John Edwards on the Campaign Trail

— -- ABCNEWS' Gloria Riviera is on the trail with North Carolina Sen. John Edwards as he makes his bid for the White House. For the latest report, scroll down.

Five Days to Change America

INDIANOLA, IOWA, Jan. 14 - Pulling up to the IPTV studio in Indianola, Iowa for a 6:30 pm interview with David Yepsen, a happenstance metaphor -- open to your interpretation -- presented itself in the parking lot. The Edwards' press pack, riding in a seven-seater rental Ford minivan strewn with coffee cups, discarded Mapquest directions and the mornings' papers devoured long ago, pulled in past the Dean campaign's charter bus. From Dean's much-more-than-seven seater (try, what, 40?) bus featuring TV screens every fourth isle or so (and a restroom!), a warm glow cast a shadow on the sidewalk that in and of itself dwarfed the red minivan.

And now some proposed interpretations for your consideration: A lifeboat in the shadow of the Titanic at the dawn of Iowa's final caucus hour? Or Tom Hank's Cast Away dinghy glumly watching a steamer ship slow down only to eventually pass it by?

On the eve of Edwards' "Five Days to Change America" tour back on the Real Solutions Express, the Edwards campaign would indeed promote the former. Tension is running a notch or two above normal as press inquires after crowd size, schedule planning, driving distance and filing provisions come on a just about minute-to-minute basis. And how best to evaluate the decisions a campaign makes in this scenario about where the Senator goes and whom he sees and what he says?

Iowa State Political Director Aaron Pickerel says each day is a constant, ongoing negotiation to determine which county has the right combination of media exposure and county chair confirmation to merit one more visit from the Senator in an effort to seal the deal in delegate support. The campaign does have a plan for the final days, but details are TBD. There are signs things remain in flux until the final hours. "Come prepared to spend the night," was one piece of advice the media got on tomorrow's trip to eastern Iowa.

From here on out there will be no new policy introduced. Events will be "all message," said Spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri. The campaign is highlighting the claim that the Kerry campaign will outspend Edwards in the state 4-1. And they readily point to the challenge Gephardt's labor support presents. Their best defense is a "ground game" that focuses, they say, on local to local - or "Iowan to Iowan" tactics and relies on a vein of grassroots, final hour momentum to deliver, fingers-crossed, a strong third. As for the hype over the last two days, it is a bit diluted. Not enough for Palmieri, however, who does not want to even think about expectations rising to the concept of a number three or even a - don't-say-it - number two finish. Outside the campaign bubble, the very idea of second place may still be considered outer orbit, but inside there is a distinct feel of overworked, tired and pale but altogether productive fire fueling the finish here in Iowa.

Get Yourself Some Lunch

Pickerel described a "moment" in Spencer, Iowa at the country library when a woman in the audience raised her hand to tell Edwards she had been a Republican, but no more. After seeing him appear in debates on television she switched her party affiliation in order to support him. Then she took a five dollar bill out of her pocket, her last few dollars before pay day, and told the Senator she wanted him to use it to buy himself, and his staff, lunch. Edwards walked over to her and gave her a hug, noting she would be a tough act to follow.

Edwards campaign buzzes over buzz

DENISON, IOWA, Jan. 12 — For the Edwards campaign, it was a day of campaign firsts. The first day each and every event was packed, the first just-about-but-not-quite semi-swipe (reporters would do best to make due with it and not hold their breath for anything more), the first time in a long time the names Bill Clinton and John Edwards were uttered in the same breath of comparison and not preceded or followed by the phrases "at one time" and "has so far failed to catch fire" and last but not least today was the very first day the press flew on the candidate's private charter plane.

Are these the concrete signs of momentum, or is it simply January in Iowa? The following facts are proposed for independent conclusions: Expect to see Edwards two most recent ads, "Better Life" and "Two Americas" re-cut and on the air to include a tag on the Des Moines Register endorsement. Next look for North Carolina Gov. Easley to campaign with Edwards on Thursday in Iowa. Perhaps more exciting for all those who remember with fondness bountiful provisions of micro-waved spring rolls and caramel corn, the Real Solutions Express will return to Iowa on Thursday to carry the Senator and his family into the final weekend before the Iowa caucuses.

On the events: venue and crowd size varied, and by now campaign staffers make folding chairs appear and disappear in the blink of an eye so press staff can give reporters "every seat was taken" read-outs. Edwards is sticking to his "I NEED YOU! JOIN ME IN THIS FIGHT, THIS CAUSE!" rhetoric, and was thrown by only one question throughout the whole day. It came from one 8-year-old Casey Young of Granger, IA. The young Young asked the young Edwards if he would consider a woman, young or old, on his VP ticket. Yes, Edwards told her. In fact (insert Edwards spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri's alert meter inching higher), Edwards said, there was more than one woman on a whole list of people he was actively considering. Probably a bit farther than he had to go on live television. Asked to expand later by ABC News, Palmieri said "knew this was going to come up" but had no further comment at that time.

Edwards juggles interviews, babies

MANCHESTER, N.H., Jan. 9 — Back in New Hampshire Thursday, where he will continue to campaign until Saturday afternoon, Sen. Edwards was among the first of the candidates to get on board one of ABC News' super-production buses. As it turns out, a mobile production facility allows the candidate to fit even more into his day than before!

At his morning event Edwards was flanked on either side by babies and toddlers squirming and gurgling in their mothers' arms. Seated in the living room of one Shailagh McGreevey, he talked about his proposals to help the middle class "get by and get ahead". More reporters than supporters were crammed into the house in an event designed entirely for the picture. Edwards, moms, dads and babies on one side -- elbow-to-elbow reporters on the other.

