Edwards Fallout

Amanda Carpenter | August 11, 2008 9:37 AM

If John Edwards had dropped out of the Democratic primaries because of his affair with Rielle Hunter earlier, or never ran at all out of shame, would Hillary had a better chance of winning the nomination?

It wouldn't be the first time a cheating man has blunted her political ambitions.

Edwards ended up endorsing Obama, but what if he never ran? Would Hillary have gotten more of his poor, working class voters? I think she would have. I'm think the question is worth putting out there. Open thread, curious to know what Townhall readers think.

Update: Former Clinton campaign manager Howard Wolfson says "YES."
Had Edwards been out of the picture, "I believe we would have won Iowa, and Clinton today would therefore have been the nominee," he told ABCNews.com.

"Our voters and Edwards' voters were the same people," Wolfson said. "They were older, pro-union. Not all, but maybe two-thirds of them would have been for us and we would have barely beaten Obam