posted on July 29, 2004 10:34:48 AM new
Elizabeth Edwards:
Substance over style
Wife of Kerry's running mate
has down-to-earth appeal
Elizabeth Edwards calls herself 'the anti-Barbie.'
The Associated Press
Updated: 7:14 p.m. ET July 28, 2004WASHINGTON - At first blush, appearing at the side of a senator husband who borders on glamorous, Elizabeth Edwards seems positively ordinary.
A sleep-deprived but cheerful mom to two small children, she carries a notebook of lyrics for family singalongs; loves to shop the Internet; can chat knowledgeably about the merits of “Teletubbies” vs. “Blue’s Clues” or Weight Watchers vs. the South Beach Diet.
Yet Edwards, 55, has led an extraordinary life.
She grew up hopscotching between the United States and Japan, studied the Romantic poets, excelled in law school in an era when few women were admitted. She juggled a successful legal career and family for 19 years. Then — stunned by a terrible loss — she quit work to have more children at an age when many contemporaries were easing toward grandmotherhood.
Along the way, she advised and aided husband John Edwards as he sailed through multimillion-dollar lawsuits to the Senate to presidential ambitions.
“We’ve always talked about things that we’ve been doing,” she said in an interview, whether courtroom strategies or campaign advertising. “We’ve always been each other’s intellectual equals.”
Now, as the wife of the No. 2 man on the Democratic ticket, her down-to-earth appeal and focus on substance over style are a valuable asset for a candidate some opponents dismiss as a handsome lightweight.
Edwards dubbed herself the “anti-Barbie,” suggesting her husband is no mere Ken doll, either.
Friends from law school
They met in law school. Elizabeth Anania, the daughter of a Navy pilot, had lived in a dozen different Japanese and American cities by the time she was 18. She intended to teach, and pursued a doctorate in English literature at the University of North Carolina. But a tight job market persuaded her to switch to the law school.
There she stood out as worldly, witty and wise for her years, former classmates say.
“She was an absolutely stunning, attractive person, but her real beauty was she was just brilliant,” said longtime family friend David Kirby.
posted on July 29, 2004 11:22:38 AM new
CROWFARM, You are so right Elizabeth Edwards is a great role model. I will go one step further. John Kerry and John Edwards sure do outshine the 2 buffoons they are going to defeat in November.
