What was John Edwards thinking?

I don't know if everybody has heard about this news story (i.e. if the media has picked up on it or not), but it's definitely worth noting.

John Edwards, a former Senator and current Democratic Presidential hopeful, has been chastised by Catholic groups across the country for the recent hiring of two women to blog for his campaign. Unfortunately for Edwards, his research into the blogging history of these two did not dig deep enough, as conservative bloggers around the country were quick to expose.

The "Pandagon" and "Shakespeare's Sister" blogs were a hotbed of vulgarity and insults against religion, especially Catholicism (I am not going to post what they wrote about Catholics, but if you're curious, Google is an abundant source). And while these women have every right to post whatever they want (no matter how offensive it may be), Edwards' decision to hire them to help with his campaign could cost him greatly.

Yes, he did fire them immediatly after these startling facts were brought to him. And although he did quickly re-hire them, he did declare that these women's past opinions were not representative of his vision for America. But the fact that John Edwards has distanced himself from one of the most reliable and religious Democratic bases in the country will definitely be a factor in the coming months leading up to the important primaries. The question, of course, is whether that distance can ever be made up.

I can almost hear Edwards praying now.