news-record.com

Tabloid allegations have trickled into mainstream media outlets concerning an alleged affair involving former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and a former campaign videographer.

But if those reports are as scurrilous and flatly wrong as Edwards contends, why does he dignify them by running away from them?

Here is what we know: The National Enquirer has reported that Edwards, a Democrat, had the affair and fathered a child as a result. "SEN. JOHN EDWARDS CAUGHT WITH MISTRESS AND LOVE CHILD!" a headline screamed in blazing red letters two weeks ago.

Considering the source, who knows what's true? Is part of it? None of it?

Meanwhile, some bloggers have instantly assumed the reports to be correct and have wondered out loud why others haven't followed suit in excoriating Edwards as a shameless philanderer.

But fairness and common decency call for separating fact from fiction before passing any judgment, if there's any judgment to be passed. Even though the Enquirer isn't as reckless and far-fetched as it once was, The Washington Post or New York Times it definitely isn't. Getting sued for getting things wrong still is de rigueur there - a cost of doing business.

Edwards has described the report as tabloid trash and "completely untrue," as has the woman, Rielle Hunter, 44. A former campaign fundraiser for Edwards, Andrew Young, the married father of three, stepped forward in December 2007 and said he was the father of the child, whose birth certificate still lists no father.

The Enquirer reported on July 21 that Edwards had been spotted entering Hunter's room in a Beverly Hills, Calif., hotel. When reporters confronted him, the Enquirer contends, Edwards sought refuge in a basement rest room and had to be escorted out by hotel security.

Edwards has since been cool to reporters, whose questions he avoided twice last week after a speech in Washington.

This has been a difficult story to pin down because the Enquirer is hardly a paragon of journalistic integrity. The allegations are especially sensitive because Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, is battling an incurable form of cancer.

That said, Edwards isn't helping his cause by not standing up to the charges and by playing hide-and-seek with reporters. From a personal and political standpoint, this situation merits more than Edwards ducking into a car and saying, "Sorry." While responding to rumors can validate them, this story has spiraled to the point that Edwards needs to say something.

Yes, Edwards already has denied the reports before as "false" and "ridiculous." But in light of these latest allegations, it wouldn't hurt for him to say so again.

As a man who has waged two campaigns for president and might well have been vice president, Edwards should clear the air and set the record straight.

To comment on this editorial, visit the blog Your Voice at the Table.