And while most people who come out to see him are willing to endure some delays, his habit of lateness has alienated others, some of whom say it is just plain rude.
The Des Moines Register dinged Mr. Edwards last month with the headline “Edwards Is Late, Students Wait.” The article noted that he had not only been late for that high school gathering but also kept supporters waiting for 45 minutes in a “cold, damp wind” at an event a week earlier, tardiness that was explained by a campaign aide who said the candidate had been spending time with his parents, who were traveling with him.
Mr. Edwards has been ribbed about his habit in public, sometimes by people whose endorsement he is studiously courting. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, he was scheduled to appear in New Hampshire alongside a Democratic congresswoman from the state, Carol Shea-Porter. He kept Ms. Shea-Porter, and a patient crowd, waiting for more than 40 minutes.
When he finally arrived, she began her introduction. “I’m very proud to stand next to this man, and I’m going to tell you why,” she said, smiling. “First of all, I looked at his brochure.”
“While we were waiting for you, senator,” she added pointedly, drawing hoots and hollers from the crowd. (On Dec. 11, Ms. Shea-Porter announced that her much-coveted endorsement would go to Senator Barack Obama.)
Sometimes, after striding onstage wearing a breezy smile, Mr. Edwards offers an apology and an excuse for his lateness (which is far more frequent than that of Mr. Obama or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton). In New Hampshire last month, he blamed the travel time from North Carolina. In Iowa, he occasionally blames the weather — even when it’s not snowing. When asked by a reporter why he was so late to a recent town-hall-type forum in Iowa, at 12:30 p.m. his first event of the day, he blamed interviews and a two-hour drive to get there.
In Nashua, N.H., last week, traveling with the musicians Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, who are supporting his candidacy, Mr. Edwards explained to the waiting crowd why an event there was starting more than an hour late.
It was the crew’s fault. “I appreciate you all being patient,” he said, adding, “It takes a while to set up the band and take the band down.”
Speaking in general about Mr. Edwards’s tendency to run late, Mark Kornblau, the campaign’s traveling press secretary, offered a more obscure explanation: “Fighting hard for change sometimes takes a few extra minutes.”
Members of the Edwards advance staff have scrambled to keep the crowds occupied as the minutes tick by and people begin checking their watches and whispering.
In Portsmouth, N.H., they asked a local union official, J. J. Joyal, to take the stage and entertain the crowd assembled at a conference center. (Meanwhile, Mr. Edwards was shaking hands with people in an adjacent kitchen, at a session closed to the press.)
Mr. Joyal told jokes, made fun of himself and, when confronted by a heckler, led the crowd in a spontaneous singalong of “This Land Is Your Land.”
Glancing frequently at the door to his left, he said, “I’m waiting for someone to slide through that door, and then I’m going to take a seat.”
“I’m running out of things to say,” he added helplessly.
The event ultimately began 1 hour 15 minutes late.
Not everyone is patient enough to remain. In Lebanon, N.H., Karen Swanson headed for the exit with a friend after nearly a half-hour. “We can’t wait anymore,” Ms. Swanson said.
Lori Johnson, a Methodist pastor, said after a gathering in Dover, N.H., that she would have left had she not brought two friends with her.
“They just let us sit there for 45 minutes,” Ms. Johnson said incredulously, adding that a member of the campaign’s staff had circled the room selling pins — three for $10 — while the crowd waited. “This really bugs me. I can’t believe I didn’t walk out.”
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