Suffice to say the tone is more subdued in New Hampshire than it was in Iowa. At the same time, at his evening event in Concord at Temple Beth Jacob Forum Edwards got his fair share of applause sharing the stage with Senator Lieberman and Congressman Kucinich. Edwards commentary overheard in the audience: "I like him, he's got good ideas." By the way, Edwards and Kucinich were quite chummy and leaned over to one other throughout the event to talk about...renewable energy?

At the end of the evening, Edwards held a quick press availability to respond to Dean's statements dating back to 1998 on Iowa caucus-goers being extremists. But by now his nice guy demeanor is well known, so hopes were not high for an explosive comment, despite Edwards' warm feeling for Iowans after his last swing. "I disagree with him. My own experience having met with caucus goers all over the state, these are very good people," Edwards said. "They have good sense and they are grounded and they play an important role in the democratic process."

Edwards shoots the bull and some pool

OTTUMWA, IOWA, Jan. 6 — "Watcha got?" asked John Edwards as he scanned the taps and swung a leg over the black vinyl barstool at the VFW Hall in Ottumwa, Iowa. "I'll take a Bud," he said as he took off his coat and settled between bar manager Lori Darren and Dennis Lord. "Budweiser!" Lord shouted to the rest of the bar, "A man after my own heart."

Precisely. Edwards wants each and every caucus goers' hearts to commit to his campaign on the spot and he has less than two weeks to get it done. "If I had time, I would reach out and grab every one of you in your chair right now," he told the hootin' and hollerin' crowd of over 125 in Ottumwa. Toward the end of the Q&A session, Edwards got a "gimme" question on healthcare. When the crowd heard his promise to provide veterans with the same coverage United States senators receive, he got fist-in-the-air pumps and high-fives in the audience. In fact, some people danced (albeit briefly) in the aisles when it was over.

The campaign calls the town "our kinda place" because it is filled with middle class Americans Edwards has based his platform on serving. As he walked into the Walter P. Schafer Pool Hall, past the wall-sized Bingo schedules where "Edwards 8:00p" was neatly entered in pencil for today, Lord took him aside. "I saw your commercial, my dad worked in a mill too," he told the Senator. Edwards' latest ad, "Milk," promises to "put the law back on the side of the American people" and is currently on the air in Ottumwa in addition to key markets like the Quad Cities, Des Moines and Mason and Sioux cities. "What kind of mill did your dad work in?" Lord asked. Edwards stopped to answer before letting a staffer move him along, "Cotton, a cotton mill." Over beers Lord draped his arm around the Senator and raised a glass to "El Presidente."

Over the course of the below freezing, six-event day that started in Mason City and wrapped up at the VFW bar in Ottumwa, Edwards told every audience that he has learned something about Iowans. "Boy, they are direct, so I want to be direct with you." And then the line that makes Press Secretary Jennifer Palmieri cringe. "People say to me, how old are you?" Edwards confesses. "I'm 50! I am 50-years-old." The VFW crowd loved it, although Palmieri's fear that it's all but certain to be a part of press coverage is certainly, er, justifiable. But Edwards believes in addressing concerns in his "closing argument" and he knows this is one of them. He got a huge round of applause, earning him a greenlight from Palmieri to loosen his tie and have a beer at the end of his long day.

The one and only noticeable moment of silence came when Edwards mentioned Senator Kerry in a simple, non-attack context. Whereas the VFW audience huffed and sighed at Dean's name, there was a reserved quiet (was it a don't-go-there-veterans'-respect?) for Kerry.

John Revolinksi was at an afternoon event in Cedar Rapids event and is leaning toward Kerry in part because he seems "presidential." "Edwards would be the dream vice president candidate," John said. "If he doesn't actually make it as the nominee they are going to be begging him to be the vice president." His wife Christina came because she knew enough about Kerry and Dean but wanted to find out more about John Edwards. She says people in her town are asking, "Who is John Edwards?" She left read to sign on to caucus for him. "I feel like he is just coming out into his own and we are just beginning to see him."

Tomorrow the Senator heads to South Carolina on a charter that leaves the press corps behind, commercially stranded in Des Moines and forced to skip ahead to New Hampshire.

Edwards shows confidence

DES MOINES, IOWA, Jan. 4 — Edwards made a brief, post-debate appearance in the spin room before practically running down a dark hallway, marching over four inches of new snow and hopping into a white rental van to head down the Iowa highway.

Back in the Senator's empty dressing room, some inner-circle Edwards' campaign staffers expressed their sense of deja-vu. For a brief moment at the top of the debate the son of a mill worker and the son of a milkman got into it over NAFTA, and the John Edwards on stage was the John Edwards they signed their lives away life to get elected. A voice of a certain confidence and even, conceivably, presidential. A voice in many ways not heard since Edwards took on Dean over the Confederate flag center stage at the Rock the Vote debate in Boston back in early November.

As the clock ticks toward Jan. 19 the campaign hopes the oh-so valuable "Undecideds" -- caucus voters who say they are considering Edwards and one or two others -- were listening Sunday night. For Edwards in Iowa, Undecideds will decide what kind of momentum he has going into the New Hampshire primary. From there, Edwards will stage his first possible win in his birth state of South Carolina on Feb. 3 as either an up-and-comer or a come from nowhere kind of candidate.

Edwards started 2004 in New Hampshire with a heavily promoted speech delivered Saturday in Nashua on the steps of City Hall, the exact spot where JFK made his first state campaign stop almost 25 years ago. On that gray, drizzly day Edwards attracted a crowd of about 125 (counting staffers, volunteers, supporters and reporters), whereas his Iowa crowds just after the Christmas holiday were reportedly the largest yet at 200 plus, the majority of which were supporters.

