The Edwardses Hit Iowa
One look at John Edwards and you'd think the Iowa caucus was a week away. His bus tour is in full swing, with stops in four towns a day in the August heat.
He's made 30 visits to the state this year, dwarfing those made by his main rivals: Obama has made 23 trips to Iowa while Hillary Clinton has made 13 trips. But his lead doesn't. It's dead even here. It raises the question — can his campaign go on if he doesn't win the Iowa caucus?
"I think that question applies to every campaign," says Edwards.
"But you, specifically. What do you do, if you don't win?" asks CBS News correspondent Tracy Smith.
"But there's no difference between me and the others in this regard," he says. "I think it's important to win the Iowa caucus or to be very competitive in the Iowa caucus. It'll be tough. There will be a struggle and a death match that goes on in Iowa."CBS News Poll: Edwards Trailing Clinton, Obama
With him this week is Edwards' not-so-secret weapon — the one he married 30 years ago. Elizabeth Edwards found out her cancer returned last March. It's considered incurable, but instead of being embattled, she's emboldened.
In June, she called in to a cable show to take on conservative pundit Ann Coulter. When a reporter recently asked about a lack of media attention for her husband, she remarked, "We can't make John black. And we can't make him a woman."
So is this little bit of Elizabeth unplugged?
"If this is Elizabeth unplugged, she's been unplugged for the 30 plus years that I've known her," says John Edwards.
There's an urgency to the Edwards political fight, perhaps fueled by their personal one. When she's not on the campaign trail, Elizabeth is preparing her home and her family for a future without her.
"You know that when you die, any of us when we die, are going to leave a bunch of headaches for the people behind us, in addition to the fact that they'll miss us of course," she says. "So I'm trying to minimize that to the extent that I can. You've got to do something with your day — and that's what I choose to do."
But she'll also keep campaigning. With the clock ticking, the Edwards are determined to focus on Iowa — a fight they're sure they can win, and can't afford to lose.