by february 2006, rielle hunter had lived many lives.as an actress with bit roles in films such as "ricochet," where she played a reporter alongside denzel washington... mr. styles, are you all right? ...a new york party girl and muse for her ex-boyfriend jay mcinerney's novel, "story of my life," a self-described spiritual healer, and, finally, an aspiring documentary filmmaker. john edwards, by contrast, was soft-launching a presidential campaign and a leader of the democratic party. so let's just start with the very beginning. -you're at the regency hotel... -oh, god. [laughing] ...in 2006. were you there to meet him? being there was a-a fluke. tapper: was he by himself? who was-- hunter: yeah, he was in a business meeting. i was with my friend. we're at a table, and, uh, john edwards was behind her, and he kept looking at me as though he knew me as well. and then we got up and left, and when we were standing on the corner, john edwards turned the corner and saw me there, and he literally, like, almost jumped into my arms. and my resp

he was who he was for rielle hunter, who he was for elizabeth edwards, and then it was who he was for the american public. and that's the paradox inherent to politics by design. individual human beings have to be the vessels for all our lofty ideals, and yet to this day, we keep on investing and believing in these candidates for higher office, hoping, praying that they do not break our hearts, because maybe, just maybe, this one is different. i do think a lot of his campaign staffers were diehard believe-in-the-cause fans, and a lot of them do work in the white house right now. that's his legacy, and i think that puts a nice bow on a story that is a big ol' mess. tapper: for a country that bills itself as the world's oldest democracy, we sure do love a strongman, and from teddy roosevelt all the way up to our reality tv president, nowhere produces more of them than the empire state. and i get it. in an age where congress' approval rating hovers somewhere around sewer rats, we wanna vote for the politician who can finally just get things done. that was eliot spitzer to a "t." but when