In the new speech, which has replaced the script he has been following since September, Edwards tells voters he is over the "pretty talk" and "fluff" and wants to directly address concerns over his age, "I am 50 years old, I want you to know." He also positively promotes his life as a Washington outsider. This last point he hopes will set him apart from the other candidates. And it all hinges on the crux of his "closing argument." Edwards tells voters he is not naive enough to think he can change America alone. "I am here to ask you to help yourself," he tells crowds. "If we have a president who believes in you, together we can change this country."

The campaign says they are on track to achieve their projected budget of $20 million dollars before matching federal funds come in, but they will not release specific numbers on neither fourth quarter numbers nor total ad buys for 2003. This week the campaign is set to receive 3.4 million in matching federal funds.

Aide Discovers Difference Between Chicken and Corn, Then Snags Key Role

NEW YORK CITY, Dec. 18 — In a surprise move that shocked even his closest advisors, Sen. John Edwards announced yesterday that Miles Lackey will serve as his campaign's chief of staff.

Lackey has arrived on the scene seemingly out of nowhere, unless you consider that he has been working with the campaign since mid-summer and served as Edwards' chief of staff in the senate. Few moves in politics have the potential to radically change the landscape of a campaign, but this is one of them.

Lackey brings a wealth of knowledge to the campaign. His resume is long and impressive, including several graduate degrees from fancy universities (yet to be fact-checked) as well as a stint as a special assistant to President Clinton national security affairs (yet to be fact-checked). But it said it was Lackeey's innovative attempt to locating a pair of water wings on the trail, critical at one point for campaign peace, that sealed the deal for Edwards. Even though he passed the buck on that one, it wasn't without trying.

Edwards talks about and to ddren

CHARLESTON, S.C., Dec. 17 — In a photo op even the Grinch would love, Sen. Edwards spoke to more toddlers than voters Wednesday at the Zion-Olivet Presbyterian Day Care Center. With two rows of astoundingly well-behaved three and four-year olds seated in miniature chairs to his right and left (they even clapped on cue), and small number of voters behind them, Edwards talked about the injustices (discrimination, education, health care) children all over the country face and what he would do as president to remedy them.

Before and after that one campaign event of the day Edwards had private political and fundraising meetings in Charleston. Long-touted a slam-dunk state, Edwards' South Carolina strategy has had to accommodate, to varying degrees depending on whom you ask, The General's presence in the race.

Ask the campaign about that and the answer is simple. While the General may have some mo' and Rep. Gephardt has Rep. Clyburn's support, Edwards has an infrastructure that has been in place for as long as six months. From state representatives to the six out of eight Democratic state senators who have endorsed Edwards, the campaign says their players are in place for the Feb. 3 primary.

Edwards trims speech and hair

DES MOINES, IOWA, Dec. 15 — Even with late edits accommodating the news of Saddam's capture, there was seemingly more debate over which entrance Senator Edwards would use than what his foreign policy speech would contain on Monday at a school library in Des Moines, Iowa. Reporters looking for entry shots were hustled down four flights of stairs to a loading dock, then back up to the front steps of the building, only to be directed back down again.

Was the staff trying to hide shots of Edwards' new 'do? Waiting to unveil it at the podium, where he would be flanked by American flags behind both shoulders? Whatever the reasoning, we missed his entrance but caught the speech in its entirety. The new cut is quite short, especially across the front. Presumably any inclination the Senator might have to run his hands through his hair and out of his eyes is severely diminished.

In intimate settings Edwards continues to be at once more comfortable and earnest, as opposed to ever-so-slightly halting. Still, this speech was full of detail and deconstruction, which can be a challenge to jazz up and deliver with verve.

Consultants on the speech titled "Strategy of Prevention, Not Preemption" included Sandy Berger, former National Security Advisor; Ashton Carter, Harvard Professor and former Assistant Secretary of Defense; Joseph Cirincione, Director of non-Proliferation Project at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; and Michael Levi of the Brookings Institution.

The meat of the speech: Edwards would establish a new Global Nuclear Compact to reinforce the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as well as propose a new United Nations Security Council resolution to confront other countries threatening to spread weapons to other parts of the world.

Edwards asks president to seek international help

DES MOINES, IOWA, Dec. 15 — Sen. Edwards learned of Saddam's capture upon landing in Chicago early Sunday morning off a red-eye flight from L.A. Back at campaign headquarters in Raleigh, N.C., spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri BlackBerried body-man Hunter Pruette and anyone else she knew to be traveling with the Senator or would soon see him.

By noon the campaign released a written statement from Edwards. After praising the military's efforts, the statement read in part, "I hope President Bush will use this opportunity to chart a course in Iraq that will bring in our allies in a meaningful way to achieve a democratic and peaceful Iraq." Edwards then held an afternoon presser for cameras at a downtown Chicago hotel.

Catching Hunter

NEW YORK CITY, Dec. 11— So what exactly is the scenario at the moment on the Edwards campaign?

This is what we know now: "Body Man" Hunter Pruette is thousands of miles away from the boss, having leaped ahead to San Francisco. Edwards dropped off his own campaign for a rare night home with Emma Claire and Jack, after having wooed Big Apple donors at venues crisscrossing the social sphere from Staten Island to the swank city club GO (where for $100 you too could have met John Edwards).

And now? As JRE (as he is referred to on the campaign internally) catches up to Hunter, he is preparing to deliver a speech at the Commonwealth Club at 1:00 pm today.

