John Edwards admits to affair, repeated lies

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"In the course of several campaigns," he said, "I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic. If you want to beat me up, feel free. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself. I have been stripped bare."

Although he confirmed a romantic liaison "for a short period in 2006" with Rielle Hunter, who filmed videos for his campaign, Edwards denied that he is father of her baby. The allegation appeared last month in the National Enquirer, which wrote that it had followed Edwards to a rendezvous with Hunter and the baby at the Beverly Hilton.

The acknowledged affair seems certain to kill any role for Edwards at the Democratic National Convention, set to begin Aug. 25 in Denver, and to eliminate him from consideration as Barack Obama's running mate or a member of an Obama Cabinet.

"I don't think he's going to be making a living in politics any time soon," said John J. Pitney Jr., a political analyst at Claremont McKenna College.

The National Enquirer first reported the alleged affair Oct. 11. Edwards, his aides and Hunter all denied it. But the tabloid continued to pursue the story. This week, it published a grainy photo purportedly showing Edwards holding the baby at the Beverly Hills hotel.

Edwards' admission Friday stunned supporters who had taken him at his word in his earlier denials, and it came as particularly sour news for admirers of his wife, Elizabeth, whose battle with cancer had become an integral part of Edwards' campaign and the family's story. The couple's first child, Wade, died in a car crash in 1996, and they decided to have two more children, who often joined them and their adult daughter on the campaign trail.

Elizabeth Edwards was diagnosed with breast cancer just after her husband and Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry lost the 2004 presidential election. The couple announced in March 2007 that the disease had returned in a treatable but incurable form.

In a statement Friday, she said her husband had made "a terrible mistake" but praised him for his "courage" in deciding to talk now about the affair. She said their reconciliation was "a long and painful process." In a plea for privacy, she lashed out at the National Enquirer -- without naming it -- for "a recent string of hurtful and absurd lies." "The toll on our family of news helicopters over our house and reporters in our driveway is yet unknown," she said.

Bob Schieffer reported on "CBS Evening News" that he had spoken with Edwards and his wife, who "was obviously in tears." "This is really, really tough," he said she had told him.

John Edwards, 55, also discussed the relationship in an interview with Bob Woodruff of ABC News that aired on "Nightline." He said that his affair with Hunter, 44, who could not be reached for comment, ended before she became pregnant. He also said it occurred while his wife's illness was in remission but added: "That's no excuse."

Hunter was hired in 2006 to make videos of Edwards for his planned presidential bid and was paid $114,000. Edwards said she was hired before the affair started.

Edwards told Woodruff that he had informed his wife about the affair when it ended. "She was mad; she was angry. I think furious would be a good way to describe it," he said.

He was not in love with Hunter, Edwards said, only with his wife of 31 years. "She is the finest human being I have ever known," he said.

But Edwards also said he had not told his wife that he planned to see Hunter last month. He said he met with her because "I was trying to keep this mistake I had made from becoming public."

Edwards said he would welcome a paternity test. "I know that it's not possible that this child could be mine because of the timing of events," he said.

He also insisted that the National Enquirer photo does not show him holding Hunter's baby at the hotel. He said he was wearing a different shirt and does not remember the baby being present. "I don't know if the picture has been altered, manufactured, if it's a picture of me taken some other time, holding another baby. I have no idea."

When Woodruff asked how he could have cheated on his wife, noting that she is widely admired, Edwards cited his dizzying political rise: "All of which fed a self-focus, an egotism, a narcissism that leads you to believe that you can do whatever you want. You're invincible. And there will be no consequences. And nothing, nothing could be further from the truth."

Edwards said he had "never paid a dime" to Hunter or Andrew Young, a married former aide who has claimed to be the baby's father, and was not aware of payments made by supporters.