Oh God! This reminds me of my own mother, but the political party in reverse. She was a die hard Republican who loved Reagan here in California.
But one day while manning the Republican Women's office in walks Jerry Brown running for governor. He managed to charm the old biddies to death. "Such a nice young man - he hugged me when I said his father was an ass - I think he actually agreed with me. You know, I'm going to vote for him."
And she did.
So instead of completing what his father, Governor Pat Brown had started: the California Water project, the expansion of the freeway system, the funding of the State College and University systems, he turned out the lights in the Capitol building, drove an old Plymouth, lived a stoic life in a rented apartment in downtown Sacramento (instead of the Governor's Mansion) made frequent visits to the Catholic Monastery at Vina where he presumably flailed himself with a horse hair whip while reciting endless mea culpas, and let the state go to hell.
I don't get it about Edwards. He seems to charm the elderly, and at the same time convince pragmatists like Camille Paglia that he has gravitas.

I don't have any doubt that Edwards is sincere in his concerns in regards to health care, but I can't abide by his prescription. I lost my mother to breast cancer when I was in college. It's a tough thing to go through, but I won't accept that the solution to that problem is to force everyone else to undergo preventative care as a condition for getting the universal coverage, as Edwards has proposed.

I'm sure John Edwards could feel your mother's pain since his wife is going through breast cancer. Many find it hard going though breast cancer because they do not have easily accessible breast cancer support groups that they can relie on. Even spouses who many feel like noone has gone though the same thing.