Kat with a K

Yes, I'm writing about John Edwards.

I wasn't going to post about Edwards, because I don't think I have anything particularly new and interesting to say about the matter. But Eric Alterman just can't hate John Edwards, and I think he makes some good points. I don't think Edwards is necessarily worse than a lot of other politicians. I mean - Mark Sanford. Have we forgotten about that already?

The Edwards story bothers me in a way the others don't, of course, because I was more invested in the campaign. I gave a little money but many, many hours of time. The timing of the whole thing didn't really register with me until last night, when I had dinner with another former Edwards volunteer. I told her about the rumored sex tape. "Wait," she said. "You mean, while we were spending our evenings sitting in that office making phone calls for him, then, he was making a sex tape?" Yes, more or less. That's why this one stings.

Edwards always seemed vaguely slimy, but I honestly preferred his policy positions in the primary. Of course, in retrospect, thank God he didn't get the nomination. If he had and this had come out during the campaign, McCain would be president now. And what if it hadn't come out during the campaign, and he had won, and then the news broke? I literally cannot imagine the chaos that would have occurred then. And I still think that the most baffling part of the whole thing is how these politicians - or any famous people, really - can do this sort of thing and think they won't get caught. Unbelievable.