John Edwards

John Edwards (former and at one point possible future vice-presidential nominee) has admitted to having an affair with a woman of questionable history. (to quote the Telegraph "Earlier this week, the novelist Jay McInerney, a former boyfriend, claimed that Miss Hunter was the inspiration for Alison Poole, the 'cocaine-addled, sexually voracious' lead character in his book Story of My Life, published in 1988")

In response to the story, Edwards' wife Elizabeth says

"I am proud of the courage John showed by his honesty in the face of shame."

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Surely courage would have been to make the story public (and not by burying it in the news that his wife's cancer was back either) before the press got hold of it. Instead, Edwards denied it for nine months, and admitted it only because the National Enquirer got hold of some incriminating photos.

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Edwards is to take a paternity test, but this is essentially froth. Having lied to the public for so long, Edwards must surely have now proven himself unsuitable for high office

Update:

It seems the mother has ruled out a paternity test.