John Edwards for President-AT LARGE: Charm campaign

AT LARGE: Charm campaign

May 1, 2007 1:22 PM

John Clayton
The Union Leader
May 1, 2007

I'D BEEN FOREWARNED.

I'd been told that Elizabeth Edwards was a charming, disarming presence on the campaign trial, but I was prepared for nothing more than a stale photo op yesterday morning.

The wife of Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards was in Manchester to preside over the official opening of the "Edwards For President" campaign headquarters at 66 Hanover St. There was a big crowd in a small room -- mostly Democrats, naturally, with a sprinkling of media types like me -- which is why her first words caught everyone by surprise.

"Well," she said, "I see we have at least one Republican here today."

Heads swiveled in every direction as the room erupted in laughter.

David Van Der Beken smiled, blushed and shook his head.

He sidled over to me.

"I'm the Republican," the Manchester attorney whispered, laughing as he did so. "She outed me, but that's Elizabeth. I'm amazed she recognized me in this crowd, but when I heard she was in town, I wanted to come see her."

The first time he saw her was 30 years ago.

Both were fresh out of law school; David from the Franklin Pierce Law Center and Elizabeth -- she was Elizabeth Anania back then -- out of the University of North Carolina. They were clerking for federal judges in the Eastern District of Virginia and time has not dimmed those memories.

"We didn't just work together," she explained. "There was such terrible traffic that we all carpooled to work, too. It was a great time, but I promised David I won't out him every time I see him at one of our events in New Hampshire."

A little over a month ago, her presence at those events was very much in doubt.

Back on March 22, she and her husband announced that her battle with breast cancer -- a battle they thought she had won -- was entering a new phase. The stage-four recurrence has been described as "treatable, but not curable," yet she has chosen to resume a campaign role as her husband's chief surrogate.

Few viewed her as a surrogate yesterday, however.

Many of the folks who came to Edwards HQ yesterday were drawn by the woman herself.

"I just think she is such a role model for all women," said Nancy Hendricks of Londonderry, who brought her 6-year-old son, Hans, along in hopes of introducing him to Mrs. Edwards. "She displays so much courage and bravery in the face of this new illness, and the way she supports her husband is exemplary. That's why I'd love to meet her."

Nancy got the chance.

So did little Hans, and for those who know Manchester, the setting was sublime. The "Edwards for President" headquarters are contained within the remains of the old Strand Theatre, and a subtle form of political theater was unfolding.

Elizabeth Edwards was the star.

And her star quality emanates from within.

She was dressed simply; a forest green pant suit, a simple white blouse and the kind of sensible shoes -- flats -- that signal the presence of a campaign veteran. She was well-versed in her husband's campaign policy and spoke to a wide array of issues -- Iraq, health care, education policy -- but for all her mastery of the issues, the lasting impression of Elizabeth Edwards is not a political one, but a human one.

Brenda Gaccione of Gilford asked Mrs. Edwards to autograph a copy of her latest book, "Saving Graces." After she did so, both women shared a hearty laugh.

I asked Brenda what they were laughing about.

"Lady stuff," she said, and I started to back off.

"No, no," she said. "Not that stuff. I'm a dental hygienist and I told her she had lipstick on her teeth. We had a good laugh about that, but then she asked me who the book was for. One of my son's friends passed away from cancer after they graduated, so I wanted to give the book to his mom. That means I'll have to buy another one for myself."

Brenda's a registered independent, by the way, but just as Elizabeth signed her book, she too has signed on with the Edwards camp for the '08 primary campaign.

Elizabeth Edwards does that to people.

Later in the morning, the campaign convoy swung up to Southern New Hampshire University, which gave Mrs. Edwards the chance to win over another crowd. There was a question about school funding, and she drove her point home with a bit of self-deprecation that scored big.

She used a third-grade project as an example.

As she explained it, a student from a wealthier home might produce a handsome poster, made with the finest paper and top-of-the-line markers while the less fortunate student might have to make do with the bottom of a pizza box. Over time, she explained, the less fortunate student -- discouraged by the disparity in the work he turned in -- might become disengaged from school.

"I liken it to wearing a bikini to the beach," she said. "Whether you know it or not, there's a contest going on there, and I'm not going to enter that contest.

"I am NOT wearing a bikini," she restated, as laughter began to build. "That's a reasonable response for a 57-year-old woman with a body like mine. I'm not going to engage in that contest for the same reason an 8-year-old might disengage from the classroom if he thinks he can't win. In the classroom, we need to make it a situation where everyone can win."

So how does she explain her easy appeal?

Someone asked her just that.

"I had to move to a new high school at the start of my senior year, which is something every high school senior wants to do," she explained, "but it was the fourteenth time I had done that. My dad was in the Navy and because of that, it's always been my nature to put out my hand first.

"That's why, with John and me, it was always our house that had the string cheese and the soda and the big thing of Twizzlers for our kids and their friends, and because of that, there's a generation of 20-year-olds in North Carolina who have seen me in every nightgown I own.

"Once you get the sense that you have no right to a private life," she smiled, "it's easy to get along in politics."

And as of yesterday, Elizabeth Edwards was getting along fine.

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