Just hours after ABC's Nightline broadcast an interview in which former North Carolina Senator John Edwards confessed an extramarital affair, CNN Saturday Morning co-anchor Melissa Long spoke of the ex-Democratic candidate in glowing terms, calling Edwards someone who was "much loved, worked for the poor, a man who was self-made, and all about integrity and honesty."
[UPDATED 4/11, video added]
After elevating Edwards to such heights, she asked CNN deputy political editor Paul Steinhauser to consider "all of that and this stunning admission" and speculate as to "what type of political career could this man have going forward."
Steinhauser: "I think short term, not so much...."
The exchange took part at about 7:25am EDT on August 9:
CO-ANCHOR MELISSA LONG: Democrats say John Edwards likely will not be taking part in their convention after admitting he had an affair and lied about it. News of his infidelity is dominating the political headlines this morning, no surprise. CNN deputy political editor Paul Steinhauser is joining us live now from Washington with the very latest on Edwards and, of course, the news from the campaign trail. Paul, nice to see you. Happy Saturday.
PAUL STEINHAUSER: Good morning to you.
LONG: Okay, much loved, worked for the poor, a man who was self-made, and all about integrity and honesty. Considering all of that and this stunning admission, what type of political career could this man have going forward?
STEINHAUSER: I think short term, not so much....
—Rich Noyes is Research Director at the Media Research Center.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
So Loved
August 10, 2008 - 14:39 ET by allanfHe was so loved by one and all that he lost the nomination. Give that woman a job as an Edwards press agent.
".....much loved, worked
August 10, 2008 - 15:03 ET by winston smith".....much loved, worked for the poor, a man who was self-made, and all about integrity and honesty."
Uh, Where was the honesty Melissa? Or the integrity for that matter? He expolited the poor. Self made? How about self-ISH! Oh, and your forgot to mention 'disarmingly conceited'. Really Melissa, integrity?? A man who regluarly spends $400 for hair trims --- now there's a man of integrity!
WHAT ??????
August 10, 2008 - 15:05 ET by DanoYou've got to be #%&$*@# kidding me ! The dumbing down of America must have started in the '60's. It's just getting worse.
By Us?
August 10, 2008 - 15:06 ET by Copperhead RidgeThere's no bias in the media. There's no bias in the media. There's no bias in the media.
Everyone. Repeat it with me.
Much loved? By who? Oh yeah, Rielle Hunter.
Edwards about honesty and integrity?? Hah!
August 10, 2008 - 15:32 ET by jefflebowskiEdwards is a trial lawyer. They are all lower than whale poop. He made a fortune running our medical rates up and running doctors out of business. I'd like to know how many of his clients after winning their cases built 28,000 sq ft. houses?
He is the lowest of the low. A perfect DemonRat.
Jeff Lebowski
www.angrywhitedude.c...
Gender Gap
August 10, 2008 - 15:41 ET by TexndocAllow me to be as male chauvinistic as possible, but I do believe his main base of appeal was always female (like this, as Rush would call her, "reporterette"), and they did think of this charming Sou'thnr as all that. And wouldn't they have loved to be Elizabeth and then "poor Elizabeth" and "What a guy!" to stand with her until the end.....
If any scandal would kill his career with that particular segment of his audience, it's another woman (?blonde ugly scank - delicious!) a baby with uncertain paternity, and having cheated on her AFTER she announced her cancer had returned and was inoperable (which the Enquirer will prove "100%" to quote the editor).
The guy could have involved himself in all kinds of provable financial fraud (a freezer full of cash in every room of his mansion) and these women wouldn't care. A skank and a "love baby" they can be offended by. (although I did see one supporter on a message board saying :"He is a loving person! His problem is he loves too much!" - I'm thinking that type is too far gone to care what they think.)
I'd say you've assessed Edwards' appeal quite well
August 10, 2008 - 21:17 ET by GalvanicEdwards' carefully crafted image of the handsome champion of the Poor, unwaveringly devoted to his cancer-stricken wife, certainly has a strong appeal to women.
And the flip side of that --- the lawyer who married the handsome champion, worked a career, and rasied a family -- was the feminist model.
Together, they must've seemed like the most perfect political couple since the MSMs eternal gods, Jack & Jackie.
