I think John Edwards did one heck of a job of “packaging” his confession of infidelity in a manner that will quickly put the issue behind him — as long as there are no other skeletons in the closet. The problem with many cases like his, of course, as Bill Clinton established, is that where there’s one such case, there is often another — either actual, or alleged. Hopefully, for the sake of his family and others who care about him, this was truly a unique situation.
I typically advise my clients who have engaged in any kind of wrongdoing to be thoroughly honest and humble in their mea culpa’s, and along those lines found this Edwards comment particularly impactful:
In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic.
That’s quite an admission for anyone, particularly a politician!
Jonathan Bernstein
President
Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc.