Opinion

Edwards' obstacle: 'Breck girl' good looks

By Joan Vennochi John Edwards, the first-term senator from North Carolina who entered the field of Democratic presidential contenders as the bright young comer in the party, is now fielding questions on national television about his unofficial nickname on the campaign trail: "the Breck Girl." This cannot be a good omen for a man with national political aspirations. In a clear sign that he recognizes this, Edwards is now confronting his relatively young age and political inexperience head-on. During a recent campaign swing in New Hampshire, Edwards made a point of telling voters he is 50, even if he doesn't look it, and argued that being unfamiliar with Beltway politics is good, not bad, for a presidential hopeful. Jennifer Palmieri, the Edwards campaign press secretary, acknowledges the problem, noting Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, says that when she first met her future husband, "she wasn't particularly interested in him. She thought, 'He's just one of the cute ones.' " Palmieri says people constantly underestimate the man who graduated in the top 10 percent of his law school class and went on to earn millions as a trial lawyer. The phenomenon also dogged Edwards during his successful run for U.S.Senate in 1998. Once people get to know him, says Palmieri, they realize he is "a fighter … He has depth, he is intelligent, extraordinarily smart." In media interviews, Edwards gracefully fields some rather brutal inquiries about his good looks. During a recent profile of Edwards, CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl first asked the senator's wife about the problem of her husband being "too cute." Replied Elizabeth Edwards: "It used to be a problem for women. This is the 'dumb blonde' syndrome. People assume that he couldn't be smart - and he's unbelievably smart - that he couldn't be serious, because, he, you know, looks like he looks." Stahl also put the question directly to Edwards, asking: "What do you say when … someone in the White House says 'He's nothing more than the Breck Girl.' " Responded Edwards: "I say they're trying to kill me before I get this nomination. … Yeah, bring it on, that's what I have to say. Bring it on." Replying to a similar question during a recent stop at The Boston Globe, Edwards said: "People have to get past it. I mean, they come in, they say, 'Oh, well, here's this kind of attractive, slow-talking, smooth-talking Southern boy … yeah, with good hair. And he can't possibly be serious. It is my job to get past that and prove I am very serious." Usually, women are forced to ward off stereotypical thinking that equates beauty with brainlessness. But Edwards is not the first male politician to feel the double-edged sword that comes with being too pretty to be taken seriously. Dan Quayle was derided as a dumb blond from the moment the elder George Bush picked the 41-year-old first-term senator from Indiana as his running mate in 1988. Quayle tried to blunt the criticism about his age and inexperience by reminding voters that youthful good looks were not an impediment to John F. Kennedy. The strategy backfired famously during a debate between Quayle and Lloyd Bentsen, Michael Dukakis' distinguished, silver-haired running mate. (Bentsen to Quayle: "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.") The Bush-Quayle ticket prevailed, but Quayle never entirely overcame his reputation as an intellectual lightweight. A series of verbal gaffes helped bolster the country's initial, unflattering impression of him. Unlike Quayle, Edwards' perceived lack of gravitas can't be linked to any specific misstatements. But despite credentials that are compelling on paper, voters so far are not buying into Edwards or his populist message. Polls show him running behind in New Hampshire and Iowa. So he, too, is reminding voters that JFK's tender age did not stop Americans from taking him seriously. A few days ago, Edwards returned to the spot in New Hampshire where Jack Kennedy began his presidential campaign, declaring "together we can change America." Still, when a presidential candidate is compelled to remind voters he is older than he looks, it's a pretty good bet that presidential candidate is not going to be the next president of a post-9/11 United States. Maybe VP?