Elizabeth Edwards was her husband's biggest asset - AP article by Nedra Pickler

[Mira]

(AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2008 file photo, Democratic presidential hopeful former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., right, and wife Elizabeth arrive at a campaign rally in Ames, Iowa. A family friend on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010 said Edwards has died. She was 61.

Elizabeth Edwards was her husband's biggest asset
Published - Dec 07 2010 09:33PM EST
By NEDRA PICKLER - Associated Press


WASHINGTON — When John Edwards declared himself a candidate in his first presidential campaign, his South Carolina rally was interrupted by rowdy critics who ridiculed the trial lawyer-turned-politician as a liberal and an ambulance chaser. Elizabeth Edwards stepped forward, took the microphone and asked for "good Southern manners." Hecklers hushed.

The moment showed why Elizabeth Edwards was her husband's biggest asset. She was his chief defender, even when many people thought he didn't deserve it, and helped propel his political career with charm, humor, intelligence and directness.

After I had written about their appearance that day, I headed to catch a flight back to Washington only to see her waiting alone at the same gate. We were both tired after a long, hot day of campaign rallies in our dark business jackets as I approached her to reintroduce myself since our last meeting months earlier.

"I know who you are," she said _ my first sign just how closely she monitored news coverage and everything else involving her husband's campaign. "Let's go ask them to seat us together since no one else will be able to stand the smell of us."
Here she was, a potential first lady joking about body odor.

Her wit and willingness to acknowledge her imperfections and setbacks, whether a struggle to lose weight or the later loss of her hair during chemotherapy _ turned her into a hit in the campaign. She could draw crowds as large as her husband's, especially among the all-important female voters. They related to her as a mother toting along two young children on a campaign bus where she forced everyone to sing from songbooks.
And in the second campaign, many women would approach her with tears in their eyes to relay their own experiences with breast cancer. That continual grappling with grief could visibly wear her down some days.

John Edwards told me when his campaign was riding high that without Elizabeth he wouldn't have made it _ and that wasn't just because of her moral support. She won him endorsements, helped shape all his policy and political decisions and improved his reputation before it collapsed with his marital betrayal.

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