A former aide to John Edwards alleges that the former U.S. senator and presidential candidate pleaded with him to take responsibility for fathering his mistress' child.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Edwards' aide, Andrew Young, wrote in a book proposal picked up by St. Martin's Press last week that the disgraced politician asked him to claim the child of his mistress, Rielle Hunter, as his own.

According to The Times, Young wrote that Edwards told him he would "take care of [him] for life" if he stepped up to the plate and answered his call.

The Times also reported that, according to the proposal, Edwards told Young he would "walk off a cliff" for him and "would always be there" for him.

Young's book deal is the latest chapter in the stunning fall from grace of Edwards, who grew up in Robbins. Once on the fast track to political stardom, he is now a political pariah.

Rumors have been swirling over the paternity of the little girl, now over a year old, since news of the affair broke in December 2007. While Edwards finally admitted the affair last summer, he has maintained that he is not the father of the child.

According to The New York Daily News, Young says that the child is indeed Edwards'. Young originally took responsibility for the baby when news of Hunter's pregnancy surfaced.

No paternity test has been conducted so far.

The Daily News also cited an unnamed source that claims Young's book proposal asserts that Hunter and Edwards once made a sex tape that he (Young) stumbled upon one day.

A federal investigation has been launched to determine if money from the Edwards campaign was illegally used to support Hunter and move her and the baby to California.

Hunter was hired by the Edwards campaign as a videographer in 2006.

A successful trial lawyer, Edwards won a U.S. Senate seat from North Carolina in 1998, and he became a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. After falling just short to Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, he was later named Kerry's vice-presidential running mate.

His new brand of populism and "Two Americas" speech, which declared the existence of a rich America and poor America, put him in the national spotlight. He drew upon his experiences of growing up in Robbins to connect with voters.

Though the ticket lost to incumbent president George W. Bush, Edwards was considered one of the top contenders for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

After finishing behind Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama in the early primaries, Edwards dropped out of the race in late January.

It was widely speculated that Edwards was on Obama's short list for vice president, attorney general or another position within his administration, but news of the affair put an end to any such consideration.

Edwards reluctantly admitted the romance to ABC News in August after The National Enquirer caught him in Hunter's Beverly Hills hotel a couple of weeks previously. Edwards had vehemently denied the allegations initially, calling them "tabloid trash."

Young is the second person to write about the affair. Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer 2007, released a book, "Resilience," this year that documents her experiences throughout the ordeal.

Since last summer, Edwards has largely stayed out of the public eye save for a handful of appearances. He and his wife were interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in May.

He recently told The Washington Post that he hoped to continue his fight against poverty despite his tarnished image. He had been doing humanitarian work in El Salvador.

Contact John Krahnert III at 693-2473 or by e-mail at jkrahnert@thepilot.com