Edwards backers in Iowa dismayed

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By Ed Tibbetts and Charlotte Eby | Saturday, August 9, 2008 2:05 AM CDT | () comments

Supporters surround former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, a hopeful for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sept. 2, 2007, after a town hall meeting in Leach Park in Bettendorf. (FILE PHOTO) Buy this Photo

Of all the presidential candidates that wound their way through Iowa the past six years, voters undoubtedly got more face time with Democrat John Edwards and his family than anyone else.

That may be why some party loyalists had harsh words Friday for the former North Carolina senator after ABC News reported he had admitted an extra-marital affair with Rielle Hunter, 42, a woman hired to shoot video for his campaign.

“I feel betrayed, and I feel disappointed,” said Mary Edwards of Davenport. “I just took the bumper sticker off the car.”

John Edwards’ personal rise from humble Southern roots and, in this last campaign, a sharp focus on bettering the lot of the poor and fighting to achieve universal health care won over many of Iowans.

Even when questions arose about Edwards’ sincerity in the wake of reports of an expensive house and haircuts as well as an association with a hedge fund that foreclosed on people in New Orleans, he continued to keep their loyalty.

Edwards finished second in both the 2004 and 2008 campaigns.

“My first reaction is I’m very disappointed,” said Rob Tully, a Des Moines lawyer who co-chaired Edwards’ campaign in Iowa. “Having said that, my own faith reminds me that everybody’s human.”

Bev Strayhall, a Davenport supporter, also expressed dismay. She said it’s always hard to know whether a person’s public face tells the whole story.

“I think you never really know,” she said Friday while watching news coverage.

Edwards campaigned more heavily in Iowa than any other state. He went to all 99 counties, often with his wife, Elizabeth, whose battle with cancer inspired Iowa Democrats, too.

In a statement Friday, he confessed to the liaison, saying it happened during a short period in 2006. He also said he is not the father of the woman’s child and offered to take a paternity test.

Former state party chairman Dave Nagle, who was neutral in the 2008 race, said he would be more forgiving of Edwards if he hadn’t brought his family on the campaign trail. And he thinks other Iowans will feel the same way.

“They’re going to resent the way he campaigned with her,” he said.

Not all feel that way, however. Jerry Messer, president of the Quad-City Federation of Labor and an Edwards supporter this year, said, “His personal life is none of my business. That’s between him and Elizabeth.”

Whatever their feelings about the affair, Edwards backers said that Friday’s news doesn’t make them regret supporting his candidacy.

“It has nothing to do with his policies, nothing to do with his vision. It has to do with a personal foible,” Tully said.

“What he stands for is what I believe in,” said Mary Edwards, no relation to the former candidate.

Strayhall said she recalled a time when the former senator told a small group of his devotion to achieving universal health care.

“He was sincere,” she said. Now, she said, “He’s made it that much harder to continue his life’s work.”

Edwards had been scheduled to appear at a poverty conference in Iowa in June, which was postponed when flooding hit the state. The event, sponsored by Iowa first lady Mari Culver, has been rescheduled to Sept. 16.

“We don’t know at this point if Sen. Edwards will be making changes to his schedule going forward,” Troy Price, a spokesman for Gov. Chet Culver, said.

Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at (563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com. Charlotte Eby can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 or chareby@aol.com.