Wow. Activist and former presidential hopeful John Edwards had an affair. Two years ago he had an intimate relationship with a person with a made-up name who is so interesting she dated Jay McInerney and became a featured character in one of his books. (Alison Poole in Story of My Life, for the record, and not a particularly flattering depiction, but then, some of us know how exes can be. Fellow writer Bret Easton Ellis was also struck by Druck/Hunter/Poole, and included her in one of his books, too.)
That's right; I called her an interesting person. Not a slut. Not a ho bag. Not a home wrecker. I find that language sexist, offensive, and frankly? If I did it, I'd have to think of myself as a Mean Girl.
That's also right; I called him an activist and politician. Not a jerk. Not a cheating liar. Not anything worse. I find that unconstructive, and frankly? I don't give a damn.
That's right. I said I don't give a damn what sex Edwards had. Nor do I care with whom or where or when or how. It's none of my business.
Most adults have had sex. Some of it was poor choice, a mistake. It doesn't define us, or it shouldn't. If you've never made a sexual error, I bet you've made some sort of error. I have, plenty. It makes me reluctant to cast stones, and it makes me realize we can't define ourselves or our abilities solely by the mistakes we have made.
Speaking of adults, sex and mistakes, I'll be honest and tell you if a man is running for office, I assume he's got skeletons in his closet, usually of the affair sort. For some men, it's the sort of woman who launches two great books. For others, it's cops in the bathroom in the Midwest. For others, it's a string of women after a traumatic POW experience.
Let's grab that word trauma for a second. One of the questions I've seen asked most is, "How could he do this? Why why why? I mean, after all his family went through, his wife with cancer, losing a child, how could he do this?"
I have no idea. But I have heard that a lot of trauma and stress (work, health, grief) can cause people to seek an escape hatch of some sort. In other words? Your question just might be your answer.
So I'm not going to vilify him. I'm also not going to vilify her. In fact? I'm all done with the Edwards affair and I hope you are too. I'm even finished with discussing how it trickles down and affects other candidates and overshadows issues.
I have control over that. I'm not going to let it, and I hope you do the same. To that end, I'm going to give you ten good reasons to be done with this.
As an early adopter of the John Edwards presidential campaign, I'm still smarting over the news of his affair. Not because I think his personal life, or personal mistakes, are any of my GD business, but because of how this could have truly messed things up for the Democrats if he had become the nominee. 
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