John Edwards told to ABC News's Bob Woodruff that he had an affair with Rielle Hunter, "but said that he did not love her." Edwards denies that he's the father of Hunter's baby, though. [ABC, Slate with the background]......

John Edwards has been running for president since 2000, when he began appearing in Iowa. Over the last eight years, his campaign has used a theme of "two Americas," the haves and the have nots. He touched on that message last night in Michigan. “There is one man that knows how to create the lasting change that you have to build from the ground up. There is one man who knows in his heart that......

On the heels of her big victory in West Virginia, Hillary Clinton is now reeling from yet another big endorsement for Obama, this time from perennial Presidential bridesmaid John Edwards. According to the Trib's D.C. bureau, Edwards will join Obama in Grand Rapids, Michigan tonight to give his official endorsement. It's no surprise, given that Edwards' campaign manager David Bonior endorsed Obama last week. We also noticed the two men seemed to have developed a......

In a race that may be a precursor to the Ohio and Texas Democratic primaries in March, Barack Obama won a decisive victory in Wisconsin last night, leading Hillary Clinton by nearly 20 points. He also won Hawaii, taking over 75 percent of the vote in a state where he had campaigned as a "native son." His victories last night mark his ninth and tenth consecutive primary or caucus wins and put his pledged delegate......

The South Carolina Democratic primary could have been a footnote in this year's race to the nomination. The Clintons fought hard in South Carolina, hoping that Bill's popularity in the black community could divide the vote, giving an unexpected win to Hillary. By the time the exit polls indicated that Obama had carried the state by wide margins, the Clintons were dismissing Obama's win as a by-product of the racial demographics in this southern state,......

So the Sun-Times is laying off reporters, but it still has the money to run a moronic article about presidential candidates' sexiness? John Edwards is "not exactly wet-T-shirt sexy, but it still sets a few hearts aflutter," Rudy Giuliani is "now rather frigid," John McCain is "a far cry from a sexy man in uniform," Hillary Clinton has "stripped herself of the trappings of sexuality and femininity," Mike Huckabee "Preacher. Moving right along...," Mitt......

Last night marked the official beginning of the 2008 presidential season. The close of the Iowa Democratic caucuses saw Barack Obama with 37 percent, John Edwards with 30 percent, and Hillary Clinton in third place with 29 percent of the votes, with 99 percent of Iowa precincts reporting. On the Republican side Mike Huckabee was the big winner. In fact, last night was a night of few surprises. The big shockers coming out of the......

SFist witnessed a new apartment building tszuj the skyline with spectacular, gaudy turquoise aplomb, the (informal) renaming of the Mission/SOMA neighborhood border, the return of the Maltese Falcon, the Mayor Gavin Newsom mea culpa-ing over his Hawaiian getaway during the oil spill, and double-decker buses hitting the streets of San Francisco. Oh, and some baseball player named Barry Bonds is a liar whose pants, it seems, are totally on fire. LAist continues to cover the......

Howard Dean proved candidates could use the internet to raise funds and get people talking ... if not to come and vote for you. But a Wall Street Journal article published today focuses on how the internet is pulling money in for smaller, local campaigns. Daniel Biss, a 30-year-old math professor running for the Illinois state legislature, almost surpassed John Edwards as one of the top money-raisers on ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising website. Of course,......

The three Democratic front-runners came to Chicago this week to seek the endorsement of that other labor federation, Change to Win. Barack Obama and John Edwards made their case in person, but erstwhile local gal Hillary Clinton had to settle for phoning it in from Little Rock Arkansas where her plane was stranded. "Back in the '90s when we had a Democratic Congress and we had a Democratic president, we didn't get universal healthcare," Edwards......

About 17,000 union members, along with their friends and their families, filled the south end of Soldier Field for a debate, hosted by the AFL-CIO, among the Democratic contenders. A sweaty sea of union members in colored T-shirts, representing everyone from the Service Employees International Union to the United Steelworkers, from the AFSCME to the IUPAT, drank cold bottles of water and listened to Democrats talk about how their administration would work for working families,......

While most of the city was partying down at Lollapalooza this weekend, a different type of party was going on just a few blocks south of Grant Park: YearlyKos, the annual convention hosted by DailyKos, the netroots weblog started by Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, and filled with content, news and views by a motley crew of bloggers from around the nation (including Dick Durbin!). Saturday was a big day for the bloggers by the lake, with......

It's only July, one year out, and already it feels like there is a presidential race going on, doesn't it? Maybe it's too soon to declare Bush a lame duck, but we're inclined to think he is. In this most early of seasons, much has been made of fund raising, often at the expense of real discussions of the issues. Obama is setting records, regularly pulling in millions of dollars in small sums, Hillary is......

Happy Father's Day! For those of you who have dads, are dads, or know dads, this one's for you, from all of us at the Gothamist network." It was a week of bizarre, embarassing headlines at DCist. The trial of the local administrative law judge who sued his cleaners for $54 million over a pair of missing pants left everyone shaking their heads. Then the capital city was nearly brought to its knees, twice, by......

