Edit Sorry, I guess I was sort of wrong here. I suppose he could (and should) have just not announced his candidacy at the end of 2006. I think that, unofficially, his campaign had basically already started, which is sort of what led to the affair, according to the reports. I dunno... so sad.
This will be short, but for some reason people keep wanting to blame Edwards for running when he "knew" about this baggage... He didn't (unless there was another affair). Why do I know this? BECAUSE THE DAMN THING STARTED AFTER HIS CAMPAIGN DID. Here's ABC News:
Edwards said the affair began during the campaign after she was hired. Hunter traveled with Edwards around the country and to Africa.
In other words, he didn't know about this "baggage" because it didn't exist yet... It only started after his campaign did, after she was hired.
No, this does not excuse it and yes, I am pretty angry and sad at the same time. And maybe he should have suspended his campaign a lot earlier because of it (although perhaps he just suspended it exactly when he thought it was most appropriate, I dunno). But stop saying he "knew" about it before he ran. He didn't.