John Edwards getting message out, wife says

Elizabeth Edwards was quick to explain why her nose was red and she was clutching a tissue Monday. Not to worry -- it had nothing to do with her incurable cancer.

"I'm holding this because I'm allergic to cats, and I went someplace where there were cats," she said. "But that's the worst thing going on with my health, a longstanding cat allergy."

The wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina and the 2004 vice presidential nominee, was in Las Vegas to give a talk to a breast-cancer group and for some private meetings Monday morning.

Those included a quick tete-a-tete with state Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, a Culinary union member who works as a waitress at the Treasure Island coffee shop. Culinary's, and Carlton's, support are hotly coveted among the Democratic candidates; neither was forthcoming in the women's informal chat Monday.

But Elizabeth Edwards, who is becoming almost as well known for her candor as for her struggle with the deadly disease, said after their conversation that it was clear politically active union members such as Carlton are getting her husband's message.

"I don't think there's any question, if elected, he would be the most pro-labor president we've ever had," she said. "From talking to Maggie, I definitely got the impression that working people understand that about him."

The campaign is working hard to get unions' endorsements, she said. But even if some union leaders give their imprimatur to others, their members may support Edwards, she said.

Edwards has secured the endorsements of national labor unions with about 24,000 members in Nevada. But the big kahunas, including Culinary and its parent, UNITE HERE, and the Service Employees International Union, have not endorsed yet.

"Whether or not they endorse, I expect John to have the support of the membership," Edwards said. "I think that he has wide support, even in some labor unions that have endorsed other candidates, because they understand where he stands, where his passion is, where his heart is. And they know something about him, which is that he will never abandon them. There will never come a moment when he would make a political calculation not to support them."

She recalled that in 2004, many unions that had endorsed former Rep. Dick Gephardt discovered, in canvassing their members, that "half of those households said they were going to caucus for John."

Edwards also looked to history in dismissing the media furor over the campaign's decision to accept public financing in the primary, which will arm it with matching funds but limit its spending. The campaign insists that it is a decision made on principle rather than a sign it is strapped for cash, although the decision was announced just as the campaign-finance reporting quarter was coming to an end.

The reports on the candidates' fundraising through Sunday will be scrutinized as one indicator of the strength of their support. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., have raised vast amounts, far more than in previous elections and far more than the public financing caps would allow them to spend.

In a conference call with reporters on Monday, deputy campaign manager Jonathan Prince said Edwards had raised $7 million in the third quarter and had $12 million on hand. That would be boosted by $10 million in matching funds to give him $22 million, he said.

Elizabeth Edwards recalled that in 2004, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., opted out of public funding -- and the opposite decision to Edwards' was seen the same way, as a sign of desperation.

"Here's the truth: John can win in Iowa and follow election law," she said. "All he needs is enough money to get the message out, and the caps provide enough money to get the message out."

Other candidates, she said, want the money race to be a "self-fulfilling prophecy," but "the problem for them is that the early states don't pay as much attention to that. The early states are really looking more toward where do you really stand, what are your real ideas. And on those, John's got the big bank account."

Review-Journal writer Paul Harasim contributed to this report.