According to ABC, if the jury in the John Edwards corruption trial finds him not guilty, he may attempt to return to the political arena. As we know, Edwards is being charged with channeling campaign funds to his mistress and the mother of his child, Rielle Hunter, which is apparently against the law.

John Edwards

John Edwards may be one of the scummiest politicians ever to grace this great nation. Let’s just recount some of the ways in which he has earned this appellation. He campaigned for the Presidency alongside his devoted wife, Elizabeth, who had terminal cancer. A big part of his appeal was his steadfastness to his marriage. At the same time, his campaign ‘videographer’ was the aforementioned Ms. Hunter, whose skills may have tended more toward the horizontal rather than the photographic.

After he impregnated her, he thought it was appropriate to throw the blame onto his best friend and campaign aide, who was also married. Allegedly, when the admirable Ms. Hunter, who later posed provocatively for magazines, threatened to expose their relationship, Edwards induced two of his contributors to pay her off. He then left his wife and kids shortly before she passed away so that he could be with his true lust.

To top it off, he had apparently kept his kids in the dark about many of the gruesome details. Then, in a move that may earn him Father of the Millennium, he decided that one of his daughters could attest to his beneficent character. When the horrific truth came out during the trial, she burst into tears and ran from the courtroom.

Anyway, NYT/CBS did a poll on Edwards’ approval number. It found that 2% of women and 4% of men approve of his conduct. I assume that most of the women who remain enthralled by Edwards are waiting to appear on one of the Judge shows, with 5 babies by 3 daddies, whose latest boyfriend robs them blind, and they can’t figure out what they’ve done wrong. I assume that the guys who are impressed by the ex-Senator, ex-Vice-Presidential nominee, and former Presidential candidate are the same guys that seem to permeate malls where their idea of a good joke is to tip over someone in a wheelchair and are enraptured by a politician who is as much a thug as they are.

I really don’t care if the jury finds Edwards guilty or not. I just wish that, if he is found not guilty, that the media would imitate the Amish when someone acts incredibly distastefully, they shun him.