Inside the Edwards Trainwreck

Worth Clicking: Blasts from the past wound Romney

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January 26, 2010

Inside the Edwards Trainwreck

The Wall Street Journal gets an early copy of Andrew Young's tell-all book about working as an aide to John Edwards for nearly a decade.

A few choice highlights from The Politician:

The locals: Edwards is an Atkins-dieter who hated making appearances at state fairs where "fat rednecks try to shove food down my face. I know I'm the people's senator, but do I have to hang out with them?"

The hair: "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."

The confrontation: Elizabeth Edwards answered a cell phone call to hear Rielle Hunter who "launched into a romantic monologue." Elizabeth confronted her husband who "confessed to having had a one-night stand but didn't say with whom." He called Hunter in front of his wife to end it, but later called her back to say he didn't mean it.

The video: Young describes his discovery of a compromising videotape of Edwards and a naked, pregnant lover: "It was like watching a traffic pileup occur in slow motion -- it was repelling but also transfixing."

Hotline On Call has more excerpts, including this one:

Young, after the birth, produced a requested shirt for Rielle decorated by his kids with the logo "I am the granddaughter of a millworker."

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Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

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Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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January 26, 2010