It's always a sign something is up when Edwards kicks off his day with a speech. And there have been hints this one may deliver Edwards in not a new light, but perhaps an alternative light to refresh everyone's minds about why he's running and what he offers that the rest of the field doesn't.

Edwards warms up with impromptu town hall

DURHAM, N.H., Dec. 10 —As he left the debate hall, Edwards had no winter coat, hat or gloves on a 12-degree night, just his standard issue blue-suit-red-tie combo, hair boom-sha-lacka-lacka-boomed into an aerodynamic flip over his brow. He seemed anxious to leave. He said the Gore news "was a distraction and kept us from talking about the serious issues." Earlier that day Edwards told Oklahoma Public Television that he has a lot of respect for Al Gore but he expected the election would be decided by independent-thinking voters.

State Senator Lou D'Alessandro was big Gore supporter in 2000 who announced his endorsement of Edwards in early November. He said "our guy did okay" but major topics were overlooked, citing a factory closing in Manchester, N.H. that could leave more than 500 people without jobs.

Across the street a crowd of about 50 supporters gathered to watch the debate in Murphy's bar. Afterwards Edwards dropped by and hopped on a ledge at the end of one room, rolling up his shirtsleeves and holding an unscheduled town hall meeting for just over half an hour.

Edwards rebounds from Gore news with support from "Round Mound"

NEW YORK CITY, Dec. 8 — The campaign did not comment on the Gore-Dean news. However, when word leaked that Clark's campaign claimed to have won the "Gore Staffing Primary" it was pointed out that several former Gore staffers now work for Senator Edwards. Among them in alphabetical order: Nick Baldick, Sky Gallegos, David Ginsberg, Hunter Pruette and Roger Salazar.

In what might be described as a slightly less powerful slam dunk than Gore tapping Dean as his first draft pick, basketball superstar Charles Barkley said on Jesse Ventura's MSNBC program, "there's nobody in the Democratic party that really floats my boat except John Edwards."

Not Punk'd … Pelosi'd in the Magic Kingdom

NEW YORK CITY, Dec. 7 — Sen. Edwards' arrival experience in the Magic Kingdom this weekend had his traveling staff laughing out loud. Edwards was Pelosi'd. As in Alexandra Pelosi.

This is not a bad thing; Pelosi is gathering tape to make a big HBO movie with groovy video and those "unguarded" moments that made "Journeys With George" unique. You'd worry if you were running for President and Pelosi walked right by you while you had half a ham sandwich in one hand and a Dean voodoo doll in the other.

Edwards had neither; he simply made his way from his car to a private event in a hotel room. And Pelosi was there for the entire walk, at his side camera in hand, attempting to engage Edwards in some laid-back, off-the-cuff conversation.

"What do you think of the Magic Kingdom?" Pelosi yelled above the chanting, "Edwards! Edwards!" behind him. "I can't hear you!" Edwards looked like he was leaning in to try to hear her, a big grin on his face. Pelosi tried a few more times over the chanting, but Edwards continued to smile, say things like, "Oh, it's great! I'm sorry, what?"

At Sunset on the Edge of Town

SANTA FE, N.M., Dec. 4 — John Edwards made his fifth campaign visit to New Mexico Thursday, talking about job loss and health care to a crowd of approximately 65 after a day that started in Iowa as he reached his goal of visiting all 90 of Iowa's counties. The Senator was asked directly what he made of the fact that both Lieberman and Kerry missed the vote on Medicare. Ever a speaker of the peace, Edwards pointed out that Kerry had participated in the debate but campaign obligations demand a lot from one person, so he understood how a candidate could miss a vote.

A new anti-Bush line emerged in Sante Fe, as Edwards was discussing how he would take on Bush.

"When they come out to hit us," he said, "We have to make sure they come back missing a hand."

Biting the hand that feeds?

AMES, IOWA, Dec. 3 — A crashing stack of chairs and a faltering mike didn't keep Sen. Edwards from receiving two standing ovations as he gave a speech on cleaning up business in Washington to a packed crowd gathered in the Sun Room at Iowa State University.

And at a campaign stop on Wednesday, Sen. Edwards was asked why, if he sought to lower the cost of healthcare, he accepted a significant amount of financial contributions from the very trial attorneys who, this questioner maintained, drive up the cost of healthcare with their many medical malpractice suits? Was that not hypocritical?

Edwards answered by outlining a series of checks and balances he would introduce into the legal system, such as requiring lawyers to accept an independent review to justify the merit of a case before trial.

Cover Boy Number Three: The Edwards campaign staff continues to spark media interest. Good thing they brought Roger Salazar on board to handle all the requests. The latest victim: Iowa State Political Director Aaron Pickrell, who was recently profiled in his hometown paper, the Oskaloosa Herald.

Democrats in Double-Wides

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA, Dec. 2 — On a gray Iowa day threatening snow, Senator Edwards went from diners to double-wides as he worked his way west on Highway 2, making eight campaign stops along the way.

In libraries, lecture halls and in front of a mobile Christmas angel mannequin with battery-operated moving wings in Betty Maley's double-wide trailer in Clarinda, Iowa, Edwards talked about what he calls President Bush's faux persona as the common cowboy, swaggering around his Texas ranch out of touch with the average American. He continued this week's message: job creation, tax relief for the middle class and the need for Democrats to transform party discord and anger into a positive, united message for Americans.

At one point Edwards was asked about citizen surveillance issues. After the question and answer session ended, Elizabeth Edwards took the lead on tying up any loose ends. She elaborated, "John has actually asked Sen. Orrin Hatch to look into surveillance of anti-war actions." The Senator picked back up. "I think it is a very serious issue, thank you Elizabeth," he said. "For 26 years she has been adding to what I have to say."

