Edwards pushed to confront rumor

RALEIGH, N.C. — Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards has a deadline to save his spot on the national stage.

With less than three weeks to go before their national convention, a number of Democrats are saying Edwards needs to publicly address National Enquirer stories that have claimed he had an affair with a campaign worker and fathered her baby.

If Edwards fails to clear up the story soon, he risks party officials' deciding not to have him speak or, if they do let him, creating a distraction from a week focused on Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance of the nomination.

"If there is not an explanation that's satisfactory, acceptable and meets high moral standards, the answer is 'no,' he would not be a prime candidate to make a major address to the convention," said Don Fowler, a former Democratic National Committee chairman.

Democrats gather in Denver on Aug. 25, and Edwards, as the 2004 vice-presidential nominee and a presidential candidate who won delegates this year, ordinarily would be locked in as a speaker.

"He absolutely does have to [resolve it]. If it's not true, he has to issue a stronger denial," said Gary Pearce, the Democratic strategist who ran Edwards' 1998 Senate race.

"The big media has tried to be responsible and handle this with kid gloves, but it's clearly getting ready to bust out.

"If it's not true, he's got to stand up and say, 'This is not true. That is not my child and I'm going to take legal action against the people who are spreading these lies.' It's not enough to say, 'That's tabloid trash.' "

Edwards is widely regarded as a rousing speaker, particularly on poverty, and has up to 19 delegates pledged to him, making him a logical choice for a high-profile convention role.

Convention organizers said Wednesday the schedule of speakers has not been announced.

Edwards' political currency declines with each day the story goes unresolved, Fowler and other Democratic strategists said.

Edwards' decision not to take questions about the claimed affair has allowed doubts to linger and bloggers to speculate. The National Enquirer has reported he fathered a child with a former campaign worker and met with her in a Beverly Hills, Calif., hotel last month. He made no response to The National Enquirer's posting Wednesday of what it said was a photo of Edwards and the child.

Two weeks ago, after The National Enquirer ran the hotel story, he dismissed a question in Houston and used the "tabloid-trash" line.

Edwards' employee for media contacts has not responded to e-mail requests for an interview.

Friends and former employees refuse to comment now, though last fall they dismissed an October story in the Enquirer of a sexual relationship between Edwards and a campaign videographer when it broke.

The Enquirer's October story, citing unnamed sources, claimed Edwards was having an affair with a woman who had filmed a series of videos during his presidential campaign. The tabloid later reported she was pregnant.

Two weeks ago, the tabloid posted a story online claiming that Edwards had visited the woman, Rielle Hunter, and the child at a Beverly Hills hotel and that the paper's reporters confronted him.

Hunter posted an online statement in October denying the story. In December, a campaign worker for Edwards, Andrew Young, claimed paternity of the woman's then-unborn child.

Last week, The Charlotte Observer obtained a copy of the child's birth certificate, which did not list the father. Hunter's lawyer said that "a lot of women do that" and it was a personal matter between Hunter and Young.

Politico reported last month that Edwards told others he was promised a prime-time speaking slot when he endorsed Obama.

Lorenzo Perez and Lisa Zagaroli contributed to this report.