Spending the Night With Edwards - Literally
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA, 10:30pm CT -- It was packed inside the field office in Council Bluffs and Edwards rallied his supporters inside. But the events inside were overshadowed by events outside where trouble was a brewin'.
Earl Barthe, an African-American man who claims to have been displaced from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was shouting at no one in particular, "What about New Orleans!?" He was ranting belligerently about Mexicans taking his job (among many other things) and trying to make a scene in general.
While Edwards was gladhanding inside after his remarks, Edwards supporters were trying to shout down Barthe. He got into some people's faces and some pushing and shoving ensued, but nothing really escalated. Complicating matters was a slippery, icy pavement which made things look more clumsy than it really was.
Edwards' wife Elizabeth slipped and fell on the ice amongst some of the media following her inside the offices. Apparently a local affiliate cameraman went down with her.
She was unhurt and continued inside the offices. She opened her introductory remarks saying:
"It's truly fantastic to be here. And whatever cameraman knocked me over, I want really great coverage."
Barthe got fed up and left and Edwards safely departed soon after.
Nevertheless, scenes like that are made all the more tense in knowing that Edwards does not have a true security detail. Sure, it helps us reporters get better access to him, but it does leave Senator Edwards in a more vulnerable position. That said, a lot of credit should be given to his advance team and staff who didn't overreact to the situation, and were able to keep Sen and Mrs. Edwards out of any potential harmful situation.
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ATLANTIC, IOWA, Midnight CT -- First the real news: the Main Street Express is not in operation at the moment. We learned this as a blue Arrow Stage Lines bus pulled in on the dirt road in front of the home of Denise O'Brien and Larry Harris. According to press secretary Mark Kornblau, the driver was concerned about "electrical problems" on the Main Street Express and it was swapped out for the new coach bus in Council Bluffs. How did they get a brand new coach bus suddenly at just before midnight in Iowa? "A great advance staff," said Kornblau.
Now to the event:
Anyone who worried if people would turn out for a midnight event now has the answer: There were PLENTY of people at the home (I'd say 50 plus at least a couple dozen media members, including an Inside Edition reporter and crew). It was a true Iowa farm home, set back on a long dirt road with a porch and a barn and a gorgeous Golden Retriever dog named Brandy who loves tummy rubs and is worthy of a blog post by herself.
Edwards and Elizabeth briefly spoke the mass of people inside the home and left the home with some homemade corn bread and black eyed pea soup in hand.
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CRESTON, IOWA, 2:30am CT -- It's 2:30 in the morning. Do you know where your Democratic presidential candidate is?
I can tell you that John Edwards, in his 15th hour of the 36-hour marathon is at the home of Jan Knock in Creston, IA.
Mr. and Mrs. Edwards were greeted by three or four dozen supporters and curiosity seekers at the beautiful West Montgomery Street home.
First Elizabeth spoke to the crowd, and a cell phone went off during her remarks. Yes- a cell phone call at 2:30 in the morning.
"I can't believe someone's getting a telephone call," she said, getting a laugh out of the surprisingly alert audience. "You need new friends!"
Then John Edwards spoke for less than 3 minutes, urging them to keep up their efforts in supporting him in these final hours before the caucuses.
"We have now less than 48 hours til the Iowa caucuses," said Edwards. "And the fact that all of you are willing to be here in the middle of the night to show your support for what we're doing is inspirational to us."
Knock, a former nurse said she was "just thrilled that he would come to my home this evening" despite the early hours.
"Anytime day or night is fine with us," she said.
Many of her friends were skeptical about whether the late-night soiree was the real deal in this small rural Iowa town.
"A number of people made phone calls to us and said, 'My husband took this message that your event's at 2am. That has to be wrong,'" she told me in her kitchen after Edwards spoke. "This is THE place to be in Creston, Iowa tonight."
Midge Scurlock, a retired schoolteacher, had been waiting 30 minutes at Knock's home waiting for Edwards to arrive.
"You know, what's a half hour at two o'clock in the morning?" she said. "It was fun."
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ON THE ROAD IN IOWA, 4:58am CT -- The Main Street Express isn't the only one with "electrical problems." The traveling press corps is in an "epic battle" (as John Edwards himself might put it) with the very technology we need to survive .
With an artillery of laptops, cell phones, Blackberries, iPods and tape recorders, electrical power is our most valuable resource.
But with no outlets on our press bus, and with overnight deadlines and video feeds in demand from our bosses, a challenging balance of conservation and resourcefulness comes into play.
One of my colleagues plugged her laptop into the Christmas lights at our home visit in Atlantic. And upon arrival at Jan Knock's home in Creston, my first question wasn't "May I use the bathroom?" It was "Do you have any sockets?" Fortunately by that point, the campaign advance staff had sprung into action and had an intricate network of extension cords and spider outlets ready to roll in the living room. Before long, the shelf next to the Knock's television looked like a display case at Circuit City.
A quick recharge of the ole' batteries was more than enough to get my portable devices through the night. But now as we make our way into hour 17, I hope I can say the same for my body....