Courting rural county resident support is the base of the campaign's Iowa strategy. Edwards will have visited 90 counties by Thursday afternoon. He plans on visiting all 99 by mid-December, when aggressive field follow up work will begin.

"One delegate from a rural area has the same voice and vote as a delegate from an urban area," said Roxanne Conlin, the Edwards' campaign Iowa co-chair. "We need work horses as well as show horses."

Ringgold County Coordinator Jim Uhlenkemp recently chose Edwards over Dean and Kerry because he admires the fact that Edwards does not engage in negative campaigning. "I plan on winning Ringgold County for John Edwards," he said. "But, that is going to be a tall order."

Cover Boy Number One

At 8:45 p.m. in Glenwood, on a black street under a pelting icy rain, Edwards' rental van pulled up to a corner coffee shop. Edwards hopped out and ducked in to talk to the crowd. Converse to the predominate behavior of the press corps and staff (yawns all around), Edwards was up and animated, lingering to shake hands and pitch his book as he had all day. "If you see this book in a store, please buy it," he told one crowd. "That nice guy on the cover? That's me."

Cover Boy Number Two:

Hunter Pruette, Edwards' field director of travel, a.k.a. "Body Man," has seemingly had some sight issues of late. Fortunately for Edwards, who depends on Pruette to read the lengthy daily schedules faxed to his hotel, Pruette had heretofore unseen spectacles at the ready. No wire rim, slightly smudged and altogether academic-looking. Not bad if one wants to promote a serious and loyal, knowledgeable and trustworthy image. Coincidentally, a CNN crew is shooting a profile of Hunter on this trip.

Axelrod Whispers

CENTERVILLE, IOWA, Dec. 1 — Add a crowd of about 60 at the Steamboat Senior center in Burlington, Iowa, a hip-looking camera crew shooting MTV-style at extreme angles and one candidate with his sleeves rolled up drinking water instead of diet coke (no indirect product-pushing allowed). There you have the setting for the latest John Edwards ad campaign shot Monday night.

David Axelrod, an Edwards' media consultant and a former political reporter himself, occasionally whispered directions for the cameraman, who would in turn scurry around Edwards to get a more extreme angle or zoom. Edwards for his part seemed comfortable underneath the hot lights at the end of a very long day. He delivered a typical speech and answered questions with typical "I-feel-your-pain" attention. At one point he asked a questioner how long he had been teaching. "Thirty-four years," said the high school music teacher. "Bless your heart," said Edwards. Zoom, cut, wrap.

The stop was the last of a day in which Edwards spoke about trade policy and tax relief to crowds ranging in size from 10 to 60 across eastern Iowa.

Cast Changes, Script Changes, and Props:

The campaign announced the appointment of Roger Salazar as national spokesperson. Among other things, Salazar was an assistant press secretary for President Clinton in 1998 and 1999, and the acting national spokesperson for Gore 2000.

Say good-bye to an Edwards' campaign staple: the John Ashcroft line that was a sure-fire bet for applause and grave nods from crowds everywhere from Iowa to New Hampshire to Oklahoma. The topic was the Patriot Act, a tricky subject at times since Edwards voted in favor of it. Until recently Edwards would say something along the lines of: "I do not take a back seat to anyone when it comes to keeping our country safe. But we cannot let people like John Ashcroft take away our rights, our dignities … " Cue applause. Now it is out, and so far nothing has replaced it.

Elizabeth Edwards, always reliable for the quick retort and laugh, joined the campaign for a few days. At one point Edwards handed her his coat and she asked the crowd, "Y'all were wondering why I'm here weren't you?"

Edwards back in Iowa

Dec. 1 — The Edwards campaign starts December focused on Iowa, where Senator Edwards continues a five-day swing through the state attending house parties, coffee shop meet-and-greets, and the occasional town hall. He plans to have visited all 99 counties in Iowa by the end of December.

Over the holiday the Edwards campaign might have given thanks to the Feldman Group, Inc., for releasing poll numbers showing Edwards leading in South Carolina at 17 percent, followed by Rev. Al Sharpton at 12 percent. Still, the poll had a sampling margin of error of 4 points.

A note from campaign events pre- and post-Thanksgiving: Edwards finished up a two-day bus trip through Oklahoma, his tenth visit to the state, where his endorsement tally is at 29 out of a total of 81 Democratic state officials.

Edwards campaign wants more sugar

Nov. 20 — Edwards campaign headquarters in Raleigh, N.C., has changed since September, expanded by bodies and sugar. More people in the standard issue uniform: jeans and a wrinkle-free top (i.e. sweatshirt, T-shirt — perhaps that of old college roommates). More candy packed into desk drawers (Butterfingers, Nestle Crunch, Snickers). "This is a campaign. We need sugar," the staffer at the front desk said.

Wednesday it may not have been all that necessary. The Post -AARP debate press out of New Hampshire provided a high on its own, though after the first glow passed some staff wondered where the national press was. WNDS-TV's Arnie Arnesen and Charlie Arlinghaus said Edwards stood out as the most comfortable on stage and most succinct in his answers. "I was totally surprised by his performance," said Arnesen.

Edwards stops by Lou's house with some friends

Nov. 19 — Bert Paradise likes what John Edwards has to say. Paradise, a maintenance technician at Southeast Container in Hudson, New Hampshire heard the Senator speak for the first time at workplace town hall held after the AARP forum. Paradise likes Edwards' message over the rest of the field. But that doesn't mean he will vote for him.

