AM' timestamp='1264090935' post='102647']

What galls is is how, in this modern age, he could have possibly hoped to keep such a story under wraps while holding one of the highest-profile positions on earth.

[/quote]



Well, I'm certainly not going to defend the level of denial he must have been in to even consider a campaign with this kind of scandal looming.



I just don't understand the randomness of the outrage over adultery in general when it comes to politicians. And if it turned out the best guy for the job cheated on his wife, I personally don't think that should take him out of the running.



Let's just imagine we found out that Ronald Reagan had been a philanderer. Those that thought he was a great president (not me, but I'm just sayin&#39 probably wouldn't change their opinion of his presidency.



I don't think most people would credit the accomplishments of any president to his having been a good husband, so why assume he would be a crummy president if were a bad husband?