I was delighted to hear that the Edwards story hit home, when I was happily bare-breasted in Michigan — Edwards-free. I’ve been out of the woods for a week now and have yet to start my addiction to NPR, CNN and the BBC on heavy rotation. No news was good news and I was going to keep it that way.

However, over some kind of summer beer, an idealistic young man brought up the Edwards scandal and his disappointment. I wanted to hug him as he began confessing his shame over the Democratic Party. “It’s just so embarrassing," he said. "For all of us. I’m just so ashamed.”

I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head in bewilderment. Shame? Now, I was raised Catholic; I know a lot about shame and, as I sat there quietly confused and mumbling a Hail Mary for the confessing shamed Democrat, I was struck with the need for a confession of my own.

I started out as an Edwards supporter. I said it — there it is. Yes, I know that he sounded like a sharecropper. Yes, I know that there was a woman running and I am a woman. Yes, I know that there was a black guy who was running and I am a black. These facts aside, I, at about this time last year, found myself knee deep into Edwards. It wasn’t his boy-next-door looks. It wasn’t his smirky kind of grin, that I now know was hiding infidelity and cad-like behavior. It wasn’t because I could relate to him as a rich white man from the South, 'cause I couldn’t. I was drawn to the cad Edwards because of his message. I believed in his One America talk; I believed in his fighting for the union rhetoric; I agreed that poverty was important; And I wanted to join him in the fight to make sure that every American was insured. Honey, I had a bumper sticker and a poster hanging up in my room. For sure one of like five black lesbians in the entire country that were supporting this millionaire from humble beginnings in the South.

As I made my confession to the young man, I found myself feeling surprisingly shame-free. I’m not ashamed of the Democratic Party. I am not ashamed that I supported, as he called himself, “the white guy.” I am not even ashamed of his indiscretions. Dare I say it? I am pleased that he was a part of the race. Is it cool that he was screwing around on his wife? Hell no. It’s pretty awful. Is it model behavior to lie about your infidelity? No, but most folks do. Is it ideal to have a campaign and people who support you and stand up for you when you know that there is somethin’ rotten in the cotton? Bigolly, of course not. All of that makes a not-so-great messenger.

However, the Edwards Campaign helped the Democratic Party find a freaking voice. He gave the Democratic Party a platform. We didn't have one in 2004 and that's what allowed the weasel to slip back in. I'm sorry, but our past history of just being against the Republicans or being against the Bushes simply wasn't enough. He talked about STUFF — poverty, education, healthcare, the economy and Iraq. He shined the light on what it is that we should be caring about.

Edwards says that he’s been beating up on himself and praying for forgiveness. Okay, sure, whatever — however you do it. He ends up praying for forgiveness, fallin’ down on his knees, but at least before he fell he gave our party a leg to stand on. No shame in that game at all.