"I don't know if he can win," said Paradise. "I want to go with the frontrunner."

Could this be a turn-around case for Lou D'Allessandro? D'Allessandro is one of two New Hampshire democratic state senators out of six to endorse Edwards, and he hosted a town hall at his Manchester home Tuesday evening.

Bill Barton and Julie Liposky drove from their home in Situate, Mass., to hear Edwards for the first time. They won't give Edwards their vote either, being from Massachusetts, but Barton said he would give his financial support. Barton said he was going to go home and donate online.

Standing next to Edwards in front of his living room fireplace, D'Allessandro said that after some soul searching he and his wife endorsed Edwards because they share similar values and history (both Lou and the Senator were the first members of their families to attend college). Later, D'Allessandro said he hopes to energize a Hispanic base of support for Edwards in Manchester and use his contacts and experience to drum up support for the Senator the state over. D'Allessandro had dinner with his old friend Al Gore and his wife Tipper in Nashville recently — after D'Allessandro had announced his Edwards endorsement -- but kept mum on where the former Vice President is leaning at this point. Edwards made a plea for support, asking attendees to bring the friends and family on board, "anybody who is willing" to volunteer for the campaign. This weekend the campaign has 30 volunteers coming to spend a second weekend in a row knocking on doors and handing out booklets. In the last week the campaign says it has distributed 3,000 copies of Edwards' 60-page plan, Real Solutions for America.

Earlier in the day as the candidates at the AARP forum shook hands and stopped for cameras to make statements on the gay marriage ruling in Massachusetts, Edwards made a quick exit in an effort to stick to a schedule re-jiggered due to Monday travel delays. Late in the afternoon the campaign released a statement in which the Senator says he believes "gay and lesbian Americans are entitled to equal respect and dignity under our laws." Edwards believes the issue of gay marriage should be a state issue and he would "oppose any effort to pass an amendment to the United States Constitution in response to the Massachusetts decision." In the past Edwards has told town halls that he believes America is "not ready" for gay marriage.

Brrrr, it's cold in here (name that movie)...

Nov. 18 — Today in Manchester, New Hampshire it is 30 degrees and chilly with some hints of sun and no sign of rain as temperatures rise to a high of …

Edwards to 7 percent in New Hampshire? That is the latest news here greeting the Senator as he spends the day here campaigning. Polls being polls, this one was e-mailed to reporters with no small amount of exclamation points. Conducted by Marist College, the results show Edwards moving up and into third place. It is sure to have staffers grinning ear to ear, not cold but cozy with the thought of real third place finish potential. Just as warming to the campaign are the Marist numbers on Clark -- which show the General moving down from 11 percent to 3 percent.

Bring it on, as those in the Edwards camp like to say. Oh, and while you're at it, bring a few more staffers on, too. The Edwards camp opened a new Londonderry field office on Monday, and overall the staff here has increased from 16 to 24 in the last few weeks. They are bulking up (slightly -- it is sort of like a bantam weight boxer going into the ring against one true heavyweight (Dean), and one former heavyweight-losing-weight (Kerry)).

Yesterday Latino campaign supporters launched "Unidos Con Edwards" (United with Edwards), a grassroots effort designed to advise Edwards on Latino issues and organize a grassroots push in key primary states. Events were held in New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington D.C.

Book Review …

Sen. Edwards' book "Four Trials" is now in bookstores, complete with a Web site: LINK

There is a moment in the book when the image of John Edwards the attorney perfectly predicts that of John Edwards the candidate. They are one and the same.

It is January 1997, and Edwards is making his closing argument on behalf of a little girl named Valerie Lackey. At age 5 Valerie was the victim of a horrific and freak accident at her neighborhood pool; she lost part of her intestine when she became stuck to the force of suction created by a faulty pool drain cover. Throughout the trial, every party involved except Sta-Rite, the manufacturer of the drain cover, settled. Sta-Rite, a large corporation, maintained the accident was due not to their product but the manner in which it was installed.

And so it was Sta-Rite vs. Valerie Lackey, who Edwards and his team put on the stand to testify in her shy, 8-year-old voice. After painting a picture of Sta-Rite as a tower of corporate indifference, Edwards reminds the jury of Valerie. Edwards writes:

"'You saw her. You watched her. She is sweet, gorgeous, frail and very quiet. Very quiet … what you have is a picture of absolute innocence. Absolute innocence … Now I want you to put those pictures side by side. Absolute corporate indifference,' I paused and made a fist with my left hand — 'and absolute innocence.' And then another fist with my right hand."

He then brings his hands together, and tells the jury that is the point at which they come in with the power to fix it all. That image, of Edwards attempting to convince an audience that an innocent party is suffering at the hands of a powerful but indifferent and disconnected entity, is exactly projected on the campaign trail.

In fact, Edwards is given to actually make two fists on the trail when comparing George Bush and corporate responsibility. He will ask audiences, "So what do ya' think?" And then launch into "sweetheart deals" for Haliburton, cuts in college grants and a healthcare system rife with problems. He will tell audiences they have the power to change it all, and that as President he will do so himself on their behalf.

It is not an arduous stretch to create the metaphoric parallel of a crusading attorney and a crusading candidate. In "Four Trials" Edwards recounts four cases he won from the beginning of his career to Valerie's case, soon after which he quit law to run for the Senate. Each case pits a victim against an established Goliath and end with Edwards winning record-breaking sums. Three out of four involve young children.

"Four Trials" is a quick read. It is simple and straightforward, as if the envisioned reader was yes, a jury. What then, is the case at hand? A campaign book aims to reveal a side to the candidate heretofore unknown, presumably in a way that makes the candidate at once more accessible and, theoretically, more presidential.

