Clinton Overhauls, but Doesn't Exit, in Iowa

-- Perry Bacon Jr.

Edwards, Helms and Candor

The wife of Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina, yesterday compared him to another state politician known for blunt candor -- conservative icon Jesse Helms. Elizabeth Edwards, before giving a speech in Savannah, Ga., invoked the name of Republican Helms when asked if her husband could appeal to conservative Southern voters.

"I remember one time somebody saying that 'John Edwards reminds me of Jesse Helms,' " she said. "They didn't agree on a single policy, I don't think. But here's what they agreed on -- that people should know where they stood."

Edwards said her husband has been honest with Americans in saying he made a mistake by voting in the Senate to authorize the invasion of Iraq. She said he blames himself, not faulty intelligence that suggested Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

"Certainly every woman loves to hear a man admit, now and again, that they were wrong," she told reporters. "And John's willing to do that."

Helms's outspoken opposition to abortion, gay rights and a national holiday to honor Martin Luther King Jr. drew the wrath of Democrats and moderates.

-- Associated Press

Wyoming Decision Can Wait

With the death of Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.), the Wyoming Republican Party has a couple of weeks to nominate three appointees to finish his term through 2008. Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) will make the official appointment. The party said it would announce details of the process after Thomas's funeral, which has not yet been scheduled.

"We will deliver a sound process for this critical selection, but . . . out of respect for the family, we ask that premature speculation be set aside and time be allowed for grieving," said the party chairman, Fred Parady.

-- Zachary A. Goldfarb