hmmm...I only have a second but just had to add my two cents....lol
from what I have read I really feel he paid her off (TOW)
Because he gave her a lot of $$, and becasue she wont take baby for DNA testing...I also think he paid the guy who claims to be the baby's father off as well (so he would claim to be babys father).....I am glad he got busted, I feel horrible for his wife.....gotta go make supper !

I think any woman that goes into a marriage with a political figure has blinders on if she thinks he is not going to cheat. I'm not saying all political figures are cheaters but it doesn't shock me to hear about it, so how can the wife be shocked? I haven't paid any attention to the story you are referring to, but no it doesn't surprise me and I'd be surprised if she was really shocked. If my husband were a political, famous or powerful person, I would not be 'surprised' to find out he strayed. I would certainly feel betrayed and hurt but then again, I wouldn't marry a person in one of those positions. Like you say, they enjoy the success and power, there is always a price... nothing is free.

1. Yes, only because his wife is sick.
2. No I do not think she did
3. No I don't think he is... vasectomy youngest children had sperm donors???
4. No I don't think she would have divorced him. It's a private matter or so they thought.
5. If she did ... I think.. she figures she is sick cannot be with him like she wants to be and sooner than later she would be gone and he will need to be comforted no excuse but how many movies have been made about the dying wife choosing the next wife ...
6. Its not the standing there that bothers me ... its that they don't roll their eyes or give him dirty looks when he is confessing his discretions to the world.

I agree with Ima, and I might add that it's probably a high possibility with most any "successful" man.... at the very least it's a huge temptation. (And to be fair, it might also be so with any "successful" woman.)

But it's basically a biological and historical fact that the "rewards" of success are often sex with a much wider choice of partners. Not to mention the whole "power is sexy" thing, or the fact that many people will unscrupulously go seeking out someone powerful to sleep with because they think it will advance themselves somehow.

Sounds very negative and doom-inducing, but I'm not trying to suggest EVERY "successful" person will cheat. Just that the odds are higher because of the way society, power and our bodies tend to function.

1. Were you surprised by the news that he had an affair?
Yes, because I had never given any thought to it.

2. Do you believe that Elizabeth knew about his affair when she was out campaigning for him?
   I don't know.
   3. Do you think he is the father of Rielle Hunter's baby?
   Definitely
   4. Do you think Elizabeth would have divorced him if she was healthy?
   Probably not, maybe because of the children, maybe because of life style.
   5. If you think Elizabeth knew about the affair before she started to campaign for him, what would be her reasoning to get up in front of the public and promote him as a good husband, a moral man, and one who was worthy of being President? If she did know, I think it was because she liked the idea of being first lady.
   6. Why is it that politicians' wives usually stand behind their man after the affair is exposed?
   They want to be part of the power and they like the life style.

"6. Why is it that politicians' wives usually stand behind their man after the affair is exposed?
They want to be part of the power and they like the life style."

I agree with this, too... There's definitely often an aspect of "making a devil's barter" that goes on in that type of situation...

Also embarassment, not wanting to appear "beaten" by the whole affair, not wanting to so easily go away, not knowing what to do next... also their self-esteem being so chewed up (deep down, if not always outwardly expressed) that they fear they will never find someone else or be able to be happy on their own... It's really a lot of factors, probably not just one in any situation.

Serentiy, I agree with you that successful people have more opportunity. I wonder though if the cheater ever wonders if he is loved for himself or what he has.

I wonder about that too, KKNY. I think some men really don't care about the love aspect of an affair. Some are looking for sex = power and ego boost. I think the serial cheater fits this category.

I personally don't think Edwards was looking for love with his mistress. I think he was being quite truthful when he said he wasn't in love with her. I think he was looking for a good time!

1. Were you surprised by the news that he had an affair?
Not particularly, although I find it sad.

2. Do you believe that Elizabeth knew about his affair when she was out campaigning for him?
No idea. I think each is equally likely.

3. Do you think he is the father of Rielle Hunter's baby?
Yes; again, sadly. (although if pseudo is right about the vasectomy-i hadn't heard that- i'd change my mind)

4. Do you think Elizabeth would have divorced him if she was healthy?
nope.

5. If you think Elizabeth knew about the affair before she started to campaign for him, what would be her reasoning to get up in front of the public and promote him as a good husband, a moral man, and one who was worthy of being President?
Because she wants to be first lady. Because she is ambitious as he is. Because she probably does, for the most part, believe in the policies he promotes and believes he would be a good president.

6. Why is it that politicians' wives usually stand behind their man after the affair is exposed?
Basically same answer as # 5. Because they are as ambitious as their husbands.

Look, anyone who runs for president is highly ambitious and very very full of themselves. You would have to be, to look at yourself in the mirror every morning and think I deserve to be the most powerful person in the world . They make tremendous sacrifices regarding their personal/family lives in order to pursue their professional/political goals. What kind of woman chooses and survives a marriage to a man like this, if not one who is as ambitious as he is and places the same premium on power? An affair may be hurtful and humiliating but that doesn't make it important enough to be worth throwing away all that power and prestige.

I'm originally from Raleigh, NC where John & Elizabeth Edwards lived until just very recently. They built a huge house just outside of Raleigh where they live now. I actually met him once in McDonalds with his youngest children (before his first run for president) and he was a very nice, typical Southern man. Obviously very devoted to his children based on his behavior with them. I recognized him back then because he is very famous in Raleigh for a particular, horrible case he won for a child who basically had her intestines ripped out from a defective pool drain in a baby pool. He is well thought of in NC having come from very simple roots and has worked hard to become very successful.

I actually campaigned for him based on my impression of him when I met him, not based on the whole political hoopla. He and his wife have obviously lived through a lot in their marriage, having lost a son to a tragic accident. There is a learning center named after their son in Raleigh which they founded and funded.

Having said that, sadly I am not suprised that he had an affair. I think power goes to a mans' head and if he's powerful AND attractive AND wealthy...well there you go! I'm disappointed, but not suprised. The woman, Reille Hunter sounds like a strange one...very hippy, trippy. I'm more disappointed that he would choose someone skanky like that!! It seems a little strange that she'd be having sex with someone else around they same time to father her child...but honestly she doesn't come off as someone who would not possibly do that.

And I'm not suprised that his wife chose to stay with him and their marriage...she is a very traditional, southern woman and that alone I think would make her tend to stay. Add to that that she is ill, has young children AND has an attractive, ambitious, husband??

But he's really BLOWN his political career fooling around with some new age trash while his devoted wife is dying of cancer...DUMB dumb DUMB!!

"Serentiy, I agree with you that successful people have more opportunity. I wonder though if the cheater ever wonders if he is loved for himself or what he has."

KKNY, sadly I don't think they even care. I think they cheat because they can and in may cases don't even care for the person they are cheating with. Seems like a sad waste of a real relationship.

I had heard one time that many successful men golf because it is a game that doesn't really have an ending to win. Then, it isn't just the game of golf, many different courses to try out, different clubs, tournaments.

I wonder if the same theory applies to cheating with the successful men.

Cheating and Lying :
Statistics about Cheating :
20% of women cheat, 40% of men cheat
Dr. Scott Haltzman, Barrington psychiatrist:

"By age 45,
two out of every five men (40%) and
one out of every five women (20%)
has had at least one affair."

Dr. Haltzman was only looking at marriages, and people who cheated in marriages. He found that the cheaters were mainly looking for love and affection, not for sex.

Sadly cheating isn't limited to successful men.