A newly released book is spilling secrets from the 2008 presidential campaign.
Some of the most shocking claims involve John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth.
“Game Change” made headlines over the weekend when quotes attributed to Senate Majority Harry Reid came to light. The statements Reid made were in reference to then presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Excerpts from the book were featured in New York Magazine, and the drama behind the scenes of the Edwards campaign is taking center stage.
The authors write, “…there existed a deep wariness about the North Carolinian among his fellow Democrats. In the Senate, in particular, Edwards was regarded almost universally by his former colleagues as a callow, shallow phony.”
The book also points to tension between the Edwards’ on the campaign trail, claiming, “…she was forever letting John know that she regarded him as her intellectual inferior. One time, when a friend asked if John had read a certain book, Elizabeth burst out laughing. ‘Oh, he doesn’t read books,’ she said. ‘I’m the one who reads books.'”
And the authors quote campaign insiders who talk about how John Edwards met Rielle Hunter, early signs of the affair that made headlines and the emotional reaction of Elizabeth Edwards when she found out about the relationship.
The book claims Hunter spent time inside the Edwards’ Chapel Hill home while Elizabeth was out of town with the Edwards’ daughter, Cate. It claims Hunter recorded video inside the home and had dinner with John and the children’s nanny.
The authors say Elizabeth first saw Hunter in Chapel Hill on the last stop of John’s announcement tour, which Hunter was documenting with video. The next day, according to the authors, Elizabeth told the campaign team “that woman is crazy. Get rid of her.”
The New York Magazine article about the book ends with a claim that Elizabeth is now urging her husband to admit paternity of Hunter’s baby.
Eighteen months ago Elizabeth still insisted she believed he was not the father. The magazine claims Elizabeth said, “I have to believe it. Because if I don’t, it means I’m married to a monster.”
“Game Change” officially goes on sale Tuesday and the New York Magazine issue is on news stands now.
