Elizabeth Edwards goes her own way

Elizabeth Edwards goes her own way
By Jeff Zeleny
Chicago Tribune national correspondent
Published July 13, 2004

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The moment the Democratic presidential ticket arrived here on a recent afternoon, Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards embraced their wives, waved to the cameras and walked down the steps of their campaign plane to greet a line of dignitaries waiting on the tarmac.

Elizabeth Edwards went her own way.

For days, she had been shaking hands with strangers. It was now time to set politics aside and find the little girl and boy with pink and blue knapsacks, and through the crowd rushed her children, Emma Claire, 6, and Jack, 4, whom she took by the hand and led away from the commotion.

Democrats believe Elizabeth Edwards' poise and wit will validate the vice presidential candidate and serve as a selling point for swing voters. But Edwards--a former bankruptcy lawyer, teacher and one of her husband's best political guides--bristles when comparisons are drawn to other political wives, insisting she is simply trying to get accustomed to having someone carry her suitcase.

"I'm 55 years old," she said in an interview aboard their campaign plane as it flew from West Virginia to New Mexico. "I lived most of my life out of the public spotlight where it never crossed my mind to model myself after somebody."

The Democratic running mate's lively, down-to-earth wife may offer a complement to Teresa Heinz Kerry, who last week gently referred to Edwards as "Mother Earth." As Teresa Kerry introduced her at a Cleveland rally last week, she noted that Edwards, like her husband and John Kerry, was a lawyer. But she added, "She can talk people-talk too."

Elizabeth Edwards was an accomplished lawyer, but she ended her practice after their teenage son, Wade, died in a 1996 car accident.

Tragic turning point

Neither Edwards nor her husband dwell on the loss or are eager to have it become a campaign story, but it is only through that tragedy that their family portrait can be fully explained. At age 48 and 50, she had two more children, saying it was the only way to bring joy back into their home for her and her husband and their daughter, Cate, 22.

As the Democratic team introduced itself last week, the young Edwards children became an instant attraction. To audiences around the country, Kerry repeatedly told stories about the families' dynamic tableau -- "Jack is the new campaign manager. He's running the show!" -- that stood in sharp contrast to the Republican ticket.

But Edwards said she is determined to guard her children from being used for political advantage through television commercials or too many appearances. Even though John Kerry's references to her young son were touching and genuine, she said, the attention also could be wearisome.

"Yes, I think there are things that are too much," Edwards said. "I kept wanting to say, `I appreciate how much you are attracted to Jack, but Emma Claire is actually standing right here.' Like a normal parent, you have to give them the same attention."

On the campaign trail, no one avoids explaining that Edwards had children at a late age and looks older than her 51-year-old husband. In fact, last week, her husband told a crowd of senior citizens in Florida that her AARP card arrived just before Jack was born. She tells voters her husband is the same person she married him 26 years ago and adds, "To my chagrin, he looks exactly the same."

She does not, however, disclose details about her pregnancies to audiences.

"There are a few things that I don't talk about. I would say that I took hormone shots, but I won't talk about fertility or things like that. It's not ladylike!" Edwards said with a laugh. "I don't want a blow-by-blow of your operation or your things, and I'm not giving you one of mine."

Edwards said that like many Americans she has tried the South Beach diet. While too much attention may be placed on image, she conceded that images are important in a televised political world.

"People make judgments based on appearances, but we spend too much time on it," she said. "To me, the issue has to do with my own personal comfort about whether I'm being self-conscious or whether I can let that part go and not worry about it."

As she stood on stages from Ohio to Florida to New York, she received booming applause from Democrats, who said they found her refreshing, enlightening and inspiring.

Powerful persona

"There's a powerful maternal aspect about her," said Karen Ballard, a nurse in Manhattan who saw Edwards at a fundraising breakfast last week at Pier 94. "She has a real warm personality. She doesn't seemed rushed."

During the Democratic primary, Edwards often traveled by herself on campaign trips and waited for her own luggage at baggage claim. On one flight from South Carolina to Washington, a prominent commentator dressed down a flight attendant for not delivering a cup of coffee. Edwards witnessed the scene and offered a kind word of assurance to the shaken young woman.

Earlier in the primary campaign, Edwards candidly voiced her frustration to strategists that her husband's candidacy seemed to be stuck. One confrontation, according to a former adviser, helped spark new ads emphasizing his optimism and character.

"Elizabeth is very blunt. She does not censor herself," one former aide said. "John really relies on her to know the right thing to do. She's not very political, but she always advises him on what is the right thing to do."

Life-changing moment

As the Edwards family waited to hear who Kerry would select as a running mate, she said she was not as anxious about the choice as the timing.

Then, she said, "What happens of course, is the ball drops, then all of a sudden your world blows up."

With her young children, Edwards said she isn't sure how the fall campaign schedule will unfold. She plans to play an active part, but she said she gave the Kerry campaign one piece of guidance: "Don't feel like you need to have me do something to keep me happy. I only want to do things that make a difference and translate into votes."

A hint of her role emerged last week when she reminded an audience in St. Petersburg, Fla., that she was born in Florida and that her parents and a string of aunts and uncles still live there. It is, after all, one of the biggest battleground states and the place that decided the 2000 election.

While she prefers speaking to small groups, Edwards proved in Raleigh last weekend that she could master a far larger crowd. As thousands of admirers, stretching a block in either direction, shouted that they couldn't hear, she cleared her throat and fixed the problem.

"I'm an old high school cheerleader," she said. "I'm going to see if I can make those fellas in the back hear."

And she did.