The mainstream media, not content to manufacture reasons for having avoided the John Edwards story, now goes into confessional mode. (h/t Dean Barnett). Apparently, they never saw through Edwards’ cloying appeals for the little girl with no coat, never realized he was a manipulative trial lawyer, and didn’t really seem bothered by other signs that his lifestyle and actions conflicted with his high-minded rhetoric.

But wait. They are essentially telling us they lack judgment and are particularly prone to valuing rhetoric over action, and emotion over factual evidence. Hmmm. We do have a presidential race going on. Are these people really qualified to opine on the candidates? Haven’t we just heard that they go weak in the knees with sappy, counter-factual arguments (e.g. the little girl lacks a coat because of lobbyists or mean oil companies, not because of bad life choices her parents made)?

Walter Shapiro explains the lesson he learned:

[I]t is about the need for humility when writing about a candidate’s marriage, his religious beliefs and other deeply personal matters. There are things that reporters and readers simply cannot know for certain without empowering journalistic gumshoes to do bed checks. My mistake about John Edwards was believing all his public boasts about his nearly perfect marriage. I allowed myself to judge him through the prism of his union with Elizabeth when I would have reached a far different conclusion if I had gazed through the lens of his dalliance with Rielle Hunter.

But really, isn’t the lesson deeper than this? Edwards — of the 28,000 square foot house, the $600 haircut, and the hedge fund job — was a hypocritical charlatan long before anyone knew about Ms. Hunter. Yet the media played along, robotically attesting to his “devotion” to the cause of poverty and never really questioning the substance of what he was saying.

Let’s face it: the media have a soft-spot for class warfare and emotional claptrap. The fact that they were also conned, and unwilling to investigate, his personal failings only goes to show how remarkable uncritical they are of politicians who mouth pleasing platitudes. Voters should keep that in mind as they watch and read the 2008 presidential coverage.