I truly don't understand why he lied about it for so long. I understand lying when he thought he still had a chance at the Presidency- but why continue lying after? Or is he so deluded that he thought he still HAD a chance at a career in public service until now?

Good questions, all, TPS. I am so disappointed in him, and I feel so bad for his wife (who recently opened up a darling little furniture store in downtown Chapel Hill, so it's good to see she is being productive and active with her life). He has gone from being one of the good guys, (hello, Center on Poverty at UNC?) to being just one of those commonplace, run of the mill lying cheaters. And that is his legacy, what a stupid man.

Why why why do they never think they will get found out?

There comes a time to recognize that the Democratic Party and Republican Party are part of the same corrupted entity. There comes a time to recognize that the Democratic Party's agenda is not only ruinous in itself, unworthy of the support of anyone who cares about justice, peace, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – it is also empowering those very same loathsome and dangerous Republicans. There comes a time for even the most partisan tribalist (and I have been one) to accept the hard judgment of reality: that the Democratic Party is part of the problem, not the solution.

A former Edwards aide, Andrew Young, initially claimed paternity of the child shortly before the 2008 presidential primary contests began. Young is scheduled to release a book on Feb. 2 that details the scandal.

Well, there you go. This pretty much explains anything I'd ever, ever want to know about the whole situation, then and now. How courageous of Edwards to come forward several days before his paternity is "outed." Dreamy!

Or is he so deluded that he thought he still HAD a chance at a career in public service until now?

There's that other book that's just coming out now too. In it, Edwards was portrayed as delusionally believing he still had a shot at AG or something well after the news of the affair came out.

I think admitting it now is way too little too late. But, even though he really sucks at damage control, it probably seemed like it was finally time to do some.

An excerpt of the Edwards bit was posted on Metafilter. It was a fascinating read. Dude's sleazy.

Not to deny the man's sleaziness in any way, but I imagine he did still think he had a chance for more public office -- if that's your dream, and you've come so close, it's pretty hard to admit to yourself that it ain't ever gonna happen. The brain will do all kinds of things to keep from acknowledging that.

I think there's a vast gulf between "one of the good guys" and "just one of those commonplace, run of the mill lying cheaters." I'm not saying any of his choices were ones I would have made, but a lot of people make promises they don't keep and lie about fucking up their personal lives while still being good at their jobs. But with public people, everything personal is public, so a breach of personal trust is tantamount to a breach of public trust. Like most people, Edwards is in some ways a jerk. Finally admitting to a bigtime personal fuck-up doesn't necessarily change his politics or his devotion to public service.

I hear you Hugh Janus, I truly do. The thing for me is, though, that part of this man's charm as a politician with Aspirations is the very person that he betrayed. Elizabeth and their family are a large part of his public persona and appeal. Three months. THREE MONTHS after Elizabeth comes forward with the news that her cancer has advanced, he takes up with this woman (that sounds weird), carries on an affair, lies about it to his wife, fathers a child with this woman, lies about it to his wife, then denies paternity for NEARLY TWO YEARS. So yeah, the breach of personal trust carried on so publicly is a breach in public trust. He just seems sleezy and tainted now, a progressive Mark Sanford, to a certain degree. He is going to have difficulty recovering from this politically, and I hope he can continue to do good work behind the scenes, but a lot of people must be questioning his integrity right now - publicly and privately.