Elizabeth Edwards Statement On Affair

Text of Elizabeth Edwards' statement about husband's admission of affair:

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Our family has been through a lot. Some caused by nature, some caused by human weakness, and some most recently caused by the desire for sensationalism and profit without any regard for the human consequences. None of these has been easy. But we have stood with one another through them all. Although John believes he should stand alone and take the consequences of his action now, when the door closes behind him, he has his family waiting for him.

John made a terrible mistake in 2006. The fact that it is a mistake that many others have made before him did not make it any easier for me to hear when he told me what he had done. But he did tell me. And we began a long and painful process in 2006, a process oddly made somewhat easier with my diagnosis in March of 2007. This was our private matter, and I frankly wanted it to be private because as painful as it was I did not want to have to play it out on a public stage as well. Because of a recent string of hurtful and absurd lies in a tabloid publication, because of a picture falsely suggesting that John was spending time with a child it wrongly alleged he had fathered outside our marriage, our private matter could no longer be wholly private. The pain of the long journey since 2006 was about to be renewed.

John has spoken in a long on-camera interview. Admitting one's mistakes is a hard thing for anyone to do. I am proud of the courage John showed by his honesty in the face of shame. The toll on our family of news helicopters over our house and reporters in our driveway is yet unknown. But now the truth is out, and the repair work that began in 2006 will continue. I ask that the public, who expressed concern about the harm John's conduct has done to us, think also about the real harm that the present voyeurism does and give me and my family the privacy we need at this time.

Comments

[gmontroy]

John Edwards' affair is now public with his admission of having an affair. My feelings of sorrow extend first to his family and then to so many who believe in him. The mainstream news media accepted McCain's denial of an affair with the Cindy McCain look alike. If the Republican operatives or McCain's surrogates try to exploit the Edward's affair, I hope an expose' of McCain relationship receives equal scruteny.

[eXcommunicate]

Oh come on now!!! This is drivel! Because a man had an affair 2 years ago that man can't fight for the working people of this country? Does this affect the MESSAGE with which John tried to reach out to the American people? Does this mean his visits to New Orleans, both to start and end his campaign, are worthless now??? Grow up people.

[ladeyday]

She's a fraud.

[ItHasToGetBetter]

Agreed. I guess focusing on this is better than dealing with important things that actually affect people's lives. If you wave the toy, the people look at it instead of what's going on that they really SHOULD care about.

[w8aminute]

Honestly, I've never been an Edwards fan - but how can this be a bigger story than the Russia/Georgia conflict/war and the lives that have been lost and the consequences that are at stake? I just don't get it - he'll neither be the first nor the last to have 'sinned' in this way. I was at one of my favorite bars tonight and Fox was on all of the TVs, and all they showed was this. If they are the bonafide 'terrorism' network, how can THIS be the top never-ending story?

[BlueEyes08]

Among the chief reasons people read NE is the fact that gossip make us feel good in two levels: 1. Gossip is a form of psychological cannibalism. 2. It make us feel morally superior, since there are people doing ¨worse¨ things around us. In Edwards case, we are all enriched by an incredible Elizabeth who gives a good name to love, family, politics, health care, and true moral leadership.