From The Road
January 7, 2008 3:55 PM

Edwards Brings Hollywood to N.H.

By
Aaron Lewis
Topics
John Edwards
(CBS)
From CBS News' Aaron Lewis

BEDFORD, N.H. -- It was a celebrity winter wonderland in Peter and Jo Smith's driveway this afternoon.

Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, James Denton, and Madeleine Stowe stood behind John Edwards as he stumped for tomorrow's primary election in New Hampshire.

"I think we're doing great in New Hampshire," said Edwards. "We've got momentum here. We've had extraordinary response in ther last 30 hours or so. And we had it before that."

This suburban home buried deep in the Granite State woods was littered with lights, cameras, satellite trucks and buses for a true "only in New Hampshire" moment.

Overheard was one gentleman saying they expected just John and Elizabeth and maybe 25 people. But the convergence of Hollywood and Washington starpower made for a somewhat surreal event.

After speaking to voters (whose numbers, after an unscientific glance appeared to match up evenly with the media presence), Edwards took questions with reporters who wanted to know if Hillary Clinton had an "Ed Muskie" moment earlier today in which she fought back tears.

"Oh I don't know," he said. "These campaigns are grueling. And they're tough and difficult affairs. Running for president is a tough process."

Earlier today, Edwards had much more to say about the Clinton moment: "I think what we need in a commander in chief is strength and resolve and it's you know... Presidential campaign's a tough business. But being President of the United States is also a very tough business.And the United States is faced with very difficult challenges every single day and difficult judgments every single day."

The Bedford stop marked the 27th hour of Edwards' latest 36-hour marathon. Noticeably absent on the tour this time around are Edwards's young children Jack and Emma Claire, whom Mrs. Edwards said were skiing at Mt. Sunapee.

"Jack wanted to come on the 36-hour tour," said John Edwards. "And I said, you know, I'm up for some pain but not that much pain. Because I know what it would have been like to have Jack Edwards climbing all over me at 5 o'clock in the morning."

Add a Comment
by cybercitizen-2009 January 10, 2008 1:06 PM EST
To set the record straight: Another network--ABC--got the context wrong. Here''s the correct context of Edwards''s earlier response as quoted by CNN: "At a New Hampshire campaign event, presidential rival John Edwards told reporters he was unaware of Clinton''s emotional reaction and would not respond to it, but added, according to CNN''s Dugald McDonnell: ''I think what we need in a commander in chief is strength and resolve, and presidential campaigns are a tough business, but being President of the United States is also a very tough business. And the President of the United States is faced with very, very difficult challenges every single day, difficult judgments every single day.''"

Edwards only was making a general statement about the requirements of the job.
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