John Edwards: It's not the sex, it's not the lying . . .

It's the denial of responsibility.

John Edwards admits what has been rumored for a while, that he had an affair. The usual questions and issues raise their ugly heads - is this a private matter? Should it just be between him and his wife, Elizabeth?

My answer is no. John Edwards made the decision to run for public office, which put him in the spotlight. He made the decision this year to run again for the White House, which requires asking millions of people to put their faith in him. That makes his conduct an issue for the public. If he didn't want his personal life to be a matter of public discussion, he shouldn't have run for office.

It's also a matter of lying about the actual affair. Lots and lots of politicians all over the world, throughout human history, have had affairs. But that still doesn't make it OK.

Politicians are human. They will screw up. We cannot expect them to be perfect.

But we can expect them to take responsibility for their mistakes. When Bill Clinton admitted, at the start of the 1992 Presidential campaign, that he and Hillary had had "problems in their marriage," he was admitting that he had been unfaithful, but he was also taking responsibility. So he was forgiven by enough voters to win the Presidency. We knew he was a player. But we made an implicit bargain with him: keep your pants on for eight years, and all will be fine. He didn't, and then lied about it. It's not the sex, or even the lying - it's the denial of responsibility.

There are ways to deal with this kind of thing that do not involve denying responsibility. The Mayor of LA, Antonio Villaraigosa, separated from his wife a while ago. But he held a press conference and basically admitted it upfront. He also moved out of the Mayor's mansion. And he has been mostly forgiven by the public. It's awkward to talk about taking a "classy" approach to adultery, but insofar as that is possible, that's what he did.

The implications of Clinton's affair should have made Edwards particularly wary. It's entirely possible that Al Gore would have won in 2000 if not for the lingering anger over Monica Lewinsky. Personally, the prospect of seeing Bill Clinton back in the White House was a big reason for my reluctance to back Hillary, before I committed to Obama.

Au revoir, Mr. Edwards. Hope you like that nice big house.

Edwards endorses Obama

Looks like I picked a good day to post good news about Obama. John Edwards has endorsed him, at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Finally! That's one big one down.

The location is interesting. Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a long way from North Carolina. It's also a very conservative part of the state. By making the announcement there, in what cannot possibly be friendly territory for either of them, Obama is signaling that he intends to fight hard for Michigan, and he intends to fight hard even in the conservative parts of the state. It also sends the message that he is not afraid to take his message to a community that would not appear to be composed of his demographics. It's also far from Detroit, where the African-American mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, is generating the wrong kind of headlines.

What about the timing? Some people will make the legitimate argument that Edwards is jumping on the bandwagon before it's too late. His endorsement is not really going to make a huge difference right now.

But in other ways, his timing is perfect. Suddenly Hillary's win in West Virginia is off the news. Obama controls this news cycle. And Edwards is endorsing Obama when he doesn't really have to. Obama does not need his endorsement to clinch the nomination. But it does help unify the party. For the people who care about these things, it boosts Obama's anti-poverty credentials a bit. Not that I think Obama needed better anti-poverty credentials, but it doesn't hurt. It should also help answer those "Can Obama get working-class white people?" questions. Edwards is rich now, but he's clearly a man who has pulled himself up by his bootstraps. Of course, so has Obama, so, again, this should help out there.

Obama and Superdelegates

Rumor has it, from Tom Brokaw, that Obama has 50 more superdelegates ready to announce their support for him. My guess is that the Big Three who have not yet announced their endorsements, i.e. Al Gore, John Edwards, and Bill Richardson, will announce their support for Obama very soon, within a week, at the latest. That's my prediction.