Usually, there’s no reason to pay much attention to the scandal news of the National Enquirer. But in a recent report, the mag claims that several of its reporters witnessed and confronted John Edwards at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, where a woman, who months ago was alleged by the magazine to have become pregnant due to an affair with Edwards, was checked in–with her child. (The woman and Edwards initially both denied they were romantically involved.) The latest story is full of firsthand details–Edwards fleeing the Enquirer snoops, hiding in a bathroom, being escorted out by a security detail–that perhaps even the Enquirer would be hesitant to fabricate. After all, it can be sued by either Edwards or the woman.
Blogger Mickey Kaus has complained that the MSM hasn’t touched the matter: “Will this be the first presidential-contender level scandal to occur completely in the undernews, without ever being reported in the cautious, respectable MSM?” But it’s tough for responsible journalists to figure out how to handle a report from the gutter about a potential vice presidential candidate. Yet whether you read about this matter in the Times or not, the veep-vetters of the Obama campaign have probably paid the story notice. If Edwards is still in contention, he better have for them a rather convincing denial to allay suspicions that this time the scandalmongers of the Enquirer might have actually gotten it right.
