BTW, no sarcasm on Scoble's fame. It's truly impressive and I'm proud that he's a blogger and that I know him. - Dave Winer

Dave: If I may ask, what sort of new perspective can this person offer? IMHO, John Edwards is no longer relevant. (his personal life) - Mona Nomura

IMO, John Edwards' personal life isn't relevant, even if he is. - Anthony Citrano

Mona, I don't know. - Dave Winer

Of course it's relevant Anthony. If Edwards had been the dem nominee I'd be deciding between the cranky old guy and the guy who had an affair while his wife was dying of cancer.... - Tad, Anti-Immanentizer

If you mean me, I'm still waiting to hear back from my Dad, but in the meantime, I decided that I am very pissed off at JRE - he put his own personal ego way above the good of the world. I just cant even fathom how he could go so far when the steaks are so high. Had he become elected the nominee and then people found out, Mccain might have won and the amount of damage it would do the world is just unfathomable. Hard to imagine a more selfish act. - Andrew Baron

Like for Andrew's comment above. - Morgan

And Scoble does video a whole lot better than her ;) - Kevin OKeefe

the key is "someone else in the blogging community who is connected to this affair" - did this blogger have info of the affair before it went MSM or not ? thats the key question. then that opens a can of worms on blogger ethics etc. Nope, I agree with Mona, JE is no longer relevant - at all !! - Peter Dawson

This is also why I dont want want to be involved in politics. Im glad people are and that they enjoy it, esp. when its for the greater good, but I just dont want to live my life everyday thinking about who I can trust, and who Im fighting. - Andrew Baron

I should have specified, John Edwards' personal life is no longer relevant, to me. @Tad: My position is, the affair was made public, end of story. Do I need to know more about the affair? Would that give me further insight on John Edwards?? Am I missing something?? - Mona Nomura

"I've been wondering whether I shoudl say anything about it" -- Surprise! You just did! - Nathan Rein

Sorry Tad, I don't buy it. It's between his wife and him. I've never believed voters should insert themselves into marriages or other personal relationships. Seems so very 17th-century Puritan to me. - Anthony Citrano

+1 Anthony. - David Worrell

@Anthony, it's only relevant if the person in question puts his moral standards up as something to measure his political credibility against. Most of them do. I don't know if Edwards has, but if he ever has, then him having an extra-marital affair (especially under the conditions in which it occurred) is definitely something relevant to his political career. Whether his political career itself is still relevant is still a subjective matter, obviously. - Lindsay is :)

Andrew, yup you're the guy I meant. - Dave Winer

@Lindsay Yea, this isnt just personal, he outright lied about it. - Andrew Baron

Edwards bought the ticket and is taking the freak show ride. Meanwhile a rock n roll photographer is selling prints of her work to pay for her daughter's brain surgery and - so far - it's getting hardly any notice. Check it out, this woman needs help. http://everybodyishotisdead.blogspot.com/2008... - Dave Martin

But Lindsay, my point is, the affair was made public, what more do we need to know? It seems as though the voters have already made up their minds about him. - Mona Nomura

Everyone here's the background. Andrew's father is Fred Baron: http://bit.ly/13FOTk - Dave Winer

Ahem people cancer does many things to a relationship, emotions, and mental states..IT IS NONE OF F"ING BUSINESS>>PERIOD! GET IT YET! Leave the Edwards family to deal with in their way..are you people really that un-caring and UN HUMAN? - Fred Grott

I'm pissed off and disappointed in Edwards, too, but I am really disappointed at how quick the Dems are to throw him under the bus. Yah, he f'ed up and we should all be pissed, but are we seriously ready to throw out his important voice because of an indiscretion? In my mind, he still embodies morality and family values more than any of his Republican contemporaries. He's owning up to it and he remains committed to his marriage. That ought to count for something. - Sarah

@Tad -"If Edwards had been the dem nominee " - yes I agree. BUT (a) that is history now. He stepped down (b) his moral standards have come to light and (c) his political credibility has varnished. Hes Done. He committed political suicide. And that's generally what happens when a man of official rank does these sort of things. ITs happened before and it will happen again. But once the truth is known what more is left ? - Peter Dawson

@Fred Edwards said his ego blew up because of the attention he was getting and that he became "egocentric and narcissistic" - and he lied about it to people. Thus, JRE does not a good candidate make. When you run for President, the activity of your personal family life says everything about how you will treat people who you love and care about, so what about the people who are not as close? Typically much worse. - Andrew Baron

Sarah: This country attempted impeachment for an extra marital affair... - Mona Nomura

@Mona, I agree... to me his politcal career is no longer relevant. I was just pointing out that if it WERE still relevant and he had used his moral values as a factor in his political career then the affair would be relevant to his career. Personally, I don't really care what he does... it's his business unless he's chastised others for the same behavior. Then he deserves the negative attention for being a hypocrite (if that's the case... I don't know...). - Lindsay is :)

