Top of the Ticket reports on the dilemma facing the DNC over what to do with John Edwards given his current difficulties with the mistress and love child:
As Barack Obama heads off on vacation in Hawaii, his convention planners will be hard at work ironing out not only the logistics of Hillary Clinton's presence at the confab in Denver (will she or will she not insist on having her name placed in nomination?), but dealing with a potentially even trickier question: how large of a spotlight -- if any -- to give John Edwards.
In a story Thursday, the Charlotte Observer quotes several prominent Democrats -- by name -- who urge Edwards to more convincingly confront allegations by the National Enquirer, which he has denied, that he had an affair and that his alleged mistress fathered a child by him.
If he does not meet this challenge, these Democrats say, he risks losing a high-profile slot as a convention speaker.
"If there is not an explanation that’s satisfactory, acceptable and meets high moral standards, the answer is 'no,' he would not be a prime candidate to make a major address to the convention," Don Fowler, who headed the Democratic National Committee from 1995-97, told the newspaper.
Chris Lehane, a key Al Gore aide during the 2000 presidential campaign, added that "an appearance at the convention [by Edwards] would only highlight the unresolved story."
Edwards is toast. This story developed legs when, despite the mainstream media's refusal to report it, Edwards wasn't able to come out with any kind of reasonable explanation other than denouncing it as "tabloid trash". As other media outlets confirmed some of the details, there just wasn't any way for him to dig his way out of the problem he created for himself.
My expectation is that shortly before the convention he'll issue a release stating that his wife's health will require him to miss the gathering. He'll go for the sympathy play to divert attention from the story, but he definitely won't be on the dais in Denver.
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