It’s official: ABC News reported on Friday that John Edwards repeatedly lied during his presidential campaign about an extramarital affair with 44-year-old Rielle Hunter, a novice filmmaker.
Roger L. Simon: “Hot Air says Edwards is ready to take a paternity test. Given this language, I’m not so sure.”
Jennifer Rubin: “For starters, we learn and relearn, forget and learn again that verbal acuity does not translate into high morals.”
Richard Miniter: “It’s Okay, He Didn’t Love Her”
The Volokh Conspiracy: “When his word is worth less than that of a supermarket tabloid, it’s an indication of how far he has fallen.”
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Taylor Marsh: “Politicians never learn. It’s always the lie that gets you in the end. The arrogance.”
Ed Driscoll: “This sounds more like behavior more at home with a rock group on tour passing a favored groupie from musician to musician than (presumed) adults trying to position their man to run for the most powerful office in the land.”
TigerHawk: “While it is obviously easy to condemn Edwards for cheating on his sick wife and putting his political party in great jeopardy and I normally delight in piling on with the rest of the righties, this once I am going to refrain.”
Cenk Uygur: “I want every pundit who condemns John Edwards today to tell me what the difference between him and McCain is and why John McCain shouldn’t also be run out of politics for his adulterous affairs and what he did to his first wife.”
Kevin Drum: “Mainstream Media, You may now begin covering this story.”
Politico: John Edwards’ statement
Patterico’s Pontifications: “So let me get this straight — he claims he ended his affair with Hunter over 9 months previous to February 2008, and that he previously admitted the affair to his wife. Yet for some reason, he still saw fit to visit her at a Beverly Hills hotel at 2:30AM last month and didn’t bother to tell his wife this time.”
Micky Kaus: “Edwards: I Lied. Can I Go to Denver Now?”
OddCulture: “Stick a fork in John Edwards. He’s done.”
Marc Ambinder: “According to people close to the Edwardses, Elizabeth Edwards has secured a primetime speaking role at the Democratic National Convention; John Edwards, as of this point, does not, and people close to him think he will beg off and not attend the convention so as not to distract Obama.”
Gawker: “The second ABC announced Brian Ross was on the case, you knew this was coming.”
Roger L. Simon: “There is no reason to believe anything he has said. That he claims not to be the father of the child without taking a paternity test is laughable.”
A Blog For All: “Oh, like it makes a difference that John didn’t love Rielle? He broke his marriage vows to Elizabeth, and it makes him look like a shameless huckster to try and carry off as though he was the family man even as his family knew he strayed.”
Hot Air: “Obvious question: If the affair ended so long ago that he couldn’t be the father of a child born in February of this year, what’s he doing sneaking out to a hotel late at night to visit his old girlfriend?”
Don Surber: “Two Americas: 1. Honest decent people. 2. Liars.”
Ross Douthat: “The Remission Defense”
Byron York: “For all those reporters who have suddenly become interested in Edwards: It’s a money story now.”
TalkLeft: “Kind of gutsy for him to launch a presidential bid knowing this was in his background. Was he thinking if Rudy Giuliani could get away with it, so could he?”
My Pet Jawa: “Makes Larry Craig look like a decent guy by comparison.”
Tom Maguire: “Does this admission let enough air out of the balloon that the media go away (as if they had really even arrived — I can’t wait to see the NY Times non-coverage of this.) I doubt it.”
Jonathan Martin: “He almost wasn’t certainly going to be tapped as Obama’s running mate, but this likely eliminates the prospect of a cabinet post, too.”
The Stump: “The coming wave of debate about the relevance of a candidate’s extramarital affairs may be an unwelcome development for the McCain team.”
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