Elizabeth Edwards' New Role: Campaign Weapon

June 28, 2007 — -- The role of the candidate's wife has varied widely in the last few presidential campaigns, from demure Laura Bush and protective Barbara Bush to co-presidential Hillary Clinton and outspoken Theresa Heinz Kerry.

Now Elizabeth Edwards seems to be setting a new standard as a powerful weapon for her husband's presidential campaign.

The 57-year-old wife of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards has become an enormous asset, gaining support in her fight against cancer and earning praise for her intelligence and charm.

But what was behind Edwards' phone call to MSNBC during conservative commentator Ann Coulter's appearance?

Some political analysts say the call was clearly an effort to rally supporters before a second-quarter fundraising deadline this Saturday.

After all, the campaign has been able to rally thousands of supporters to donate money Wednesday, the day after Elizabeth Edwards called in to MSBNC's "Hardball" to confront Coulter and tell her to stop making personal attacks against her husband.

"How about you stop raising money on your Web page, then?" shot back Coulter, who also mocked the fact that Edwards' wife, rather than the candidate himself, was calling in to complain.

Some political observers feel that the phone call was a carefully planned political maneuver and that the Edwards campaign was looking to raise money by going after Coulter, the bete noire of liberal Democrats.

"This was very calculated," said professor Robert Denton Jr. of Virginia Tech who studies political communication. "Ann Coulter has become a good motivator for the Democratic base so for Mrs. Edwards to call in to confront her – it was an orchestration."

Denton could not recall a candidate's wife taking such an aggressive stance in recent political history. "This is unprecedented for a candidate's wife to be on the attack to this extent," he said. "There are certain role expectations. Barbara Bush and Nancy Reagan were active behind the scenes but they would not have taken that kind of initiative."

This morning on ABC's "Good Morning America," Edwards justified her phone call to the show. "I was not intending when I called her to raise money," she said. "The fact that she continues [to make hateful comments] gives us an opportunity to ask people to get involved… It never occurred to me when I made this call that it would help John in some poll some place."

Edwards is a proven asset and her husband's campaign knows how to use her to its advantage, said John Geer, a professor of political science at Vanderbilt University. "She came out doing well," he said. "There is an added benefit for her doing these visible activities, reinforcing the fact that she has this situation with cancer. She's clearly very talented and smart."

She has also been outspoken in defending her husband in other circumstances. On Tuesday, during an appearance in Seattle, Edwards took time to dispute claims that John Edwards misused money from the Center for Promise and Opportunity, an anti-poverty nonprofit he founded, for campaign travel. She criticized the story in The New York Times that reported those claims, calling it "unfair" and "totally inaccurate."

And Edwards strove to explain her position in the campaign. "He's the person that's running for president," she told the Seattle Times. "Ultimately, he's the decision maker. I'm honestly just an honest broker for him."

Unlike previous candidates' wives whose public appearances and comments have been tightly controlled, Edwards' independent streak seems tolerated, if not encouraged by her husband.

Last week, she split with her husband over support for legalized gay marriage. "I don't know why someone else's marriage has anything to do with me," Edwards said at San Francisco's annual gay pride parade. "I'm completely comfortable with gay marriage."

John Edwards has expressed his support for civil unions but not same-sex marriages.

After her latest run-in with Coulter, the candidate strongly defended his wife. On Wednesday afternoon, he told ABC News that he was "very proud" of his wife for confronting the conservative provocateur.

"I think she was making it clear that we can't continue to tolerate this kind of name-calling and hate-mongering," Edwards said.

But her high visibility may also reflect the campaign's strategy to catch up to Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., in the race for money. "The (fiscal quarter) deadline is July 1 and the fundraising hasn't gone as well as they would have liked so they're looking for a little bit of a boost," said Geer.

In the end, the Edwards-Coulter feud may serve to rally both sides of the political spectrum. "It will reinforce both sides," said Denton. "Conservatives will grumble about 'sending your wife to do a man's business' and liberals will think that Ann Coulter is the devil. It's all performance."