Cate Edwards makes her case: Harvard Law student finds time for father's campaign

Cate Edwards makes her case
Harvard Law student finds time for father's campaign
By Jenn Abelson--Boston Globe
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
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She juggles her classes, court appearances for the Legal Aid Bureau, and work on a website start-up. It is a full schedule for any Harvard Law student, but Cate Edwards is also trying to help her father get elected president.

When John Edwards ran in the 2004 election, Cate was a senior at Princeton University and spent little time campaigning so she wouldn't miss out on her final year. Three years later, she is a second-year law student, and this time she is trying to do it all.

This fall, Edwards, 25, scheduled her three classes - advocacy; evidence; and child, family, and state law - in the middle of the week, leaving Mondays and Fridays free for campaign trips.

In August, days before school started, Edwards joined her family for a four-day jaunt through New Hampshire, stopping at 15 events and blogging from the bus the entire time. In late September, she left campus for a weekend in Iowa, visiting with Hawkeye fans at the University of Iowa in Iowa City for a homecoming tailgate party and crisscrossing the state to talk to students in other college towns.

On Friday, Edwards will hit the college circuit again in New Hampshire with Kate Michelman, former head of the abortion rights group NARAL. Edwards plans to spend more time on the campaign trail in January, closer to the first nomination contests.

Other Democratic contenders are also vigorously courting college students. Last week, Hillary Clinton, in visits to Wellesley College and the University of New Hampshire, unveiled an effort to organize campus groups. Barack Obama has made a big push, principally through Students for Barack Obama chapters his campaign has helped start. In Iowa, Obama's campaign has set up Barack Stars groups at high schools, trying to take advantage of a rule that allows anyone who will be 18 by Election Day in November 2008 to vote in the Jan. 3 caucuses.

Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, has been noticeably absent from her campaign so far. Cate Edwards, on the other hand, has been one of the most active of the presidential candidates' adult children, besides Mitt Romney's five sons.

"Young people can too easily get written off, and it's important for me to give them a voice. Young people really do care and want to be involved in what's going on in our country," said Cate Edwards, interviewed at Harvard Law's student center on her second cup of coffee. Her broad smile, which is like her father's, grew wider and her voice got louder as nearby students hunkering over books began to notice her. "They need someone to pay attention to them."

(...)

Sometimes, Edwards said, her busy schedule crowds out the campaign. For example, she recently volunteered at the law school's Legal Aid Bureau - where she typically handles three cases at once, spends time there on weekends, and gets some class credits - instead of helping a student phone bank on campus to solicit campaign donations.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/11/07/cate_edwards_makes_her_case/

There can be no doubt that Cate is a great asset to John Edwards' campaign.

I spoke with a co-worker today who commented on my Edwards campaign button. Turns out she is a republican, hates all the rep candidates and likes Edwards. Oh, and she hates Hillary. Anecdotal? Yes, but she pointed out the strength of the Edwards family as a big reason she likes him.

... For the Edwards'

:thumbsup::kick: