A True Political Partner

(By Michel Du Cille -- The Washington Post)

Campaigning solo, Elizabeth Edwards is viewed as an inspirational figure, welcomed enthusiastically by her audiences. She fields detailed questions about her husband's views on issues. A stickler for precision and accuracy, she sometimes pauses to note that she does not have all the details, but in most cases she is fully fluent on what the candidate has proposed and why.

Her unexpected asides can offer a window into her spirited and sometimes vulnerable personality. Early in June, Edwards was opening the campaign's local office in Concord, N.H. A small group of supporters had turned out, and they were munching on doughnuts and drinking coffee when she arrived.

As she started to speak, two photographers plunked down on the floor in front of her, shooting from the ground up. She gave them an alarmed look. "That is not an angle women like their picture taken," she admonished them, to no avail.

Arriving at a house party in Meredith, N.H., a few weeks later, she was greeted by a woman who said her husband was in the state legislature. "So you're another person with a derivative existence," she joked.

More Instinct, Fewer Strategists

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After Wade's death, the Internet was one of the places Edwards found comfort and support -- before most people knew what the Internet was all about. That experience buoyed her during a time of immeasurable grief, but it also provided a practical lesson when her husband decided to run for president. She understood that the Web could become a powerful tool to create communities, whether for grieving parents or political activists.

Edwards said she pushed in 2004 to create a more dynamic online presence, one that would generate feedback, comments and ultimately support. "We didn't follow through in 2004," she said, noting that Howard Dean became the Internet pioneer in that campaign.

A more robust Internet presence is just one of the changes Edwards and her husband demanded in this campaign. She encouraged his instinct to make poverty a centerpiece of his message, and it is not by accident that there has been no dominant general strategist this time. Some Democrats believe that Joe Trippi, who was Dean's campaign manager in 2004 and recently joined the Edwards campaign, may come to play such a role, but others insist he is one of several senior aides guiding the operation.

Neither Edwards is fond of power political consultants, and in 2003, John Edwards had a very public breakup with veteran strategist Bob Shrum, who had handled his Senate campaign in 1998. The wounds still have not healed. Shrum drew a critical portrait of John Edwards in his recent book, "No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner," and asserted that Edwards had voted for the 2002 Iraq resolution largely on Shrum's advice. He wrote that he regrets giving the advice.

Elizabeth Edwards delivered a pointed rebuttal to the book's account during a CNN interview shortly after its publication. "As far as I can tell there's not a single passage that is accurate," she said of Shrum's descriptions of the Edwards campaign.

Shrum said last week that her comment did not deal with the specifics of what he wrote, but he added, "I have great respect for Elizabeth Edwards, and I have nothing negative to say about her."

In 2004, there was a falling out with David Axelrod, the campaign's media consultant and senior strategist, and the advertising was shifted to another consultant, Marius Penczner. "I don't think David ever got John," Edwards said.

Asked for comment, Axelrod e-mailed: "I have a great deal of affection and respect for Elizabeth and John. There's no doubt we had strategic differences, but I also never doubted her deep, abiding commitment to John and his success."