PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards took another tentative step into the public spotlight Tuesday, speaking at Brown University about extreme poverty around the world and urging Americans to get involved in what he called a “fundamental moral issue.”

Edwards, a two-time candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, has struggled to get his message heard since a scandal about an affair he had with a former campaign staffer enveloped his personal life.

During 30 minutes of questions following Tuesday night’s speech, just one person in the audience of nearly 600 came close to asking about the affair, reports Barb Barrett.

A student who said she organized for Edwards on campus and knocked on doors for him in New Hampshire asked whether politicians should be held to higher moral standards than the rest of the public.

The question sent murmurs through the crowd.

“I don’t think it’s for a candidate to decide what’s appropriate,” Edwards said. “It’s something for every American to decide for themselves.”

He added: “I have my own view, which I’m going to keep to myself tonight.”

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Brown University students began lining up for former Sen. John Edwards' speech at 6 p.m. tonight — two hours before he is scheduled to speak.

Some showed up even before organizers, and were kicked out of the auditorium until doors officially opened at 7:15 p.m., Barb Barrett reports.

Tonight's speech at Brown University in Providence, R.I., is Edwards' first public appearance since November. It comes just as the National Enquirer has yet another story out on his personal life that has not been confirmed by other news sources.

Edwards is scheduled to give a speech entitled "Beautiful America."

Brown University political scientist Wendy Schiller said the former Democratic vice presidential candidate may try to return to the national public scene the same way he arrived, by focusing on issues of poverty.

"When you can voice a message the way John Edwards can, I think you can still remain relevant," Schiller said. "He should get on the trail, give speeches on populism, and make the case that even though he's got personal problems, he’s still willing to advocate on behalf of those who can’t help themselves."

John Edwards' rehabilitation is not yet complete.

Witness Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who drew lots of laughs Wednesday night in her speech at the annual Washington Press Club Foundation's congressional dinner in Washington, a fancy affair that brings together the Capitol Hill press corps and members of Congress.

First, she cracked on the reporters, saying how the room contained the city’s smartest people — all of whom were scooped by the National Enquirer on the Edwards story.

Then, she cracked on Edwards: "John Edwards is still talking about Two Americas. It turned out to be the greatest pickup line ever."

Some of John Edwards' delegates feel betrayed.

As the countdown to the Democratic National Convention gets underway, some of the volunteers attending on behalf of the former presidential candidate say they are disappointed by revelations of his affair with Rielle Hunter.

Former Cary teacher Linda Gunter had spent a month trudging through the snows of New Hampshire for Edwards and led the cheers in 2004 when he accepted the vice presidential nomination.

"My bubble of enthusiasm for presidential politics was really deflated," says Gunter, 58. "Some people might get discouraged from getting involved because they really believed in him, and he let them down."

Some are angry that Edwards continued to campaign even after the National Enquirer first reported the affair.

"There is a feeling that it was very selfish of him to pursue the presidency knowing that this skeleton was in his closet," says delegate Vinod Thomas, 32, of Cornelius. "The Democratic Party would be in a very tough position now if John Edwards was our nominee." (Char-O)

The National Enquirer is enjoying an extended victory lap since it exposed former Sen. John Edwards' affair with a campaign worker.

National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation" program on Wednesday included Enquirer senior executive editor Steve Plamann in its discussion of how the media should handle rumor.

"We got a little lucky, and we’re also a little bit good," Plamann said of the Enquirer's series of stories on Edwards dating back to October.

The panel also included News & Observer political reporter Rob Christensen and Brian Ross, chief investigative correspondent for ABC News, the network that landed the interview in which Edwards admitted to an affair two years ago with Rielle Hunter.

In his segment, Ross said it wasn’t just luck that enabled the Enquirer to corner the market on key sources on the story.

"They pay people to talk to them. We're not in a position to do that," Ross said. "Again and again in trying to pursue this story, we would be asked by people who were central to it, 'What’s in it for me? They've [the Enquirer] offered me $50,000. What do you have?' We have a cup of coffee. So we're at a disadvantage there."

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Gary Pearce says John Edwards "Nightline" interview was a failure.

In a post on the Talking About Politics blog, Edwards' former Senate campaign manager said that his admission of an affair on ABC News Friday was "breathtakingly cynical."

By comparison, Richard Nixon's Checkers speech was Churchillian in its dignity and honesty.

It's not clear who gets the gold medal for biggest phony Friday night: Edwards or the Chinese who organized the Olympics' opening ceremony.

