New John Edwards Tell-All, In Case You Weren’t Already Disgusted Enough

Another day, another scandalous political book being leaked to the press. I’m going to wager that after the Going Rogue deluge, followed by the Game Change deluge, the country may not have much more attention to give to the bad behavior of our pols…particularly John Edwards. Nevertheless, here’s the latest dirt on Edwards courtesy of his former aide Andrew Young, the guy who initially took responsibility for Rielle Hunter’s baby.

Someone over at the WSJ blog ‘Washington Wire’ apparently managed to snag an early version of Andrew Young’s upcoming Edwards tell-all ‘The Politician.’ Other juicy bits from the book have made their way into the media prior to this, courtesy of a leaked book proposal and an A-1 takedown at the New York Times, which noted among other things Edwards promise to Hunter that “after his wife died, he would marry her in a rooftop ceremony in New York with an appearance by the Dave Matthews Band.” To be honest, in the aftermath of Game Change revelations and

Edwards’ own admission that he fathered Hunter’s child, most of these frankly seem rather tame (unless, of course, the book comes with a complimentary sex tape). Nonetheless, if you’re not already entirely disgusted with Edwards these remaining tidbits should do the trick:

• According to Young, Hunter called him in May 2007 to say she was pregnant. Young says that when he informed Edwards, the senator told him to “handle it,” to which he replied: “I can’t handle this one.” Young writes that Edward unloaded on Hunter as a “crazy slut,” said they had an “open relationship,” and put his paternity chances at “one in three.” Young says that Edwards asked him for help persuading Hunter to have an abortion. Young writes that Hunter believed the baby to be “some kind of golden child, the reincarnated spirit of a Buddhist monk who was going to help save the world.”
• [Calling MoDo] “Naturally thick and lustrous, his hair was a fixation with him. He insisted on using just one kind of shampoo — HairTec Thick & Strong Shampoo for Fine, Fragile Hair,” Young writes. He says that for years he or Edwards personally paid for the expensive haircuts rather than publicly list them as campaign expenses. He blamed the gaffe – Edward’s campaign committee picked up the tab for two $400 haircuts — on “new, inexperienced staff.”
• Keeping the affair running throughout the campaign wasn’t easy. “When I knew where the senator was staying, I made reservations
  in my own name, faxed copies of my credit card and state identification card, and told the hotel staff that my ‘wife’ would be checking in on my account,” Young writes. He said he paid for much of Hunter’s expenses out of his pocket, and Edwards promised reimbursement when they found wealthy campaign donors or when Elizabeth died and he no longer had to cover up such costs. “I’ll take care of you, Andrew,” he quotes Edwards as saying. “You know I’m good for it.”

You can read the rest here.