The Edwards affair/mitsress/love child story threatens to finally explode into the MSM with reports that Democrats expect him to address the issue within the next couple of weeks or take the chance of not being able to speak at the Democratic National Convention.
From the News Observer:
With two weeks before their national convention, several prominent Democrats are saying Edwards must publicly address anonymously sourced National Enquirer stories that claim he had an affair with a campaign worker and fathered her baby.
Democrats gather in Denver on Aug. 25 and Edwards, as the 2004 vice presidential nominee and a presidential candidate who won delegates this year, ordinarily would be a speaker.
Instead some Democrats say convention organizers will try to avoid the lingering questions if Edwards himself doesn’t talk.
“He absolutely does have to [resolve it]. If it’s not true, he has to issue a stronger denial,” said Gary Pearce, the Democratic strategist who ran Edwards’ 1998 Senate race. “It’s a very damaging thing. ... The big media has tried to be responsible and handle this with kid gloves, but it’s clearly getting ready to bust out. If it’s not true, he’s got to stand up and say, ‘This is not true. That is not my child and I’m going to take legal action against the people who are spreading these lies.’ It’s not enough to say, ‘That’s tabloid trash.’ ”
McClatchy:
If Edwards fails to clear up the story in short order, he risks party officials deciding not to have him speak or, if they do, creating a distraction from a week focused on Barack Obama accepting the nomination.
"If there is not an explanation that’s satisfactory, acceptable and meets high moral standards, the answer is 'no,' he would not be a prime candidate to make a major address to the convention," said Don Fowler, a former Democratic National Committee chair.
John Edwards has prayed that if he just ignored this whole thing, it would go away, but with the photos now released showing he was at the Hotel, whether the one holding the baby is accurate or not, it is pretty much a given with the confirmation of hotel security, that he was at least there, he needs to step up and either denounce the story and sue the National Enquirer if he can prove they are telling false tales, or admit it and be done with it.
It isn't going to go away and the sooner he deals with it, one way or another, the sooner the firestorm will die away.
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