Why the John Edwards Story Matters

A close relative of mine has been smoking for years, though she thinks no one knows. Of course everyone knows. And that's the case with John Edwards, former presidential candidate. So fascinated he is with himself that he continues to perpetuate the likely lie that he is not the father of Rielle Hunter's baby. Perhaps that will change soon.

But why does this story matter to us? Russell Moore, in an excellent post, tells us why:

It matters because it highlights, first of all, a key cause of the poverty Sen. Edwards once commendably made a central aspect of his presidential campaign. Numberless children wake up in grinding poverty because their fathers are “deadbeat dads” just like (if the story is true) Edwards, just without the means to secretly transfer funds for child support.

In admitting the affair, Edwards tells us he fell due to his narcissism. He started to see himself as “special,” and exempt from the boundaries of marriage and fatherhood. Of course he did. So does the impoverished teenage boy who skips town when his girlfriend sees two pink lines. So does the middle-aged mid-level success story who offers $300 to his paramour to “put it all behind us.”

Former Edwards aides are stunned by his recklessness. He was willing to put the Democratic Party’s entire electoral fortunes at risk. What, they ask, if he had won the nomination before this story broke? But every man drunk on the buzz of hormonal desire and ego-stroking is just as reckless, just relative to whatever he has.

Edwards risked more than his career or his party or even his country. He risked, if the stories are true, his little daughter’s very identity.

And that’s where it matters to us. Because no matter how many jokes are made about the “Brek Girl candidate,” we’re all vulnerable here.

Whole thing.