Disgraced Democrat John Edwards, Still Man Without a Party in New York Times

Returning to form, the last two New York Times updates from the Greensboro, N.C. trial of two-time Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, charged with misusing campaign money to cover up an affair, contain zero mentions of Edwards' Democratic affiliation. The word doesn't even appear in either story.

On Thursday, Lizette Alvarez covered the testimony from Elizabeth Christina Reynolds, who wasresearch director for Edwards during what the Times referred to only as his "2008 presidential campaign." As if the former Democratic senator wasn't running for president as a Democrat.

Alvarez also neglected the word in her Wednesday coverage of the testimony of Cheri Young, wife of Edwards' aide Andrew Young, the man who lied for Edwards by claiming he was the father of the baby of Rielle Hunter, Edwards' mistress, "so that Mr. Edwards, a former senator and vice presidential candidate, could continue campaigning for the presidency in 2007 and 2008."

But which party line did he run on?

By contrast, the Times eagerly trumpets the party identification of Republicans caught in scandal or controversy.