Aides rise after Edwards falls

You've heard of David Axelrod, President Obama's political advisor who now has prime real estate in the White House. You probably haven't heard of Tommy Vietor.

Both men worked for John Edwards' presidential campaign back in 2004 and subsequently signed on with Obama. They're among dozens of former Edwards' advisers and staffers who've gone on to prosper even after their erstwhile candidate fell in scandal.

Here's a look at where some of them ended up:

-- Mark Kornblau, Edwards’ traveling press secretary in 2008, is reportedly headed to the American delegation at the U.N.

-- Miles Lackey, Shelby native and Edwards’ policy adviser is now chief of staff to Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut.

-- Jennifer O'Malley-Dillon, who ran Edwards' Iowa campaigns in 2004 and 2008, is the new executive director of the Democratic National Committee.

-- Jennifer Palmieri, Edwards' one-time press secretary, is the Senior Vice President for Communications at American Progress, a liberal Washington think tank.

-- Jonathan Prince, a top Edwards’ aide, returned to the State Department and travels with Special Envoy George Mitchell. During the Clinton administration, he was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and oversaw communications strategy for NATO during the war in Kosovo.

-- Eric Schultz, national spokesman for Edwards' 2008 presidential campaign, went on to work for Democrat Al Franken’s Minnesota Senate campaign. Now he’s spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

-- Joe Trippi, who ran Edwards’ 2008 campaign and Howard Dean’s 2004 bid, heads his own media firm and is a frequent guest on cable news shows.

-- Tommy Vietor. The former aide who worked for Edwards in Iowa went to work for Obama in 2004. Now he's an assistant ' press secretary in the White House.

One ex-aide who won’t be getting any White House invitations is Wendy Button.

Over the years she wrote speeches for Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Obama. Edwards even contacted her about helping draft a speech for the 2008 convention, before he became persona non grata. Button grew disaffected with her party and the treatment of Sarah Palin and publicly announced her support for John McCain.