Although it's mainly been fodder for supermarket tabloids, John Edwards felt the need to address his affair/love child scandal. And guess what? The National Enquirer was right!

Edwards told ABC News today that he did indeed have an affair with 42-year-old Rielle Hunter but that the affair ended too quickly for her child to be his. An Edwards campaign aide, Andrew Young, has said that he is the father of the baby. Hmm. Okay. Well, he said his wife, Elizabeth, who happens to have terminal cancer, has known about the affair since it happened. He added that Elizabeth's cancer was in remission when he decided to sleep with Hunter.

If Edwards had become the presumptive nominee, or even if Barack Obama had prematurely chosen him as his running mate, John McCain would be writing up his inauguration speech right about now. Then again, we all know an affair scandal doesn't necessarily kill a politicians career. [ABC]

Perhaps a better question to ask is, will she? I think we all know the answer to that.

It's probably safe to say that the majority of Hillary Clinton voters are not voting for her just because they don't want to vote for a black guy. Now that that disclaimer is out of the way, it's probably also safe to say that there were obviously a few more of those "I'll never vote for a black or a Muslim" voters in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky. I mean, just check out the exit polls! In Kentucky, 21 percent of Democratic voters said that race was a factor in deciding their vote. Nine out of ten of those people ended up voting for Hillary Clinton. On CNN last night, analysts said that it might behoove Hillary Clinton to say something like, "If you're only voting for me because you don't want to vote for a black man, then I don't want your vote." John Edwards did it not too long ago.

They seemed at least slightly optimistic that she would, at some point in the near future, do exactly this. But where does that optimism come from? She's been clinging to the racist vote and using it (in coded language) as a selling point to superdelegates. It's the one demographic that Barack Obama doesn't have a chance of hell in wooing by November, and she's wearing their support of her like a badge of honor. Some honor. If she didn't play up this race issue post-Pennsylvania and Indiana, then I doubt people would be calling upon her to make any grand proclamations. How must it feel to, in the course of one election, completely destroy a well-respected civil rights record and a relationship with a vast portion of an entire race of Americans? After this is all over, someone should ask.

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There were a two bright, white politician's smiles on display on the stage in Grand Rapids, Mich., yesterday evening as John Edwards (grudgingly? I couldn't tell) endorsed Barack Obama for president. The endorsement launched a flurry of web speculation about Edwards as a possible running mate for Obama. At this point, my only question is, can dude help Obama with Appalachia? Because there's a tough road ahead.

Tricky pronouns might have done John Edwards in on MSNBC this morning. After Edwards told the hosts at Morning Joe that whoever got his vote would get his endorsement, they were trying desperately to get Edwards to tell them who he voted for in North Carolina's primary. He attempted to play coy, until he accidentally spilled the beans by saying, "I just voted for him Tuesday." Considering the fact that it would be pretty pointless for him to endorse Hillary Clinton at this point, I think we can all make an educated guess about an upcoming Barack Obama endorsement.

So that standing ovation Hillary Clinton received for her closing remarks at last night's debate should have been given to John Edwards? I guess everyone "lifts" from everyone in this crazy game called politics.

JOHN EDWARDS, OUT John Edwards, the only candidate who can beat John McCain everywhere is expected to drop out of the race at a press conference in New Orleans this afternoon. Campaign aides say he will not endorse either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton today and has no plans to do so in the immediate future.

John Edwards must have taken notice that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had both appeared on the venerable Tyra Banks Show. He taped an episode with the master interviewer Tuesday. And guess what! More "plight of the white male Democrat" nonsense. He doesn't think Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had to fight extra hard for anything? Please. I believe dnA from Too Sense said it best:

First off, I have some issues with Tyra's math skills. There were two white people on stage that night, and one black person. There were two men on stage, and one woman. How, by any measurement, was John Edwards a minority?

Maybe Tyra just meant he was in the minority since he hasn't won a state's primary yet?

Here's a remark John Edwards made about his electability at Monday night's debate. He makes sure to say that it's not about race or gender…

The only thing I would say — and I think it has nothing to do with race and gender. Let me be really clear about that. It's amazing now that being the white male…is different. What I was going to say, though, is being able to go everywhere in America and campaign and to compete — and I grew up in the rural
south, in small towns all across the rural south. I think I can go everywhere and compete head-to-head with John McCain.

…I'm not so convinced. What do you think John Edwards is trying to say here?

[Full Transcript]

First of all, was Myrtle Beach serious with this Mount Rushmore/sand castle hybrid in honor of last night's presidential debate? I'm so mad at Obama's eyebrows. Actually, his entire face.

But back to the second-to-last debate of the primary season

• Today is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year. Did the people calculating this know it was a three-day weekend? [Time]

• Today is the day for everyone to measure how much race relations have changed since MLK's day. Hmm, maybe this most-depressing-day thing has merit. [DMN]

• Forget about this election splitting democrats apart. Is it splitting black voters apart? [KHOU]

• Mike Huckabee wins an endorsement from the leader of the Coalition of African American Pastors and is the only presidential candidate set to attend services at Dr. King's church today. The world feels all topsy-turvy. [AJC]

• No worries. Obama gave a speech at King's church yesterday. [WP]

• At least one person isn't using MLK's name for political gain. [NYT]

The Reno-Gazette Journal, before whose editorial board Barack Obama made his soon-to-be infamous Reagan remarks, came out with a ringing endorsement for Obama today. But at what cost? The game of pandering to Republicans (aka "See! I'm not so prohibitively liberal!") — which all the candidates play at some point — would make a lot more sense during the general election than during the primary election, when his same-party opponents are so poised to pounce. He surely lost some votes from supporters who would consider a Democratic candidate mentioning himself in the same breath as Ronald Reagan — no matter his intent — a dealbreaker. So far, Obama's camp hasn't defended his remarks in full force, but his spokesman had this to say:

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Hillary Clinton focused on last night's Democratic victory in her concession speech last night, because, after coming in third place, there was really no other victory to focus on. While she stayed very positive last night, political insiders, as well as her very own campaign aides, are saying that things are about to get ugly.

For weeks now Clinton aides have been threatening on and off the record to use some bad stuff against their chief opponent. First, two of them told conservative columnist Robert Novak the Clintons had very damaging information on Obama, but they weren't going to use it. Then her New Hampshire co-chair, Billy Shaheen, said, not that any Democrat would use Obama's admitted youthful drug use against him, but boy, would the Republicans have a field day with that later this year.

Meanwhile, John Edwards, who came in second to Obama in Iowa, had this to say to his supporters last night.

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