In the marathon that this presidential political season is becoming, presidential hopeful and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards made a pair of brief campaign stops in Chicago Wednesday, just one day before Barack Obama made a campaign stop in North Carolina. At BB's bar and restaurant on Hubbard, part of his "Small Change for Big Change" series of fundraisers, Edwards told the crowd, who had paid between $15 and $100 a head to hear......

Last night was the first debate among Democratic candidates for the presidential nomination. On a crowded stage, the large group of suits that are hoping for the nod to take on a Republican in Fall of '08 for the White House argued about the nuances of the Iraq War. Erstwhile local gal Hillary had a well thought-out answer to the question "Do you agree with the position [that the war in Iraq is lost] of......

This week, more than before, we have a veritable cornucopia of presidential news. After how many years of Southerners and Westerners in the White House, it seems only fitting that we dedicate this week's Hump Day Political News Roundup to all the cowboys that have ridden off into the sunset that is the Beltway. Let's take a look back: George W. Bush Is a Bad-Ass Cowboy. As his term dwindles away, his approval ratings circle......

Were you aware that our state is the 2nd largest corn producer in the United States? According to Chicago Public Radio, the price of corn has doubled since this time last year and Illinois farmers are taking full advantage of it. Chris Gould, an Illinois farmer profiled in the story, said that normally during harvest season the price starts to drop and farmers are paid to hang on to the corn until the buyers need......

As John Edwards buckles down and tries to keep his presidential bid moving forward while his wife deals with the return of cancer, the two other major Democratic players — Hillary and Barack — have been in the news lately for their stands not just on gay marriage, but the morality of homosexuality in general. After Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Chicago Tribune that "homosexual acts between......

Aside from the fact that Barack Obama gives us a certain sense of pride in our city, we feel he truly gives our country and its citizens the feeling that things can change. This seems to be a consistent theme in reactions to Obama, ''He makes you feel like it is possible to change things,'' Brenda Calkington told the New York Times today at Obama's announcement of his intention to run for President. Thousands of......

Here we are, less than two years away from the next contest for the White House. This time next year, hopefuls, shoo-ins, and also-rans will be in a mad dash around the country, having pancakes in New Hampshire, talking milk prices and manufacturing in Iowa, and hoping to make it to Super Tuesday. On the Democratic side of the coin, more than a few people have already thrown their hats into the ring, and some......

Yee Haw, Pardner! We got us a whole mess 'a turkeys to rustle up here, so let's get these doggies rollin'! Chicago taxpayers are footing the bill for legal representation of witnesses in the Hired Truck Scandal to the tune of $595,080, for witnesses alone! This number only covers the cost of witnesses that weren't implicated in the scandal. The largest portion of this bill, $210,717, went to a single law firm that used to......

Senator Obama and former Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards will be on WakeUpWalMart.com conference calls this evening at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. respectively. Sign up here if you want to hear what your esteemed Senator thinks about unions and Wal-Mart. Chicagoist already signed up; they told us to call -888-801-1510 using pass-code 849485. According to WakeUpWalMart.com “Wal-Mart’s recent policy changes are the most anti-family, anti-worker changes in this company’s history.” The evening’s calls will......

A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about Transitions Bookplace going through an icky transition of its own. Well, things have changed, and an angel (if you believe, clap your hands!) has come to save them. An anonymous benefactor has given them enough money to keep afloat (plus some), and is only asking for 1% ownership. We’re glad to hear Transitions is staying open, because otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to see real-life Medium, Allison......

Sabotage is the suspected cause behind the collapse of 2 big electrical transmission towers in Oak Creek, WI. Nobody was hurt, but both freight and passenger train service was halted until Sunday night when crews were able to clear the power lines from train tracks. The Oak Creek police chief said they'd hoped the collapse was accidental but that physical evidence collected shows that one of the towers was deliberately tampered with. He said bolts......

Boy oh boy is John Edwards pretty. Man oh(ld) man is Dick Cheney creepy. Last night's VP debate proved quite entertaining and pugnacious. Cheney pulled no punches labeling Edward's record, "not very distinguished" and mentioning, "Your hometown newspaper has taken to calling you 'Senator Gone.'" The newspaper Cheney referred to isn't exactly Edward's hometown paper, but it's only 20 minutes away. Cheney said he's in the Senate most Tuesdays but hadn't met Edwards until last......

Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards is coming to Chicago tomorrow in his first solo campaign appearance. John Kerry and Edwards have campaigned together since the announcement that Kerry chose Edwards as his running mate, but campaign officials say they will split up and start campaign separately. Wednesday's fund-raiser at the Chicago Hilton and Towers will be part of a weekend-long fund raising bonanza and is sure not to be Edwards only visit to IL,......

Finally. John Kerry named John Edwards as his running mate this morning, shocking no one but disappointing the other 24 people on his not-that-short list. By selecting Edwards, Kerry went with the smooth-talking Southern populist over more seasoned politicians in hopes of injecting vigor and small-town appeal to the Democratic presidential ticket. Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, calculated that he didn't need to add foreign policy heft to the ticket. Called aloof by his critics,......