Edwards' bus rolls around Iowa

Nov. 17 — Twenty-six tons of politically inclined automotive power. One "Singin' with the Edwards'" song book. A fridge full of Diet Coke and frozen steak fajitas. At the helm is campaign veteran (and bi-partisan) bus driver Johnny Williams, guiding The Real Solutions Express through western Iowa as Sen. Edwards completed a three-day bus tour built around the Jefferson Jackson dinner in Des Moines Saturday night.

Edwards used the day in Iowa on Saturday to practice his JJ speech at various campaign stops and his main event delivery was smooth. The speech included some new anti-Bush script ("He has led us from the edge of greatness to the edge of a cliff, and now it is time to run him out of town!") as well as a theme increasingly heard from the candidate.

It's the "Whomever-thinks-I'm-all-Southern charm-has-another-thing-coming" idea, which Edwards is happy to say to audiences in almost exactly those words out on the trail. When he does, it packs a certain effectiveness that more often than not leaves audience raising their eyebrows and nodding their heads. The JJ version was slightly more subtle: "I've spent the last 20 years in courtrooms fighting for families and children, against big HMOs, insurance and drug companies and big corporate America, and their armies of lawyers. If you want to know how hard and tough I will fight for hard-working Americans, you go ask them."

It is notable as coverage of the Confederate flag flap with Dean finally fades (Edwards' positive press stretched into late last week), talk of the public's perception of Edwards increases, both inside the campaign and out. Randal Archibold's Sunday New York Times piece "On the Campaign Trail, Edwards Defends Lawyer Role" looks at how Edwards manages the assumptions many make about trial attorneys. Edwards' own biography, Four Trials, uses four cases Edwards' won as the biographical structure of his book.

Another hint of increasing national attention on the Edwards campaign was the changing face of the press pack. Gone are the days of one rental van carrying candidate and a small number of staff, followed by a handful of reporters in various rental cars. Sunday saw a six-car caravan trailing the campaign bus, and the regular Edwards' press pack was joined at one point or another by Varsity Team reporters Joe Klein, Adam Nagourney, Dan Balz, Walter Shapiro and a CBS camera crew shooting for Leslie Stahl.

On the road again with a fading attention span …

"Kids just chased the cat downstairs, swear to God," said Edwards to his wife, Elizabeth, as she took a seat at the Sac City house party hosted by Russ and Cathie Hass' in their living room.

The Edwards' younger children, 5-year-old Emma Claire and 3-year-old Jack, joined the campaign for part of this 14-day push to Thanksgiving. At the days' early events, both children sat attentively and listened to their father speak. Jack was especially intent on skimming the 60-page handout outlining Edwards' policy proposals. Throughout the day the Senator played piggyback on his way out of events, and trip director Hunter Pruette was seen taking on Jack one-on-one on a supporter's swing set. But by the end of a long day, the attention span of even family is stretched. The two children preferred to race in and around backyards, always watched by a young staffer.

So far the Hass' cat has been the only one to express any dismay over their presence, possibly been due to fact that at one point Jack had the cat's tail locked firmly in his fist.

Back On The Trail

Nov. 14 — Sen. Edwards finished up fundraising in New York and Florida yesterday and is back on the campaign trail today in South Carolina where he will pack more in one day than he has in weeks in that state.

A new ad was on the air in Iowa yesterday. Part of the spot was flilmed in early October at a campaign stop in Cedar Rapids. Edwards is shown in front of an audience delivering one of his stump speech regulars, "Did you know we're in an economic recovery right now? What they call a jobless economic recovery? Where I grew up, if you don't have a job you don't have a recovery." Out on the trail this line is apt to get attention, prepping listeners for the subsequent attack on President Bush. But the TV spot skips all that and instead cites Edwards 96 percent rating from the AFL-CIO on issues affecting working families and outlines his proposals for bringing jobs back to the states from overseas.Raise Cash, Meet the Brass

Nov. 13 — On day two of three without a public campaign event, Senator Edwards was in New York fitting in fundraisers and finishing up what the campaign unofficially tageed "Elite Week" — Edwards' tour of media duty. He hit the New York Times editorial board meeting, a lengthy network sit-down interview and even an honest-to-goodness "Let's do lunch" media lunch with a second network anchor.

The New York Times didn't come close to the giving Edwards the positive press the Post did after Edwards spoke to that paper on Monday, but Chuck Todd's column "WH 2004: Calling the (Football) Shots" in the National Journal is sure to have campaign staffers smiling. It might even earn a spot on the Media Wall back at campaign headquarters in Raleigh.

Todd looks for a viable anti-Dean candidate and finds his way to the "intriguing potential" of Edwards: "The media love to create candidates, and Edwards is ripe for re-creation. All he has to do is finish third in Iowa and the media show is launched. Imagine this: Dean beats Gephardt in Iowa, Edwards edges past Kerry for third, and suddenly, there's a real race for second place in New Hampshire. The media coverage in Iowa will give Edwards a shot. . . . . It's a scenario that's more viable these days than, say, a two-loss Texas team somehow qualifying for a rematch with Oklahoma for the national title."

Happy Veterans Day … ?

Nov. 12 — Sound the bell, round one between Gen. Clark (or at least his communications director) and Senator Edwards has begun.

In a letter criticizing Sen. Edwards' association with Gen. Hugh Shelton on the grounds that Shelton has engaged in a "smear campaign" and "character assassination" against his boss, Clark's communications director Matt Bennett said Edwards "should insist that Shelton either repudiate his attacks or back up his charge with an ounce of evidence or a shred of substantiation."

