Of all the things that John Edwards did, or didn't do, that have now
come to light and merit our questions and judgement, the one that
annoys me the most is that he has completely legitimized the National Enquirer. In fact,
by calling their (spot-on) reports "tabloid trash", he has given them
claim to a moral superiority he himself once had. Or, perhaps, he never had this touted moral superiority. Gail Collins says: "If Edwards’s political career is toast, it will be because he has always seemed to be less than a sum of his parts: the position papers, the “Two Americas,” the photogenic grin, the supersmart wife. The only piece of the package that consistently disappointed was the man himself."

Maureen Dowd put the skewer in snugly by calling Edwards' infidelity "oncologically correct". I myself would say that the infidelity is politically correct, as in lots of politicians do it. The decision to do it after trotting one's cancer-stricken wife onto the campaign trail, continuing to campaign for a desperate Democratic Party's nomination, and then lying about it - and funding or having knowledge of the funding of - the cover-up.....well, Senator, there's the rub.