But let's give credit to the voters. After voting Edwards into the US Senate, North Carolinians quickly became disenchanted with him, and polls indicated that chances for a second term were bad.
So, he decided to run for President in 2000 and lost the nomination to Al "Herman Munster" Gore.
In 2004, he lost to Kerry, but got the booby prize as VP candidate, and couldn't even carry NC for the ticket.
He tried for the POTUS nomination again in 2007-08, and finished a very distant third to Obama and Clinton.
The MSM's infatuation with the narcissistic Edwards -- right down to their apparent belief that Edwards ever had a political future after this last primary season -- probably rests on the fact that physically and intellectually, he's a clone of their newsreaders.
STEINHAUSER: I think short
August 10, 2008 - 15:42 ET by bigtimerSTEINHAUSER: I think short term, not so much....
....so what does he think for the long term....
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
".....much loved, worked
August 10, 2008 - 15:57 ET by gopsteve".....much loved, worked for the poor, a man who was self-made, and all about integrity and honesty."
Yeah, and OJ was known for his calm demanor...
It's sickening how the msm do not just report, but they defend and try to make the case for their favorites (libs).
Can we go back and see how they treated Newt? (
The life of John Edwards
August 10, 2008 - 16:01 ET by WR JonasI heartily disagree with Melissa Long. Mr. and Mrs. Edward are not about honesty and integrity. They are about lying. They are and have been lying for quite some time. They are living a lie and asking others to be understanding . Saying kind words about the poor or less fortunate does not make them saints. They were raised as lawyers and they do what lawyers always do when confronted by the truth.. They lie.
They need spiritual and ethical counseling and some perspective about the weight of the words one utters.
Truth may not carry much weight in this world but it is the currency in the next.
I'm gonna puke...
August 10, 2008 - 16:24 ET by AgentAmericanWhy ask why?
I want to find Eric Alterman, the snot-nosed lefty wise ass who wrote that stupid book, What Liberal Media?, grab him by the shirt collar, drag him down the road, to my house, and pull him in front of the TV and point to it...and say:
"Does this answer your stupid question?"
Drill ANWAR
Yes. This. Where is he
August 10, 2008 - 18:30 ET by bretzysdudeYes. This.
Where is he right now?
I never thought ...
August 10, 2008 - 16:38 ET by wdhorningI never thought CNN had any integrity in any of its reporting ...
Who knows?
August 10, 2008 - 17:08 ET by pbthinkerIn a fair world, Edwards would be back chasing ambulances never to be heard from again. However, the Democrats have always been famous for situational ethics so who knows, they could be running him for President, next time around, and not think twice about it.
Democrats: Stuck on Stupid since 2000.
>>>In a fair world, Edwards
August 10, 2008 - 20:18 ET by seanrobins>>>In a fair world, Edwards would be back chasing ambulances never to be heard from again
What makes you think that the ambulance chasers want they "good names" sullied with this guy?
sean robins
blog.seanrobins.com
Much loved?
August 10, 2008 - 17:15 ET by acumenTry too much loved.
MRC Awards For Naive Reporting
August 10, 2008 - 18:31 ET by P.J. GladnickPlease find the video clip of this because it will be the hands down winner for the MRC awards naive reporting category.
>>>CNN Saturday Morning
August 10, 2008 - 20:16 ET by seanrobins>>>CNN Saturday Morning co-anchor Melissa Long spoke of the ex-Democratic candidate in glowing terms, calling Edwards someone who was "much loved, worked for the poor, a man who was self-made, and all about integrity and honesty."
She's another one of the Democrat-Media crowd that has simply lost her mind. Completely insane.
Unless CNN anchors can demonstrate the ability to walk erect, or utilize the opposable thumb, the should NOT be reporting the news.
sean robins
blog.seanrobins.com
Tommyknocker Teleprompters
August 10, 2008 - 20:18 ET by BarrackDo you think these people have even fleeting moments of realizing their blatant hypocrisy when they lie in bed at night after taking their make-up off with a puddy knife?
www.benbarrack.com
Edwards is consistent...consistently sleazy
August 10, 2008 - 20:33 ET by nkviking75Ms. Long has her opinion. Mine includes words like shameless, manipulative, phony, and narcissistic. It seems to me this whole episode is completely consistent with his character, or lack thereof.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
Okay, I'll be the resident
August 10, 2008 - 21:01 ET by JerOkay, I'll be the resident liberal sticking up for CNN. I don't see anything at all objectionable, slanted or inappropriate about the quoted dialogue.
