The XX Factor

Having an affair with a married politician, having a baby with him, accepting money from the politician's supporters-those are just the kind of things that could happen to anybody, really. We all make mistakes. But Rielle Hunter, sexily posed on her toddler's bed , reveals more than just her underwear. It's hard to argue that the photoshoot is anything but poor judgment on every possible level. It's a poor parental call: Your daughter will have to burn those toys and the bedspread, but the memories-not to mention the picture-will digitally stalk her forever. It's a poor PR call: The few die-hard romantics who believed in the "magnetic force field" that Ms. Hunter says drew her to John Edwards may be tempted to reconsider, given this fresh evidence of general foolhardiness. And it's just a poor call overall: Kermit, maybe. Barney-well, it's a huge stretch. But no one will ever make Dora the Explorer sexy.