Serious shit: apparently, Sen. John Edwards' presidential campaign intended to bring the entire thing down onto itself.

Per George Stephanopoulos, Edwards' inner circle was definitely formulating a plan for a "doomsday" scenario after learning about Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter early last year. If the candidate managed his way into spitting distance of the Democratic nomination, they were going to bring the ship down by "sabotaging" the campaign.

They were, of course, doing it for the party, noting to Stephanopoulos that they were "Democrats first." Assuming this is absolutely true, and it's an old story, but you gotta wonder: is a campaign dunzo from the onset when its staffers are more loyal to the brand than the product? Either way, fatalism's a bitch.