Ms. Long's lead-in encapsulates the image which has been associated with Edwards--an image he has cultivated along with a message he has peddled [note she says "a man ...all about integrity and honesty"]--and implicitly contrasts that image with the "stunning admission" of infidelity.
Then, 'what type of political career does the man have in front of him <in light of this>'?
The obvious, unvarnished answer: "Not so much...."
And not so much to get ruffled about Long's remarks either.
Jer
"Ms. Long's lead-in
August 10, 2008 - 21:50 ET by Galvanic"Ms. Long's lead-in encapsulates the image which has been associated with Edwards--an image he has cultivated along with a message he has peddled [note she says "a man ...all about integrity and honesty"]--and implicitly contrasts that image with the "stunning admission" of infidelity."
I disagree, Jer, but we're probably differing over semantics. I think her words were carefully selected so as to avoid the embarassing fact that CNN always bought the image as reality, and never did the investigative job it should've done. The National Enquirer has been doing the story since last fall, while CNN and the MSM dismissed it as a wild right-wing allegation. This weekend they're admitting that after asking Edwards earelier this year if there was any truth to story and getting a negative reply, they took him at his word and dropped it.
Then, 'what type of political career does the man have in front of him <in light of this>'?
The obvious, unvarnished answer: "Not so much...."
I would like to hope so, and if Edwards were a Republican, I think we could be assured that his political futre was dead and buried.
But Democrats don't seem to care. Forget the money trail (taxpayer dollars?), and who paid for Hunter's expensive travel and boarding in NC and California to hush this scandal up; to Dems, it's just about sex.
Remember Massacusetts Democratic Congressman Gerry Studds who was found to be having sex with an underage Congressional male page? To skirt US legal jurisdiction, he'd even flown the boy to Portugal to have sex with him. Mr. Studds got re-elected several more times after the revelation.
Re; On John Edwards
August 11, 2008 - 00:56 ET by BearoneHello,
Less see after seeing his mansion several times on TV I would say it is more likely than not that this man has a whole lot of poor people working for him at his "BIG" home there in North Carolina. Now isn't it a shame that the REAL news agency that broke the story was the Enquirer. Why does that not sound funny. A side-note, if this was a Rep., and not this man, or some other dem. running for high office it would be so much different, and they might send out all of there talking heads, and that is what they have been trying to do all weekend long, on FoxNews, CNN, and all the other news agencies well it does not work. They are now in a pile of crap, and they just do not know which way to go to get out of it. The times-(NYT)- prints a "LIE" about John McCain, and runs with it as a worthy story, and it was a TOTAL LIE, and they knew it so, now you have this man caught in the act, and of course the NYT is not going to say anything because he is a LIB, and we all know what that means, HE IS NOT A LIAR, BUT JOHN MCCAIN IS. The press, the main-stream media, and most of the internet is being destroyed by the "LEFT" in this country. we need to stand up, and say enough already. Please will you do that with me, FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR COUNTRY, AND THE FUTURE OF YOUR COUNTRY. PLEASE!!!!!!
God Bless you,
Bearone
An affair is dishonest and
August 11, 2008 - 15:10 ET by ForeverOnTheRightAn affair is dishonest and lacking integrity:
Dishonest: not honest or truthful: meaning or meant to deceive, defraud, or trick people. (Encarta)
Edwards affair was deceitful, defrauding toward his wife and the public.
Integrity: possession of firm principles: the quality of possessing and steadfastly adhering to high moral principles or professional standards. (Encarta)
A person who has an affair is one that is not adhering to high moral principles.
So how can a person say that he was an honest person of integrity? What dictionary are they reading from, the Abridged American Liberal Dictionary? Is that dictionary like Wikpedia, where anybody can change entries to fit their fancy?
Question
August 11, 2008 - 21:47 ET by JWFI will never vote for a democrat so I have not been paying too much attention to them.
I just noticed Edwards parts his hair on the right side. Thats weird, isn't it?
I thought only women parted their on the right side. Men parted their hair on the left side or in the middle.