Life has changed for Young since Edwards book

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Tags:

john edwards, local/state, steve daniels

Steve Daniels
More: Bio, E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Request Steve to speak at your event, News Team

CHAPEL HILL (WTVD) -- Former John Edwards aide Andrew Young and his wife Cheri appeared on Oprah Wednesday as part of a promotional tour for his new book 'The Politician,' in which he talks about his role in keeping Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter secret.

Young has also sat down with ABC11's Steve Daniels to talk about how life has changed since he went public with his story.

“When I finally finished the book and sent it off, it felt like there was like 1,000 pounds lifted off me,” Young told ABC11 in a one-on-one interview.

Young said it’s a relief that he and his wife, Cheri, are no longer “living a lie.”

“Well I'll never clear my name because what I did was wrong,” he admitted, “but it is a chance for a new start.”

It has been three weeks since the release of Andrew’s book, “The Politician.” It's now number two on the New York Times best seller list. Young says the release marks when he and Cheri got a fresh start on life.

“I was at my son's basketball game on Saturday, and I was like, 'Ya know, people know the truth,” Andrew said. “Like me or not, they know the truth.”

Since the beginning of February, the Youngs have been in and out of court involved in a battle with Rielle Hunter over a sex tape. They also have appeared on several national TV shows.

And each time they make an appearance, the question is the same: Why did he and his wife agree to conceal the affair between Edwards and Hunter?

“It doesn't make sense, I'm not saying it does,” Andrew said, “but the book tries to rationalize how we got caught up into this presidential vacuum and this relationship, and why we made these idiotic decisions. I think it's doing some kind of public service in showing the fraud that the Edwards' perpetrated on the country.”

Because of that criticism, Young said he has been subjected to fresh attacks by John and Elizabeth Edwards.

“I've heard that they have a quote ‘war room’ set up to try to destroy me on the blogs, on the Internet, book reviews, on credibility issues,” Andrew said. “And did we expect it? Yes. Does that make it any easier? No.”

The past three weeks also have been full of surprises and apologies.

“I put in the book that I was hurt about how many people turned their back on me, a lot of them have just come out of the woodwork with love and support,” Andrew added. “I think that people, now that they understand, that maybe the Edwardses weren't quite who they perceived them to be, they have apologized wholeheartedly, and they have given us a lot of love, and I didn't expect that.”