John Edwards

It's been four years since John Kerry ran in a contested Democratic primary in Massachusetts, and 24 years since the contested primary was for the United States Senate.  The question is whether Ed O'Reilly, the attorney from Gloucester who faces an uphill battle against Kerry in next week's Senate primary, will do better or worse than John Edwards did in 2004, when Kerry beat him 72%-18%, with 4% for Dennis Kucinich.  It is unlikely that O'Reilly will beat the previous mark of the best primary showing against Kerry: James Shannon's 38% in the 1984 Senate primary (Kerry won 41%).

It's Massachusetts Winners and Losers for September 5, 2008. CLICK HERE.

Former presidential candidate John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth have cancelled their appearance at Salem State College, according to the school.

The couple was scheduled to appear at the college on Sept. 23 as part of a speakers’ series to discuss the 2008 presidential election and Elizabeth Edwards’ battle with cancer.

Since scheduling the event, Edwards admitted to having an affair with Rielle Hunter, an amateur filmmaker who chronicled his campaign. Salem State had previously said that the Edwards event was still on, but said in a release Tuesday that the couple decided to cancel the event.

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"Palin who?"

Former state Democratic Party Chair Phil Johnston has the zinger of the day. In a New York Times article about John Edwards and Joe Lieberman's absence from the DNC Convention in Denver, he weighed in on who was worse.

A vice chairman of the state legislature's Joint Committee on Higher Education defended Salem State College's decision to honor their speaking contract with John and Elizabeth Edwards, saying that it speaks to the strength of the university's dedication to free speech.

Salem State booked the Edwardses for a Sept. 23 speakers series event in July and has maintained that the event is going forward as planned despite John Edwards confessing to having an affair in an interview with ABC News last week. 

In an interview with PolitickerMA.com, state Rep. Theodore Speliotis (D-Danvers), a vice chairman of the Joint Committee on Higher Education, stood behind Salem State's decision to go on with the event.

"The decision reflects the strength of the college and the program," he said. "If they continue to meet that obligation and still wish to speak the program is only going to be richer from it."

The National Enquirer is only batting .500 with former Democratic presidential candidates' illegitimates this month.

John Edwards admission that he lied and dismissed reports of an affair with Rielle Hunter, a filmmaker hired to cover his presidential campaign, may have ended his public life, but did it also signify an end to the era in which the mainstream media controlled the agenda for national political journalism?