Conservatives welcomed John Edwards' admission of an affair as the turning point that would allow them to resume the offensive in the ongoing crusade for moral perfection in the United States.

"The difficulties of the Edwards family are great news," confided right-wing blogger Don Mashmouth. "It frees windbag conservatives like me to return to what they do best: moralizing about the failings of others."

The conservative punditry hailed John Edwards' disgrace as the long-sought equalizer in the public perception contest between the Democrats and Republicans, saying it made the scandals around GOP members irrelevant.

"The public can now effectively pretend Senators Ted Stevens, Larry Craig, David Vitter, or Congressman Mark Foley and Tom DeLay never came to national attention under unflattering circumstances. I know I have."

"We hope voters will think of Edwards' behavior when they hear the term 'Democrat' and consider that support for that party could potentially result in their spouse being unfaithful to them in the next election cycle."

(The Democrats also have negatives from Congressman William Jefferson and former Governor Eliot Spitzer.)

"We're human," countered a politician who asked to remain anonymous. "Mistakes happen. If your basis for candidate is a flawless personal life, perhaps you'd better revisit the purpose of elected office."

As an American politician, Edwards was required to stress the importance of marriage, integrity, baseball, and hard work many times. But critics say he made only the bare minimum number of references to those core cultural values.

"His confession of infidelity would have been a lot easier to take if he had been more obnoxiously supportive of traditional family roles and that sort of stuff," says professional voter Tess Morgan of Stinging Springs, Michigan.

"I realize you can find members of questionable morals in both parties. The difference to me is Republicans aspire to be better, to judge from their speeches and ads. That inspirational message is the best sort of impact a politician could have on my life."