Running on a platform that emphasizes what the country should do to address the needs of the poor, Edwards had to face up to the fact that a company in which he has invested $16 million and which last year employed him to the tune of $479,512 was linked to the foreclosure of mortgages in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans.

Nobody had to paint a picture for the former North Carolina senator as to why this looked bad. In response to disclosures appearing first in The Wall Street Journal, he promised to use his personal funds to help the homeowners who had lost title to their houses in foreclosures pursued by units of private-equity fund Fortress Investment Group LLC. He also said he would strip any investment from his portfolio that stood to profit from the homeowners' misfortune.

Those are fitting responses -- although it's too bad Edwards didn't anticipate what problems could arise because of his relationship with Fortress and his evident failure to examine what its subsidiaries -- in this case, two subprime mortgage companies -- were up to.

The disconnect between his admirable advocacy on behalf of poor Americans and foreclosure actions against victims of Hurricane Katrina is jarring, to say the least. Edwards has used the plight of those very victims to dramatize his campaign themes.

This episode boils down to an unfortunate distraction in a campaign that is making important points about the challenges of poverty in America. Whatever the outcome as Edwards pursues the Democratic nomination, he is performing a service in bringing those points to the table. His lucrative ties to Fortress don't necessarily make him a hypocrite -- but they do illustrate the political pitfalls that can appear when a man of wealth campaigns on behalf of the poor.