# John Edwards' alleged lovechild: would you disqualify him as a VP choice due to this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 23, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500 "2008-07-23T16:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/41 "2008-07-24T01:38:54Z")
The Enquirer hardly qualifies as a paper. I need more. I voted for him in the Michigan primary. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/42 "2008-07-24T03:07:33Z")
Never mind. Mistaken assumption. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/43 "2008-07-24T04:57:37Z")
[QUOTE=gonzomax] The Enquirer hardly qualifies as a paper. I need more. [/QUOTE] You might need more, but unfortunately a lot of people don’t. The Enquirer still has a circulation of well over a million (down from it’s peak of several times that a few years ago) and is probably a lot more influential than many people realize. Also, after a few expensive lawsuits they stopped making things up out of whole cloth about celebrities (except maybe some blip gossip) and their cover stories now usually have- if not truth- at least the _appearance_ of “it could be true” (not to say they don’t still wildly exaggerate, but if they say that Omar Sharif and Lindsey Lohan are dating then they’ve at least got pictures of them having dinner together, which is probably what they have with Edwards- some kind of verisimilitudinous circumstantial “looks bad” piece of “evidence” that whether true or not is going to sell a lot of papers and be difficult to disprove (though a DNA test would do that). ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/44 "2008-07-24T05:19:55Z")
Probably? And you do not need more? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/45 "2008-07-24T06:27:48Z")
The Inquirer has him pinned. These charges are too dangerous legally for them to be pulling them out their asses, and their rep for accuracy is actually pretty good for the bigger stuff they have broken like Limbaugh’s drug use. Edwards is done. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/46 "2008-07-24T07:48:51Z")
All the Enquirer is really claiming outright is that Edwards met her at a hotel. Everything else is extropolation. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/47 "2008-07-24T13:22:21Z")
[QUOTE=Magiver] Oh yah, Obama would want a cancer victim, a mistriss and a bastard chld sucking oxygen out of election day. [/QUOTE] Elizabeth Edwards is very intelligent, lively and a good speaker, and might help dispell the stigma some morons attach to “cancer victims”. Not sure what a “mistriss” or a “bastard chld” are. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/48 "2008-07-24T14:46:12Z")
It is really hard for a public figure to sue for libel or slander. The burden is overwhelimingly in the favor of the publisher of the story. That the statements are false is not enough. The statements must have been made maliciously, with the publisher having KNOWN they were false (this is a broad description of the standard.) But for the sake of argument, let’s say Edwards can prove the NE’s conduct meets the standard of public figure libel. He’s still a fool to sue. As the attorney for NE, here would be my first five substanative questions (of course, there would be follow ups to each based on how evasive Edwards is in his answers. I’m betting he would be dangerous). 1. Have you ever in your (x) years of marriage has any form of sexual or intimate relations with a person not your wife Elizabeth, including intercourse, oral sex, contact with breasts or sexual organs, or kissing on the mouth? 2. Have you ever in your life engaged in any form of homosexual or intimate relations with a man, including intercourse, oral sex, contact with his penis or anus, his contact with your pensi or anus, or kissing him on the mouth? 3. Do you have any financial accounts on which your wife is not a signatory? (If so, detail them.) 4. What is your exact net worth? 5. How much did you make for (venture capital firm)? I couldn’t include it in my five because it is heartless, but if you really wanted to rattle him (an angry deponent is a careless deponent), your first question could be “Did you father a child with (slut) because you felt some guilt over the death of your son?” I couldn’t ask that question, but I imagine the lawyer hired by the NE could summon the courage (or lacks the decency). My point is, you can ask just about pretty much anything in a deposition. There is no judge there. Lawyers (in Texas at least) can pretty much only object to form of the question and privileged information. Even then, these objections are generally noted for the record the the deponent must typically answer the question. That is why celebs talk a good game about suing and then do not. Or they sue in England where the libel laws are not as strict and the depositions apparently not as brutal. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/49 "2008-07-25T06:12:13Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] Elizabeth Edwards is very intelligent, lively and a good speaker, and might help dispell the stigma some morons attach to “cancer victims”. Not sure what a “mistriss” or a “bastard chld” are. [/QUOTE] O K. You care to explain that one. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/50 "2008-07-25T07:07:43Z")
Edwards is going to make a great Attorney General. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/51 "2008-07-25T16:31:31Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] Edwards is going to make a great Attorney General. [/QUOTE] He might find himself standing in front of an Attorney General as a witness. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/52 "2008-07-25T18:05:06Z")
[QUOTE=Magiver] He might find himself standing in front of an Attorney General as a witness. [/QUOTE] To what? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/53 "2008-07-25T18:37:26Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] To what? [/QUOTE] Jehovah? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/54 "2008-07-25T18:49:28Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] Jehovah? [/QUOTE] [Throwing rock] He said Jehovah. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/55 "2008-07-25T18:55:52Z")
Well, this story seems to have not progressed beyond the National Enquirer stage. Is it forked yet? ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/56 "2008-07-25T19:08:20Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] People who believe what they read in _The National Enquirer_ don’t need evidence. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you who those people are. Regards, Shodan [/QUOTE] Voters. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/57 "2008-07-25T19:40:28Z")
[Guard Confirms Late-Night Hotel Encounter Between Ex-Sen. John Edwards, Tabloid Reporters](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,391426,00.html) > [@](#): > > The Beverly Hilton Hotel guard said he encountered a shaken and ashen-faced Edwards — whom he did not immediately recognize — in a hotel men’s room early Tuesday morning in a literal tug-of-war with reporters on the other side of the door. So it’s even worse than reported: he was in a men’s room tugging on something til he was shaking and ashen faced. So it’s gone from _Enquirer_ to blogs to _Fox_. Looks like it’s sinking then. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/58 "2008-07-25T20:53:03Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] So it’s even worse than reported: he was in a men’s room tugging on something til he was shaking and ashen faced. [/QUOTE] There’s a “wide stance” joke in there somewhere. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/59 "2008-07-25T21:12:39Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] To what? [/QUOTE] To whatever happened at the hotel for which the National Enquirer is sueing them over. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500/60 "2008-07-25T21:16:57Z")
Who is the National Enquirer sueing (sic)? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-edwards-alleged-lovechild-would-you-disqualify-him-as-a-vp-choice-due-to-this/457500.md?page=4)