The campaign released the letter Edwards wrote back, addressed directly to Clark. In it Edwards says that while he values the General's advice, Shelton has yet to officially endorse any candidate. "He is a fellow North Carolinian and has been a friend and adviser for many years. I will continue to seek his advice. When I talk to the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it's about the safety and security of our men and women in uniform, not about politics."

The Shelton association came into the spotlight late last week when Edwards named him as someone he consults with on a semi-regular basis, after being asked about advisers in general at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire. Bennett's letter also suggested that Edwards rethink his support of the war in Kosovo, since Shelton was not an advocate.

Here's Matt Bennett's letter to Sen. Edwards:

Dear Senator Edwards:

I'm simply astounded that you have retained General Hugh Shelton as an adviser to your presidential campaign. This choice undermines the spirit of civility that you have urged your fellow candidates to uphold. Just this September, you said: "We need to be really careful that our anger is not directed at each other." Maybe you should share that advice with your own campaign team.

General Shelton has engaged in precisely the type of politics as usual mud-slinging that you profess to abhor: he initiated what has become a smear campaign that the Republicans have gleefully taken up. And his character assassination was the worst type: General Shelton leveled charges about "integrity" and "character," and then refused to back up his charge with an ounce of evidence or a shred of substantiation. Attacks like these have no place in campaigns, or in any public discourse. You should insist that General Shelton either repudiate his attacks or come forward and provide proof for what he said.

Your association with General Shelton is also curious given your position of support for the war in Kosovo. As you know, by waging war against Slobodan Milosevic in Kosovo, we saved 1.5 million Albanians from ethnic cleansing, all without losing a single American life. Have you changed your mind about this operation? Do you now think we should have refused to stop the genocide and given Milosevic free reign in the region, as your adviser apparently believes?

By associating with General Shelton on this campaign, you seem to have given in to the negative politics that you say you have risen above. I hope that throughout the campaign you will maintain the high level of dialogue that you have insisted on for others and that you will address this matter promptly.

Sincerely,

Matt Bennett Communications Director Clark for President

And Sen. Edwards' letter to Gen. Clark:

Dear General Clark:

I wanted to bring to your attention a letter by a member of your staff sent to me regarding General Hugh Shelton. Whatever your personal views on General Shelton, I'm sure you agree that he is a respected military leader who served our country with distinction.

Although General Shelton has not endorsed me or any other candidate, I value his advice as one of our nation's top military leaders. He is a fellow North Carolinian and has been a friend and adviser for many years. I will continue to seek his advice. When I talk to the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it's about the safety and security of our men and women in uniform, not about politics.

I appreciate your consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

John Edwards

Edwards picks up southern help, picks on Dean's decision

Nov. 11 — "I'm a little bit older than he is," said former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes.

"Not by much," Sen. Edwards shot back.

Depends on how you judge five years (Barnes is 55).

In Atlanta Monday afternoon to announce endorsements from Barnes and three Georgia state representatives, Edwards focused his campaign speech to the potential donor crowd on his fight for the plight of the middle class. For anyone who read Bob Herbert's New York Times op-ed, it was old news.

Speaking to reporters afterwards Edwards repeated his now well-reported reaction to Dean's finance decision. " … Gov. Dean himself said several months ago that he thought it was imperative that the Democrats to stay within the public financing system in the presidential race, and it appears at least that he has decided it is not in his interest to do that and he's reversed his position. I think this is a matter of principle and I think the integrity of the system matters."

Asked how concerned he is that Dean will carry some Southern states, Edwards said simply, "Not."

The campaign launched television ads in Iowa and New Hampshire today as part of a four-phase "Plan for Change" unveiled week by week touting Edwards' 60-page platform handbook. Edwards says the book is a way to hold him accountable, and a voiceover tells viewers how to get their own copy.

Edwards rolls along on Granite State goal, adds foreign policy advisers

Nov. 10 — Saturday, Sen. Edwards capped off his New Hampshire bus tour three-quarters of the way toward reaching his goal of holding 100 town hall meetings in New Hampshire. Asked about his circle of policy advisers, Edwards named retired General and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (and fellow North Carolinian) Hugh Shelton as an informal foreign policy adviser, as well as Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger.

Edwards was in North Carolina Sunday evening to rally support from the African-American voter base that was so critical in helping him win his Senate seat in 1998. Craig Kirby, Edwards' deputy national campaign chair, told the audience they needed to make the campaign a grassroots powerhouse, getting into diners and coffee shops to tell people who John Edwards is. And, ever mindful of the long-term campaign strategy, Kirby told the room the election would start in South Carolina.

Campaign staffers say Clark's decision to focus on South Carolina only makes the state more of a battleground and increases its relevance as never before. "Because we know we will win South Carolina," one senior aide said, the reaction to Clark is simple: Bring it on, General.

Official-izing it in New Hampshire

Nov. 7 — "My handwriting is so bad," Sen. Edwards said as he signed himself into history, officially filing for the New Hampshire primary Thursday afternoon at the State Capital in Concord. "I agree," his wife, Elizabeth, chimed in. And so it was scrawled into the record books with the personal message, "America works best when it works for all of us — thanks to New Hampshire, John Edwards."

Afterwards, reporters asked Edwards what was working best for him in New Hampshire. Should he be doing better at this point? "It takes a long, sustained effort to make this happen," said Edwards in his typical this-comes-as-no-surprise style, followed by how pleased he is with the latest polls and endorsements. "My job is to have my message and my candidacy penetrate in these early primary states and that is exactly what is happening."