John Edwards Gets Caught With his Pants Down

John Edwards just proved why most Americans don’t trust politicians. He got caught with his pants down and he tried to lie about it. For those living in a cave, the former Presidential candidate admitted earlier this week he had an affair while his wife battled cancer. It’s one thing to have an affair, but cheating on your wife while she is battling such a horrible disease is outright selfish. His response made him seem like that much more of an egomaniac.

"In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic," Edwards said in a statement.

His television response on ABC's Nightline wasn't much better.

"I went from being a senator, a young senator, to being considered for vice president, running for president, being a vice presidential candidate and becoming a national public figure," Edwards said on national television.

Who coached this guy in crisis management? Of course, no politician should need a lesson in honesty, but Edwards could have improved his crisis situation in several ways. There are many lessons to take away from this, which can be applied to your situation.

Number 1, don't ever try to lie to get out of a crisis situation. You only have one thing in this world and that is your credibility. If you lose that credibility with a reporter, you probably won’t gain it back. Worse, if the lie is relevant to the story, your element of deception will probably be included in the story.

Journalists are schooled in uncovering the truth, and the more experienced the reporter, the greater the odds that your lie will be revealed. Instead of trying to deceive the reporter on the issue, make an effort to resolve it. If you have a manager who took
advantage of a person, hold that manager and yourself accountable by firing or suspending him. Then communicate to the reporter how you held the acting agent accountable.

You might think that you can get away with deception and lying (and maybe you are a great storyteller) but we live in a round world. What goes around comes around, and if you don’t get caught the first time, sooner or later your web of deceit will entangle you.

I don’t want to judge because I am human. But I am also not running for President of the United States on a platform of honesty, integrity and values. I also didn't lambast President Clinton when reporters uncovered Monica Lewinsky's blue, semen-stained dress. Edwards, the opportunist he was, used the scandal to jump on the moral bandwagon, and score political points with the religious conservatives. Today, his words from the past add even more weight in holding him accountable as a politician who promised he would do better.

"I think this President has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen," Edwards said back in 1999.

Oh really. It should be known that Edwards cheated on his wife after he sought the highest office in the land. I wonder what Edwards say about himself today.

Edwards encouraged people to believe in him when he ran for President, and most people did. He came in second place in the crucial Iowa primary last January. Not bad for a guy who claimed he was the son of a factory worker. Edwards was a populist, which is why his platform transcended so many generations. He championed the little guy, the manufacturer who lost his job and the teacher who wanted more pay. The little old ladies who worried about their Medicare also felt like they had someone to trust. But then he decided to cheat on his wife. Thank G-d for tabloid journalism reporters. The Enquirer did something few other media outlets had the guts to do. They put a reporter on the sex beat to expose Edwards and the hypocrisy he was living. They exposed a national story with real ramifications.

Morality does matter in politics, especially if you frequently promote it within your platform. If he's willing to deceive his wife, why wouldn't he deceive America? Oh wait, Edwards admitted this week that he tried to do that. When asked why he repeatedly denied the affair, Edwards was honest.

"Because I did not want the public to know what I had done. It's that simple," Edwards said.

It's nice knowing a politician who almost became President is honest enough to say he intentionally wanted to deceive us.

For more on how to handle any crisis communications situation, go to www.BeatthePressBook.com