John McCain’s presidential campaign is threatening a lawsuit against the National Enquirer over a print edition story the tabloid ran today alleging that Gov. Sarah Palin has had an extramarital affair with her husband’s business partner.

The allegation would normally be dismissed by political observers as the random musings of a supermarket tabloid — indeed, the McCain campaign said as much in its statements on Wednesday — except that the paper has built up a reservoir of legitimacy following its earlier reporting on the John Edwards affair.

In a statement to the Huffington Post, a spokesman for the paper, who promised a larger report next week, tapped into that pool of quasi-respect.

“The National Enquirer’s coverage of a vicious war within Sarah Palin’s extended family includes several newsworthy revelations, including the resulting incredible charge of an affair plus details of family strife when the Governor’s daughter revealed her pregnancy. Following our John Edwards’ exclusives, our political reporting has obviously proven to be more detail-oriented than the McCain campaign’s vetting process. Despite the McCain camp’s attempts to control press coverage they find unfavorable, The Enquirer will continue to pursue news on both sides of the political spectrum.”

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Why the hell hasn’t Edwards come forward to dispute these stories? Is there some truth to them? 

JOHN Edwards has gone, in a few months, from being one of the Democrats’ strongest presidential candidates to a party pariah who won’t be allowed to speak at the national convention later this month.

The handsome former North Carolina senator is considered a stirring orator, and still has 19 delegates pledged to him, which would make him a key speaker under normal circumstances.

But Edwards has been dogged by stories in the National Enquirer about an alleged affair with a campaign videographer, Rielle Hunter, who gave birth in February to a daughter said to be Edwards’ “love child.”

Top Dems say that if Edwards doesn’t publicly address the scandal, and put it to rest, he won’t be allowed to become a embarrassing distraction during the convention in Denver, where Sen. Barack Obama will accept the presidential nomination.

“The big media [have] tried to be responsible and handle this with kid gloves, but it’s clearly getting ready to bust out,” Democratic strategist Gary Pearce told the Charlotte Observer. “If it’s not true, he’s got to stand up and say, ‘This is not true. That is not my child, and I’m going to take legal action against the people who are spreading these lies.’ It’s not enough to say, ‘That’s tabloid trash.’ ”

Don Fowler, a former Democratic National Committee chair, told the paper: “If there is not an explanation that’s satisfactory, acceptable and meets high moral standards, the answer is ‘no’ – he would not be a prime candidate to make a major address to the convention.”

DNC spokesperson Natalie Wyeth told Page Six: “It’s tradition that all candidates for the nomination are invited to attend, and this year will be no different.”

But a veteran party operative told us, “I don’t think anyone wants to go near him unless he answers all the questions.” Another Democrat said, “He will probably go, but do no interviews and try to be invisible.”

Several attempts to contact Edwards drew no response.

Finally this story is getting out there. I think some sort of explanation is deserved, especially after he tried to run for the presidency of this country! I have to admit though, that blurry picture doesn’t look like him to me.

NY Post- August 6

RIELLE Hunter - the woman reported by the National Enquirer to be John Edwards’ mistress and mother of his love child – is no stranger to fans of Jay McInerney. The novelist dated the blonde for a few months in the late 1980s and based his book “Story of My Life” on her.

Hunter was known as Lisa Druck when McInerney met her at Nell’s in 1987. “She’s a nice girl,” the author told Page Six. “She used to be a real party girl.

“When she wasn’t out at nightclubs, she was taking acting classes. We dated for only a few months, but in that period, I spent a lot of time with her and her friends, whose behavior intrigued and appalled me to such an extent that I ended up basing a novel on the experience,” McInerney recalled.

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