Edwards' performance in the interview was a disaster from the start. Woodruff hit him head-on: Did you have an affair?

Instead of saying "yes," Edwards smiled and thanked Bob for coming by. He did everything but welcome Bob to his lovely home.

As the interview went on, the silver tongue that made Edwards what he was – multimillionaire, United States Senator and nearly Vice President and President – turned into Midas-in-Reverse.

Pearce said the National Enquirer now has "more credibility" than Edwards.

John Edwards has released a statement:

In 2006, I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognized my mistake and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public. When a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story, I used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it. But being 99% honest is no longer enough.

I was and am ashamed of my conduct and choices, and I had hoped that it would never become public. With my family, I took responsibility for my actions in 2006 and today I take full responsibility publicly. But that misconduct took place for a short period in 2006. It ended then. I am and have been willing to take any test necessary to establish the fact that I am not the father of any baby, and I am truly hopeful that a test will be done so this fact can be definitively established. I only know that the apparent father has said publicly that he is the father of the baby. I also have not been engaged in any activity of any description that requested, agreed to or supported payments of any kind to the woman or to the apparent father of the baby.

It is inadequate to say to the people who believed in me that I am sorry, as it is inadequate to say to the people who love me that I am sorry. In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic. If you want to beat me up - feel free. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself. I have been stripped bare and will now work with everything I have to help my family and others who need my help.

I have given a complete interview on this matter and having done so, will have nothing more to say.

The statement was sent via e-mail to a number of national reporters, but not to The N&O, from former Edwards' spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri at 5:07 p.m.

Palmieri currently works as the senior vice president at the Center for American Progress, where Elizabeth Edwards is a senior fellow on health care.

John Edwards' former Senate opponent spared no kind words for him.

Former Sen. Lauch Faircloth, who lost a re-election bid to Edwards in 1998, said he had heard that Edwards had admitted to an extramarital affair.

He noted that Edwards previously called the National Enquirer story "tabloid trash."

"He said this newspaper, the Enquirer, he said it was trash," Faircloth said. "Well, if there's anybody ought to know about trash, it's him."

Faircloth also said that Edwards should not be on "Nightline" tonight.

"I just wouldn't want to be on, if I had all this blowing in front of me," he said. "I don't believe I would want to be getting more publicity. He's right to come clean about it, but he doesn't have to announce it from a flagpole."

"He should come clean and then get out of the way," he added.

Several prominent Democrats say John Edwards needs to address claims that he fathered a child.

With two weeks before the national convention, some prominent party strategists say that the former North Carolina senator has to address a story in the National Enquirer to save his spot as a speaker.

As a former vice presidential nominee and a presidential candidate who won delegates this year, Edwards would normally be a shoo-in for a speaking slot. But some worry that lingering questions will be raised if Edwards speaks.

Edwards called the story "tabloid trash," but he has avoided talking with reporters at length.

"If it's not true, he's got to stand up and say, 'This is not true. That is not my child and I'm going to take legal action against the people who are spreading these lies.' It's not enough to say, 'That's tabloid trash,' " said Gary Pearce, a strategist who ran Edwards' 1998 Senate race.

Don Fowler, a former Democratic National Committee chairman, said that Edwards has to give "an explanation that's satisfactory." (Char-O)

The birth certificate of a child who a tabloid newspaper claims is linked to former Sen. John Edwards doesn't identify a father.

The certificate, obtained by The Charlotte Observer today, shows Frances Quinn Hunter was born Feb. 27, more than two months after an Edwards aide claimed to be the father, Lisa Zagaroli and Lorenzo Perez report.

Andrew Young, a former Edwards campaign finance director, claimed paternity in a statement from his lawyer posted at the political blog mydd.com.

The girl was born at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, Calif., to Rielle Jaya James Druck, also known as Rielle Hunter. Hunter, 44, was a videographer on Edwards' presidential campaign last year.

Asked Thursday why no father was listed on the birth certificate, Hunter's attorney, Robert Gordon of New York, said, "A lot of women do that." Reminded that he and Hunter had publicly revealed the father's identity two months earlier to the National Enquirer, Gordon said, "That's a personal matter between them."

Gordon declined to comment further.

With unmarried couples, California state law requires both parents to sign a "Declaration of Paternity" form prior to the father's name being put on the birth certificate. If the father is not present, his name may be added to the birth certificate at a later date after proper forms are obtained from the Department of Vital Records.