" Agreed, brew, absolutely. BTW, I meant "maybe he did, maybe he didn't" -- have more excess baggage. "

" If GWB had a sordid affair it would be the least of his offenses against society. "

" Maybe he did, maybe he didn't -- who knows. He has conducted his private life in a less than stellar way, yet one brief affair during a vulnerable time of fear and stress (fear his wife might die) is a crummy thing to do to the wife even if it is marginally understandable (and she apparently has forgiven him, so who are we to judge from outside the privacy of their marriage?) -- but it's nothing compared to all the all-too-public and sordid philandering of the ever-popular Bill Clinton.

My primary concern regarding any candidate remains What are his/her political positions? How free is s/he of corporate and special interest influence? Is s/he willing and able to make a stand on the issues I consider important? How few positions does s/he hold which I find offensive (because I have yet to find any candidate who doesn't take some positions I detest).

It's not that personal conduct is not important, but that it has to be viewed as only a portion of the picture, and a somewhat smaller portion than the political part of their make-up.

I'd still prefer Edwards today if it weren't for what his foolish mistake cost him in terms of electability. "