"He absolutely does have to resolve it. If it's not true,

[ben_meyers]

he has to issue a stronger denial," said Gary Pearce, the Democratic strategist who ran Edwards' 1998 Senate race.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/election08/articles/2008/08/06/20080806campaign0806edwards.html

Like it or not, this is starting to hit the mainstream. Edwards had better respond. Anyone who wants to believe that this won't make a difference is whistling past the graveyard.

[ColbertWatcher]

1. Took me a while to find this, but here it is...

...http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE1DA1139F937A35752C0A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

For those who decide to pursue a case, the going can be rough.

The tabloids' lawyers, employing a defense strategy that is often used by daily newspapers and other publications in libel suits, usually file a barrage of motions in court that tend to delay cases and put pressure on the plaintiffs to settle.

As a result, very few lawsuits ever come to trial. Some end with a settlement that includes a printed retraction or an agreement that the newspaper will not write anything about the celebrity for a specified period.

Read the whole thing, it will explain why few ever go after these sleazeballs.