Although Susan Estrich is very liberal, she's not afraid to buck the accepted conventional wisdom on the left when she disagrees with it. That's what makes her an intriguing columnist and political commentator -- well, for a liberal anyway.

But, many people forget that she was also Michael Dukakis' campaign manager. In today's column about John Edwards, she showed all the same errant instincts that she displayed during the Duke's erratic run at the White House,

Doris Kearns Goodwin could not have asked for more. The author of "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," published in 2006, is making headlines once again for her foresight, as well as her knowledge of history, in light of President-elect Barack Obama's decision to surround himself with his former rivals, including Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton, and now Secretary of Commerce-designate Bill Richardson.

The missing man in all of this is, of course, John Edwards, who was far more formidable a candidate than either Biden or Richardson, and whose endorsement of Obama last May was at least as significant for the president-elect as Richardson's.

... Should Edwards' personal stupidity -- his involvement with a wacky videographer, who may (if you believe the tabloids) or may not (according to her, and him, but what do you think they'd say) be the mother of his illegitimate child -- cost him a seat at the table? If he has something to add, and I think he does, should he be disqualified from doing so because he is a lying lout?

Washington is full of lying louts. Many of them are called "distinguished gentlemen."

...Private affairs, even or especially that kind of affair, should be private. Certainly this is the rule that the media apply to themselves, as do the distinguished gentlemen and ladies on Capitol Hill -- until and unless they are caught in bathrooms or chat rooms. Poll the public, and we all claim to agree.

So where is John Edwards? Why no place for one of the most talented of Obama's rivals on the team of rivals? Is the answer that Edwards was a lout, or that the rest of us are hypocrites?

I tend to think it may be the latter.

While Estrich is certainly right that "Washington is full of lying louts," Edwards is an especially prominent one. While he was using his cancer stricken wife as a campaign prop to buff up his run at the presidency, he was also engaged in a tryst with campaign staffer Rielle Hunter behind her back.

It's also possible -- although we don't know for sure -- that the baby Hunter had is his, that he secretly arranged for Hunter to be paid off, and that he's now split off from his cancer stricken wife because of the affair.

Furthermore, this isn't ancient history. It all happened fairly recently.

Setting aside the fact that men who cheat on their wives are fundamentally untrustworthy and shouldn't be trusted with high political offices (And, yes, that applies to Republicans as well as Democrats), why in the world would Obama want to bring all that drama into his administration? He is already going to have to worry about the Clintons creating a distraction, but Edwards could potentially make even more waves.

What happens if he brought Edwards in and Elizabeth criticized Obama publicly for it? What if women's groups, already embittered by the way that Hillary and Sarah were treated during the election, took it as another slap? What happens if and when Elizabeth dies and it spurs a new round of stories? What if Elizabeth passed on and John Edwards were to marry the other woman? It goes on and on and on.

The first rule of appointing staffers is that they're supposed to help, not hurt the candidate that they're serving. John Edwards brings no unique qualities to the table and he would be a major league distraction and President Government would be smart to keep him out of his administration.