Edwards wears out good will in Triangle

John Edwards was a self-styled populist in his campaigns, but the former rising Democratic star wasn't popular with people interviewed in Raleigh and Durham on Saturday.

"We are getting tired of people not living up to what they say," said Bessie Patterson, a Raleigh Democrat and a former supporter of Edwards.

"I thought he was trustworthy. I didn't think he would do this," she said. "People should know that they can't get away with this."

Matt Mitchell, a Republican from Greensboro, said the incident was the final straw for Edwards.

"He has run for president twice and lost, and now this. His political career is over," he said.

Byron Mudd and his wife, Olivia, both Raleigh Democrats, said that the affair was a personal matter, not a public one.

"As long as it was taken care of between he and his wife, it is their personal business," said Olivia Mudd. However, the Mudds said they felt the public wasn't going to be as forgiving as it has been in the past regarding such an indiscretion.

"Clinton got away with it, but he was already in the White House," said Olivia Mudd.

"He could never return to the status he was at," said Sheila Hayes, a Raleigh Democrat. "Absolutely not. He didn't live up to the morals and standards we have for high-profile leaders."

Tracey Dryden, a Durham Democrat, was perplexed by the decision of John and Elizabeth Edwards to go ahead with the presidential campaign when they both knew about his extramarital affair.

"It's sort of like if he had become the nominee, then he really would have screwed us Democrats," Dryden said. "Both of them. There's a certain arrogance that they both must have to think they could just work it out among themselves. ... Personally, I couldn't care less about it. But I care because I want a Democrat to win. He shouldn't have been that risky, knowing so much was at stake."

"I have high hopes," added Donald Dryden, Tracey's husband. "It's an extremely important election, so it's important Democrats don't mess things up."

There are some people who worry that the public might overlook Edwards' problems.

"Anything is possible," Charlotte Republican Melissa Jackson said of Edwards' political future. "But I think it's wrong for any man to cheat on his wife."

(Staff writer Anne Blythe contributed to this article.)