EDWARDS' STATEMENT EDWARDS' STATEMENT August 8, 2008 -- Chapel Hill, North Carolina 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. When a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story, I used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it. But being 99% honest is no longer enough. I was and am ashamed of my conduct and choices, and I had hoped that it would never become public. With my family, I took responsibility for my actions in 2006 and today I take full responsibility publicly. But that misconduct took place for a short period in 2006. It ended then. I am and have been willing to take any test necessary to establish the fact that I am not the father of any baby, and I am truly hopeful that a test will be done so this fact can be definitively established. I only know that the apparent father has said publicly that he is the father of the baby. I also have not been engaged in any activity of any description that requested, agreed to or supported payments of any kind to the woman or to the apparent father of the baby. It is inadequate to say to the people who believed in me that I am sorry, as it is inadequate to say to the people who love me that I am sorry. In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic. If you want to beat me up feel free. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself. I have been stripped bare and will now work with everything I have to help my family and others who need my help. I have given a complete interview on this matter and having done so, will have nothing more to say. Edwards' political future in doubt after admitting affair WASHINGTON  The admission by Democrat John Edwards of an extramarital affair and his repeated denials about it during his presidential campaign cast doubts about his political future, analysts say. "I think essentially his political career is over," said Kerry Haynie, a political scientist at Duke University. "I don't see him coming back from this." POLITICS BLOG: More detail on Edwards' statement Edwards, his party's 2004 vice presidential nominee, acknowledged an affair with Rielle Hunter in an ABC interview to be broadcast tonight on "Nightline." The former North Carolina senator denied to ABC that he fathered her child and said his wife, Elizabeth, has known about the affair since 2006. In his statement, Edwards denied making any payments to Hunter or "or to the apparent father of the baby." Late Friday, Dallas-based attorney Fred Baron, former national finance chairman for Edwards, said in a statement he decided on his own to "help two friends and former colleagues rebuild their lives when harassment by supermarket tabloids made it impossible for them to move forward on their own." Baron, who did not return messages left by The Associated Press, didn't mention anyone by name in his statement. He said the assistance was offered and accepted without the knowledge of Edwards or anyone else. Hunter, who is in her 40s, is a former campaign videographer who had been paid by Edwards' political action committee. In Oct. 2007, the National Enquirer reported that Edwards and Hunter were having an affair. In response to questions about the story, Edwards said, "It's completely untrue, ridiculous." In a statement released Friday, Edwards acknowledged the affair and said he had "made a serious error in judgment." Edwards said the affair occurred — and ended — in 2006. Hunter has not issued a public statement. Her attorney, Robert Gordon, did not return a call for comment. CBS TV's Bob Schieffer reported Friday that he spoke with Elizabeth Edwards and that when he asked how she was doing she said "this is really, really tough." Friday evening, Elizabeth Edwards posted an update to her diary at DailyKos.com. In it, she said her husband had made a "terrible mistake" and asked the public to "give me and my family the privacy we need at this time." MORE: Elizabeth Edwards reacts Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, on arrival in Hawaii for a vacation, was asked this evening by reporters about Edwards' admission. Obama said it was a "personal matter" that Edwards would have to deal with, and in a short clip aired on CNN, he added that it would be a "top priority" for the Edwards family to "work through that process of healing." Obama aide Hari Sevugan declined to comment about whether Edwards would speak at the Democratic National Convention, which begins Aug. 25 in Denver. Schieffer, on CBS, reported Friday evening that Edwards says he has no plans to attend the convention. Ferrel Guillory, director of the Program on Public Life at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, said the acknowledgment of the affair "doesn't disqualify" Edwards from future office, noting that successful politicians have survived "marital issues." But "if he wants to have a future in politics, he's going to have to work at it and recoup some good will," Guillory said. Former Edwards campaign manager David Bonior said he was angry and disappointed. "Thousands of friends of the senators and his supporters have put their faith and confidence in him and he's let them down," said Bonior, a former congressman from Michigan. "They've been betrayed by his action." At the start of the 2008 campaign, Edwards was considered a leading contender for the Democratic nomination. He had focused on poverty and issues affecting the working class since President Bush won a second term in 2004. Edwards had opted to stay in the race even after he and his wife, 59, announced that she had a recurrence of cancer. Edwards, 55, ended his second presidential bid in January. He had come in second to Obama at the Iowa caucuses, where his populist message resonated. But Edwards didn't catch on much with voters elsewhere and he had complained that it was hard to break through when two "celebrity" candidates — Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton — were attracting the most voter support and attention from reporters. At the time, he did not rule out a future in politics. Edwards, a trial lawyer who had won millions of dollars for clients suing corporations, had vowed he would continue to work on the behalf of the poor and middle class. Edwards waited until May to endorse Obama, after saying for months that he had a "very high opinion" of his former rivals. But Obama was the candidate who came closest to Edwards' vision for change in government. The endorsement came at a critical time for Obama, who had just been trounced 2-1 by Clinton in the West Virginia primary, largely because of the support she got from working-class voters. "There is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to create one America and not two, and that man is Barack Obama," Edwards said, with Obama at his side, during a rally in Dearborn, Mich. The Edwardses, who have been married for more than three decades, have three children — Cate, 26,who is in law school; Emma Claire, 10; and Jack, 8. Another son, Wade, died at age 16 in a 1996 car accident. Contributing: Jill Lawrence; Associated Press Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. 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