He lied to our faces and, worse, induced others to do the same, even tried to fake medical and legal records to support the lie. That was always the worst thing about Clinton, not what he said under oath of video tape, which did meet the technical definition of the terms as agreed by both legal teams when the judge ordered a recess to define them, but what he said to the American public knowing darn well what we understood by "sexual relations. " That's a public trust issue; it's not on the scale of "this administration did not trade arms for hostages" or "I just don't think I ever said [what Bush told a nationally televised press conference in March '03]" but it's in the exact same vein. I mean, geez, say what you want about Carter, but not only did he promise "I will never lie to you" he may be the last President we had who actually KEPT that promise.

What makes it worse with Edwards is that he presented himself as a devout man (namesake of a Great Awakening giant) motivated, DRIVEN, by his faith in Christ. Who fathers a child out of wedlock while his wife is dying, convinces an employee to claim paternity with the mothers cooperation and even tries to forge official documents to support the lie. I know we all have clay feet, but that's a level of hypocrisy I can't stomach, and that calls into question every public pronouncement he ever made. On a lesser scale I feel a bit like I've always imagined Stephanopoulos did when he resigned: I believed in and publicly defended a man who made me look like a fool, because he lied to me along with everyone else. People ask why Gore didn't want to campaign with the still popular Bill Clinton: That's why.