The John Edwards' Affair

Mickey Kaus has noted how hard the mainstream media is working to ignore John Edwards' affair with a campaign staffer.

Of course, he does have his work cut out for him if he's going to make up ground on that hero of the Democratic Party, Bill Clinton.

After reading this, I can manage a measure of sympathy for the man.

Senator Edwards’ lows seem to coincide with his wife’s silly, Drudge-worthy sound bites. Here’s a sampling of Mrs. Edwards sending her husband’s campaign into oblivion (dates listed are when comments were first reported):

- October 6, 2006: “[Hillary Clinton] and I are from the same generation. We both went to law school and married other lawyers, but after that, we made other choices. I think my choices have made me happier. I think I'm more joyful than she is.”

- April 11, 2007: Calls North Carolina neighbor “slummy” and “rabid, rabid Republican.”

- July 17, 2007: “[S]ometimes you feel you have to behave as a man and not talk about women's issues. I’m sympathetic – [Hillary Clinton] wants to be commander in chief. But she's just not as vocal a women's advocate as I want to see. John is. She’s just not as vocal a women's advocate as I want to see. John is.”

- August 6, 2007 : “We can't make John black, we can't make him a woman. Those things get you a lot of press, worth a certain amount of fundraising dollars.”

- October 4, 2007: “My classmates went to Vietnam, [Rush Limbaugh] did not. He was 4F. He had a medical disability, the same medical disability that probably should have stopped him from spending a lifetime in a radio announcer’s chair; but it is true, isn’t it? If he has an inoperable position that allows him not to serve, presumably it should not allow him to sit for long periods of time the way he does. I think this is a serious enough offense for the people who fund him, who buy ads and allow him to be on the air…”

On the other hand, maybe he's just part of that small, scummy subset of the population who dump their spouse after a cancer diagnosis.

Update: Just a reminder that the National Enquirer was recently purchased my Ron Burkle, a very wealthy friend of the Clintons.

At the time I wondered if he wasn't watching Hillary's backside. The Enquirer beat the "real news media" to a lot of scandal stories involving the Clintons back in the 1990's and wouldn't it be convenient if a friend of the family was making sure that those stories didn't appear at inopportune moments during Hillary's campaign. I didn't consider at the time that Burkle/Clinton might use the tabloids to attack Hillary's rivals. Look out Obama!

Update: I'm not the only one who smells the Clinton smear machine.

Update 2: Caught!