Yesterday, this story broke about Iowa,

In an InsiderAdvantage poll in Iowa, Edwards leads among (977) likely voters 30-26-24 over Clinton and Obama. Edwards is also the clear second choice winner, 42-29-28 over Clinton and Obama.

Later that same day, coincidentally, cough cough cough, this story broke in the National Enquirer,

"The woman linked to Presidential candidate John Edwards in a cheating scandal is more than six months pregnant and telling a close confidante that Edwards is the father of her unborn child, The NATIONAL ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.

The NATIONAL ENQUIRER's political bombshell comes just weeks after Edwards emphatically denied having an affair with Rielle Hunter, who formerly worked on his campaign.

But The ENQUIRER has now confirmed not only that Rielle is pregnant, but she is also living in Chapel Hill, N.C. in a gated community, just a few streets away from Andrew Young, who has been a key official in Edwards' campaign.

Young has been in charge of looking after Hunter, according to sources, and she has been careful to stay out of sight during Edwards' campaign. A former Director of Operations for Edwards' campaign, Young's last official position with the campaign was North Carolina Finance Director.

He left that job about a month ago — nearly the same time Rielle relocated from the New Jersey area to Chapel Hill.

In a bizarre twist, Young, a 41-year-old married man with young children, now claims HE is the father of Reille's baby."

Wow, bad timing for Edwards, huh? But wait -- who owns the National Enquirer?

What the tabloid's readers, in politics and out, may not know is that a key owner of the Enquirer is a prominent New York investment banker and one of Hillary Clinton's key backers, Roger Altman. Altman was an official in the first Clinton administration, and his name is often mentioned as a possible Clinton Treasury Secretary.

The investment boutique which Altman founded and chairs, Evercore Partners, bought a controlling stake in American Media, which publishes the Enquirer, in 1999, which it still holds with a partner. Evercore's president, Austin Beutner, sits on American Media's Board of Directors, according to Evercore's website.

Now, of course they would deny that Altman has anything to do with this and that very well may be true. But, given the sleazy tactics the Clinton campaign has already used against Barack Obama (He's a Muslim and a coke dealer! Oh and did you see what he wrote back in Kindergarten?), would anyone be surprised if Hillary called up Altman and asked him to insure that this hit piece on Edwards came out now, to try to knock him down in Iowa?

Also see,

Has The Silky Pony Been Playing The Field?