Does John Edwards have a mistress and an out-of-wedlock child? +++UPDATED+++

I generally ignore stories that come out of the tabloids, but this one is somewhat interesting.  John Edwards was surprised by National Enquirer reporters/photographers in the early hours of the morning, in the lobby of a Beverly Hills hotel.

That in itself could be explained away, had Edwards not hidden in the hotel bathroom for 15 minutes, before hotel security ushered him out.  His actions look more like a guilty man, than a man visiting a friend.  At 2 a.m.  In a hotel.

This article wonders why the MSM isn't on the story.

If Edwards is guilty of extra-marital indiscretions, should he be subjected to the same type of scrutiny and ridicule as Larry Craig was?

+++UPDATE+++

BusinessWeek weighs in on the story.  The comments section are the most interesting to me, as there are some good point-counterpoint arguments in there.  Make sure to check it out.

Comments

[piker62]

Well, I'll point this out - Edwards doesn't head several committees seeking to limit heterosexual activity. So the "lack of media scrutiny" you mention may have something to do with the boring lack of irony.

Also the story was broken by the Enquirer, and you generally want to take a pause to check your sources before passing something like that along.

[Madeline's Dad]

Edwards did make his family, and rallying around his sick wife a central point of his campaign, so there is a bit of irony involved.

I'll grant you that Craig was arrested, while Edwards "only" appears to be an adulterer, but it doesn't change that both men are (alledgedly) violating what they "preach".

I'll also agree about the Enquirer being the source, but they were the ones that first suggested a "love child", causing the Edwards Campaign to scramble to "out" his married friend as the father. What I find interesting isn't so much the "gotcha", as much as Edwards reaction, hiding in the bathroom, until help arrived.

His actions don't appear to be that of an innocent man, do they?

[piker62]

Dude's pretty good-lookin' - I'd be surprised if he WASN'T having an affair. Then again, as a public figure, he may have been hiding in an attempt to avoid misinterpretation of an innocent situation.

Yeah, I doubt it too.

[Madeline's Dad]

I'll play the Mike Tyson rape defense argument. You may or may not recall that when Tyson raped the beauty queen contestant, she was going to his hotel room at 2:00 in the morning.

The Tyson defense was essentially, she knew what she was doing, going to a hotel room at 2:00.

If it looks like a duck, and walks lie a duck..