"He's young, he's got fresh ideas," gushed Mike Drella. "Kerry was like some robot that somebody trotted out and pushed a button."
And Rosalinda Drella echoed the feelings of many who have been drawn to Edwards in recent weeks when she said: "He's positive. He will bring the party together, he will bring the country together. I think he can bring the world together."
Edwards's effort to set himself apart from the contentious cacophony of the Democratic field appears to have resonated with many Iowans, who have turned out in larger numbers to his events since this weekend, when he snared the Des Moines Register's endorsement.
Again and again, voters say they admired him for largely refraining from attacking his rivals during speeches and several televised debates. They dismiss Edwards's low poll numbers and what most political analysts consider the freshman senator's major liability: his dearth of experience in foreign policy and government.
"I like the fact that he doesn't bash the other candidates," said Patsy Hoosensen, a retired school cafeteria worker who came to see Edwards on Tuesday in West Des Moines.
Does playing nice really matter that much?
"Yes, it does," she insisted. "We're just honest people here in the Midwest. We believe in following the rules."
David Ginsberg, communications director for the Edwards campaign, said the positive message is both strategic and real. "What people are looking for in a president is somebody who has vision and leadership, not someone who just tears down other people," he said. "The other thing is, this is who John Edwards is. He is an optimistic, forward-looking person."
Edwards, spent 20 years as a trial lawyer, winning multimillion-dollar settlements for people who sued big companies and hospitals -- and in the process became a very wealthy man. On the stump, he tells his audiences how the "high-priced" defense lawyers on the other side of the courtroom always underestimated him, the son of a mill worker, the first person in his family to go to college.
"And I beat 'em and I beat 'em and I beat 'em!" That victory cry always elicits applause and cheers. He woos the crowd by sprinkling his speeches with personal anecdotes, looking directly at -- and sometimes speaking directly to -- individuals in the audiences when making a point. He asks them questions -- "How many times have people told you that you can't do something because you're not ready or you don't have enough experience?" -- that make them shout back responses or nod in agreement.
"I think he's genuine," said Dan Warren, 43, a network specialist with the Des Moines public schools who used his lunch break to go to an Edwards rally Tuesday.
Warren said he started out supporting Dean: "I think just because he was ahead, but then I went to see Edwards. . . . He's fresh and he has good ideas." Warren said he was so inspired by Edwards that he plans to participate in the caucuses for the first time.
Yet Edwards is not all sweetness and light. Although he avoids criticizing his fellow Democratic contenders by name, he frequently calls out President Bush. He accuses Bush of cutting taxes for the wealthy at the expense of working- and middle-class families; for failing to fund the No Child Left Behind law; and for giving lucrative contracts to companies rebuilding Iraq, many of whom Edwards said are Bush campaign contributors.
More recently, he has issued this challenge: "The pundits say that the South is George W. Bush's back yard, well I'm here to tell you that the South is my back yard. . . . I can beat George Bush in the South."
Julius Satre, 65, a retired state worker from Urbandale, said he has become an Edwards believer within the last week. "I want a candidate that can win and carry some southern states. All the candidates are good, but Senator Edwards is young and energetic."
Satre is not concerned with Edwards's lack of experience, which the 50-year-old senator tries to turn to his advantage on the stump, boasting that he has not "spent decades in Washington."
"President Clinton didn't have a lot of Washington experience and he was a good president," Satre said. Dan Knight, 50, a jazz pianist who lives in Iowa City, is another recent convert. He said he was turned off by Dean, who "latched onto dissatisfaction," and turned to Edwards after watching him in debates.
"He's been the most positive, his platform is practical, but he hasn't given up on his idealism," said Knight.
Reminded that recent polls show Edwards in fourth place and that he was a long shot at best to win the caucuses, Knight chuckled.
"I'm a jazz pianist in Iowa; you want to talk about long shots?" |
