Report: John Edwards' aides had plotted to sabotage his campaign over affair

 

Speculation and chatter continued over the weekend on the motivation(s) for the terminally ill Elizabeth Edwards to have written her new book, "Resillience," and gone out on the promotional trail knowing full well her underlying message of survival would be overshadowed by questions and talk about her husband's affair with a campaign videographer. (We can't say her name, but it rhymes with Rielle Hunter.)

Last week EE went on the Oprah show, which no one does to duck public attention, especially among women. (Some may recall that Oprah was a major Obama booster.) When asked if she loved her husband, EE said that answering that question was "complicated." And this morning Edwards will appear on the "Today Show," surely igniting more talk. Which, after all, is what a book promotion tour is about.

We now know, for example, that when John Edwards confessed the liaison to his wife a few days after the announcement of his presidential candidacy, he led his wife to believe it was a one-night stand.

Which might help answer questions as to why she would continue to support him publicly despite the personal anguish she describes in the book.

In fact, three months later when the couple called a news conference to announce that her cancer had returned but that the campaign would continue, the tape shows EE indicated to Oprah in passing that she still thought the affair was an over-nighter, rather than months-long.

Now, we learn in a fascinating blog post from ABC's George Stephanopoulos that what the wronged wife did or didn't do with that knowledge was likely moot.

Several Edwards' staffers have told the ABC host that only in December, two months after the initial heatedly denied National Enquirer expose, did senior Edwards aides begin doubting their boss's denials and believing that the affair reports were true.

As close-knit and intimate as traveling political campaigns are early, that strains credulity, suggesting that no one in those crowded charter jets ever noticed a single glance of accidental affection nor any surreptitious early-morning hallway tip-toeing between hotel rooms.

Anyway, they say that believing then that the Edwards candidacy had become a long-shot bid, they did nothing to force the issue. But they now claim to have secretly developed an ironic self-immolating "doomsday" strategy in case Edwards' campaign gained traction.

According to Stephanopoulos, as loyal Democrats protecting their party from an autumn disaster, they agreed to destroy the primary candidacy of their employer by surreptitiously leaking the scandal news if things got going well for the trial lawyer and ex-North Carolina senator. As presumably political opponents would have done come any general-election campaign involving Edwards.

One need not be a political novelist to imagine how history might differ had those suspicious aides acted immediately, allowing anti-Obama Democrats to coalesce behind Hillary Clinton before Barack Obama won the party's Iowa caucuses. Clinton finished third there. Edwards was runner-up, his best showing. She went on to win New Hampshire, which would have given her considerable momentum moving on.

Not that any marital partners anywhere would ever relish such a retributive thing, but the perverse beauty of such news is that now Edwards himself can spend the rest of his days wondering which of those long-trusted aides of his were the ones plotting behind his back to return his betrayal in kind.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Associated Press (The Edwards couple arrive at Ames, Iowa campaign rally New Years Day 2008, about the time suspicious Edwards aides were plotting to undermine any success he achieved.); Associated Press (Hunter films Edwards in New Hampshire).

Comments

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[Pom Pom Girl]

Edwards should be recalled from office. His wife on the other hand needs therapy.

[Sandra]

They all lie.....it is about keeping power and money.
I am sorry for this woman with the cancer and that terrible diagnosis...but I would have been done with him at the first knowledge of his affair...
As far as Hunter and Edwards are concened...they deserve each other. It the kids that should be the isseu here, but with all the sanctimoney and selfishness on all parts, the kids will become circus side shows.

[mike bennett]

this lady owes hillary clinton a HUGE apology.

[lestro]

What kind of bizarre reading of history is that?
What makes you think the Edwards voters were "anti-obama" voters and not "anti-hillary" voters?

given that the entire election was about "change" and that after edwards dropped out of the race his followers went in larger numbers to obama, how could you possibly suggest that edwards dropping earlier would have meant a hillary victory?
if anything, i think the data indicates that if edwards had dropped earlier, the primary season wouldn't have dragged on as long as it did because obama would have wrapped it up earlier.

think about it. that paragraph doesn't even make sense.

[Tim]

I'm pretty sure that Edwards' supporters were split 50/50 on Obama, so where does this crap about their having a possibly earth-shifting effect on Clinton come from? At best, it would have been a wash.

Do your homework.

[dee]

A big thumbs-up to those aides. It's unfortunate they hadn't acted earlier for a shoo-in Clinton presidency, as Hillary is far more mature and experienced in foreign and domestic policy, and far more presidential than Obama will ever be.

[Tracy]

"Edwards should be recalled from office. "

He's not in office, sweetie. Put down those pom-poms and read a newspaper.

[Dan]

Nice fact free reporting! Edwards supporters had Obama as their second choice by 2-1 in caucus night surveys. (check the AP article from 1/12/09). How in the world would Edwards dropping out have helped Clinton?

If anything, Edwards dropping out would have hurt Clinton, since the "change" vote would have coalesced around Obama.

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