IN THE HEADLINES Edwards admits to affair, denies fathering child ... Vice President Dick Cheney to speak at GOP convention, joining Bush on opening night ... McCain, Obama urge end to fighting in Georgia, push diplomatic efforts ... McCain says no to ethanol support ... Officials say Bill Clinton to speak at Democratic convention, ahead of Obama's running mate ___ Edwards admits to affair, denies fathering child WASHINGTON (AP) _ Former presidential candidate John Edwards, who won nationwide praise and sympathy as he campaigned side-by-side with his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth, admitted in shame Friday he had had an extramarital affair with a woman who produced videos for his campaign. Acknowledging a sex scandal he had dismissed as "tabloid trash" only last month, Edwards said he had told his wife and family long ago but "I had hoped that it would never become public." He denied fathering a daughter, born to the woman with whom he had the affair, and offered to be tested to prove it. A former Edwards campaign staff member professes to be the father. The former North Carolina senator, who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2004, confessed to ABC News that he had lied repeatedly about the affair with 42-year-old Rielle Hunter. Hunter's daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter, was born on Feb. 27 this year, and no father's name is given on the birth certificate filed in California. After the story broke Friday, Edwards released a statement that said, "In 2006, I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognized my mistake, and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public." ____ Cheney to speak at GOP convention on opening night WASHINGTON (AP) _ Vice President Dick Cheney, a conservative favorite but a divisive national figure, will join President Bush in addressing delegates on the opening night of the Republican National Convention, the White House said Friday. There had been doubts about a speech by Cheney. When asked earlier this week about the vice president's plans to attend the convention, spokeswoman Megan Mitchell left the question open by saying his schedule for September had not been set. Cheney plans to speak the same Monday night that Bush will address delegates in St. Paul, Minn., Mitchell said Friday. The convention is scheduled for Sept. 1-4, ending with John McCain's nomination. Only 31 percent of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released this week. In June, an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll showed Cheney viewed positively by just 23 percent. Still, Cheney is popular with many Republican faithful and remains a behind-the-scenes power broker. The convention provides both Bush and Cheney an opportunity for a valedictory speech to the GOP. ___ McCain, Obama urge halt to fighting in Georgia DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) _ The major presidential candidates on Friday called on Russia and Georgia to end their military action and appealed for more diplomatic efforts aimed at avoiding a full-scale war. Republican John McCain said Russia should withdraw its forces. Democrat Barack Obama condemned the violence and urged the two sides to show restraint. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has long pledged to take back control of South Ossetia, which battled Georgia for de facto independence in fighting that ended in 1992. On Friday, Moscow sent tanks into the region when Georgia launched a major military offensive to retake the breakaway province. Campaigning in Iowa, McCain told reporters that the U.S. should convene an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council to resolve the crisis. "What's most critical now is to avoid further confrontation between Russian and Georgian military forces," McCain said. Obama, flying to Hawaii for a vacation from the campaign trail, issued a statement declaring that "Georgia's territorial integrity must be respected." ___ In corn country, McCain says no to ethanol support DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) _ Republican presidential candidate John McCain didn't mince words Friday at the Iowa State Fair, telling corn producers he didn't want to subsidize their ethanol but was eager to help market farm products around the world. "My friends, we will disagree on a specific issue and that's healthy," McCain said as he stood near bales of straw at one of the nation's premier farming showcases. "I believe in renewable fuels. I don't believe in ethanol subsidies, but I believe in renewable fuels." McCain has never been shy about speaking against subsidizing ethanol when he is in farm country, though that stand helped to make him unpopular enough in Iowa that he skipped participating in its leadoff presidential caucuses in 2000 and again in 2008. In a brief speech at the fairgrounds _ where he viewed a 1,253-pound boar named Freight Train and looked for pork chop on a stick, a fair delicacy _ McCain pledged to negotiate trade deals favorable to farm commodities. "My mission and my job as president of the United States will be to make sure every market in the world is open to your products," he said. McCain met with Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey during his fairgrounds tour and promoted expanded pork exports as a boon to the nation's leading hog-producing state. He said a free-trade deal with South Korea could boost profits by $10 a hog. "Agriculture products here in the state of Iowa can feed the world and we're not afraid to compete with anybody," he said. Continued... |