Watch Edwards' response to tabloid accusations

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A tabloid report that former North Carolina senator and presidential candidate John Edwards was caught visiting a mistress at a Beverly Hills hotel is threatening to ruin Edwards' future in politics.

If you don't read the National Enquirer - not even in line at the grocery store - and you don't listen to talk radio or read political blogs, this story might be new to you.

The National Enquirer reported last October that Edwards fathered a child out of wedlock last year.

Edwards and the mother of the child -- a one-time documentary film maker named Rielle Hunter -- have both adamantly denied the reports.

But last week Enquirer reporters caught Edwards leaving the Beverly Hills Hilton through a back exit after 2:30 a.m. The tabloid reports that Hunter and her baby had a room at the hotel, and Edwards was secretly visiting them.

Here's how Edwards responded when asked about the impact of the reports at an event in Houston on Friday:

REPORTER: Senator, how do you feel the situation in Los Angeles on Monday would affect your future in politics - in this administration - a potential Obama administration?

EDWARDS: I don't know what you - none.

REPORTER: None? Not the National Enquirer?

EDWARDS: I - I don't talk about these tabloids. Tabloid trash is full of lies. I'm here to talk about helping people.

Charlotte Observer veteran political reporter Jim Morill has written that the reports sink any hope Edwards might have of being named Obama's vice presidential pick.

And Roll Call political columnist Stu Rothenburg tells WCNC, "Why would Barack Obama want to saddle himself with even a potential controversy unless he's sure there's absolutely nothing there?"

So the reports - true or false - have a profound effect on Edwards' future unless he can put them to rest.