I find it interesting that so many men are so pissed at him, and that I'm defending an alduterer. Wow, you guys are really harsh, seriously throwing the baby out with the bathwater. So many men have done worse in their professional lives and yet have been recognized for the importance of their work and thus forgiven. Jeez, y'all. Ever heard of forgiveness and redemption? People are capable of reforming themselves. - Sarah

I wonder if Robert has throught about selling that picture. I'm sure some news agency would be interested in it. Then again, I don't think he'd do that. I've never met a blogger that has been in a similar situation that did. - JohnBfromMemphis

Mona: I know, and it was not only attempted, it was successful. And that was completely stupid. Why doesn't this country focus on real politics and issues that actually effect people? - Sarah

I have a hard time understanding all the "what if"fers. How can you go about your life what ifing? Secondly, IF he were up against McCain it would make the playing field fair. HELLO! How do you think John and Cindy came about. It was an extramarital affair! That's why his camp is not waying in on this. - Adrienne Van Houten

Perhaps it could be that he got caught? John Edwards is certainly not the first, nor the last, to have an affair. I agree with you, Sarah, his policies are more important to me, than his personal life. @Lindsay: I didn't qualify my first statement to avoid confusion - my fault -. I merely wanted to say, his affair is no longer relevant. - Mona Nomura

Wow did I just read this==>> "he still embodies morality and family values more than any of his Republican contemporaries. He's owning up to it and he remains committed to his marriage. That ought to count for something. ". are you saying ok he made a mistake, he 'fessed up ,now lets give him another chance - then its ok. To me, he embodies lies, deceit , zero standards on moral let alone ethics..and is a 2 faced to boot. No I liked the bugger, but after this , nada !! - Peter Dawson

Andrew: yeah, it is not the sex for me, it is the hypocricy. He blasted Clinton for his behavior, yet did the same thing. Agree with your analysis. It reminds me again that the chances you will really know the truth about someone by hanging out with them for two days is pretty small. Thanks Dave! - Robert Scoble

@Sarah, I agree. As a regular family man, Im glad he told Elizabeth and that they can work though this. I'd hope the same for anyone. Thats their family business. However, when it comes to holding a particular office, you cant lie to everyone, continue to deny it, then speak up only after they catch you running away down the hall. - Andrew Baron

Right on, Fred! I think that the cancer diagnosis can't be overstated. Family health crises can drive people to make really bad personal decisions, and no one should judge. And everyone should learn to forgive, and find some compassion for gosh sakes! And more importantly, everyone should keep their noses out of other people's private business. - Sarah

all my photos are in the public domain. I didn't get paid by the AP. - Robert Scoble

Dave: there is one other person involved. Edwards spoke at Pirillo's conference and Joe Trippi was an adviser of Edwards. - Robert Scoble

So when it comes to personal activities, it's NOT ok to lie. But it's ok to mislead a country and start a war? - Mona Nomura

@Peter, yup, that's exactly what I said, and I mean every word of it. A person becomes stronger by learning from their mistakes. Edwards lied, to be sure, but he's owning up now and in my mind showing that he is choosing to follow a path to redemption. He still needs to earn that forgiveness, but I'm willing to give him that chance. I think others should, too. - Sarah

@Mona: Excellent question! - Sarah

So Andrew's dad is how Rocketboom got access to Edwards for the trip and plane? Last week Valleywag reported on Dad funding Rocketboom. - Bob Murterz

"it's ok to mislead a country and start a war?" , apparently it seems to be ok. after all the Citizens did elect him for a second term and nobody seems to want an impeachment !! - Peter Dawson

@Bob I was likely trusted by the JRE campaign because of my Dad, but in 2004 I established a relationship with their online dept myself. And Im pretty proud of that actually. I was somewhat of a non-offical advisor. I was then trying to help the campaign with their video efforts for the 2008 election and was often asked what I thought of Hunters videos - to which I always replied that I didn't think they were very effective. With regards to the trip, the online dept wanted videobloggers to cover it and asked Rocketboom (so I asked Chuck on our behalf) and I also recommended Scoble. Rocketboom's relationship to JRE was often disclosed on Rocketboom and I always spoke freely about my Dad to people, like Dave for instance. - Andrew Baron

@ mona, Sarah Agreed. I think this why is there is such a drought in good leadership. What qualified person would ever want to put themselves through that type of invasion of privacy and the possible ensuing circus. This is such a distraction from the truly important things. - m.0

It's more about poor judgment and hypocrisy than the actual affair IMO. If I understand the timeline right, less than three months after the affair, he launched his campaign for the Presidency and made the narrative of his strong family life an integral part of his campaign. If you position yourself as someone who has had struggles with your marriage and then news of an affair gets out, it is not news. If you position yourself as the ultimate family man and then news of an affair gets out, you look like a liar and a tool. - Rachel Luxemburg

@mona Now that's the questions we should be asking instead of being wagged by the media on irrelevent issues like JRE's affair. - Jim McCusker

Update: I just spoke with my dad. He said that he had no knowledge whatsoever of John Edwards affair and just learned about it for the first time about 2 weeks ago. - Andrew Baron

wow, just read this and the whole thing seem so unreal and sad...truly tragic. - Susan Beebe