The Iowa Effect

DAVID BURNETT/CONTACT FOR TIME
John Kerry at a campaign stop in an Arkeny airport hangar

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John Edwards a Man Before His Time
Iowa may like a fresh face, but apparently not too fresh. Senator John Edwards has the face of Prince Charming but a working-class life story as the son of a millworker. He has poured millions of dollars into the state and put forward a set of populist ideas that would seem tailor-made for Iowa. But it has yet to come together for the first-term Senator from North Carolina, who has the most upbeat, positive appeal in the race. He says he is in the race to win, though even his Iowa co-chairwoman, Roxanne Conlin, concedes that a third-or fourth-place finish is probably the best he can hope for.

Which is not to say Iowans don't like him especially when they meet him in person. Retired school custodian Jack Fees arrived at an Edwards appearance last week in Des Moines trying to decide among Edwards, Gephardt and Kerry. He was sold. "He reminded me of J.F.K., the way he talks and tells it like it is, and he's the underdog," Fees said of Edwards. What Iowa did for Edwards was to get him to overcome his lack of gravitas with more meaty and populist ideas in line with Iowa voters. But the problem is, not even a small state like Iowa affords a candidate the time to win over enough voters one by one, the way Edwards in his trial-lawyer days could persuade a jury.

With only days left, Edwards, looking for any opportunity, eagerly jumped on Dean's dredged-up caucus misstep the latest in a litany of gaffes by the front runner. "It's wrong for outsiders to come in and make disparaging remarks about things they don't understand," Edwards said.

For once, Dean didn't dispute a charge being hurled at him by an opponent. "I was talking four years ago," he said. "If I knew then what I know now ..." Iowa is a small state that teaches big lessons. They are about the value of knowing how to listen and of knowing when to watch what you say. They are about learning whether it's too late for another chance or too soon to take your first one. And if a candidate doesn't learn them in Iowa, he may never get another chance anywhere else.