US: It can be frustrating trying to locate John Edwards. He is in New York, but where? Conor O'Clery finally tracked down John Kerry's running mate, only to be disappointed.
The White House provides details of George Bush's and Dick Cheney's campaign events up to a week ahead. The official Kerry-Edwards website carries no news of advance events. The telephone at the Democratic campaign's Washington HQ asks callers to dial an extension or leave a recorded message. No one ever rings back. Eventually I track down Juanita Scarlett of the New York campaign and she tells me that John Kerry's running mate will be at the Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan at 7.30 p.m. The Imperial Ballroom of the hotel on 7th Avenue is half full at that time, with about 250 people standing around holding wine glasses. They have mostly been invited by telephone at short notice.
Conversation is difficult against a recording of U2's Where the Streets Have No Name. ("The city's a flood/ And our love turns to rust...) It is chilly as the air conditioning is too strong. The actress Glen Close, star of Fatal Attraction, appears on the stage to introduce the aspiring vice president.
She tells us how attracted she is to the Edwards family. "I would love to have them in my life permanently," she coos. The Oscar nominee for Dangerous Liaisons describes the North Carolina senator as "an energising force of nature, a man of intelligence, integrity and charm". Edwards appears from behind a curtain and glad-hands his way to the microphone and the ritual backdrop of American flags. He kisses Ms Close and, alone on the stage, launches into his speech.
No New York senator, Congress member, or prominent Democrat is there to help him rally the paying guests. Do they know he is in town? Edwards has reportedly been greeted by enthusiastic crowds at out-of-the-way places all over America, but here the cheers and occasional whoops seem a bit manufactured. It is as if there is a whiff of defeatism in the air, with the polls showing the Kerry-Edwards ticket six to eight points behind. Even so, Edwards raised a million dollars in his half day in New York on Monday. He tells them in his Southern accent, "Yew can do sumthin'" to get rid of George Bush. The president and vice president Dick Cheney had lied to Americans. They said they had a plan for Iraq - not true. They said they had enough troops - not true. They said the war would pay for itself - not true. "The contract for Haliburton is bigger than the total we spent on the first Gulf War," he says. "We've got terrorists flowing into Iraq. The place is dangerous, chaotic and insecure."
One gets the impression he is rehearsing his lines for the vice-presidential debate with Dick Cheney in Ohio on Tuesday. Democrats hailed Kerry's choice of running mate because they hoped his quick intelligence and ingratiating charm would provide a sunny contrast to a dour and sinister vice president. It would be hope versus gloom, the future versus the past. As a trial lawyer, Edwards was hugely successful in the courtroom, winning eight of North Carolina's 16 biggest medical malpractice cases. He is now preparing for his biggest ever case by laying a charge of malpractice against Dick Cheney for complications after the surgical removal of Saddam Hussein. This time he will be judged by a jury comprising the American public.
Vice-presidential debates don't decide elections but if Edwards performs badly, it will add to the perception of a losing ticket. As if in response to questions about his low national profile during the campaign, Edwards assures the donors in the Sheraton that "John and I work 17 hours a day, seven days a week" to win.
It may not be enough. Edwards was taken on by the Democratic candidate as a "poor boy" southerner who would provide geographical balance. He has gone around his own state attacking Bush's handling of the Iraq war, and his wife, Elizabeth, has met with local military families and veterans, only to see George Bush double his lead in North Carolina in the past month to 50-44 per cent. Yesterday he campaigned for the first time in New Jersey, appearing at a hastily-planned rally in a Newark hotel.
New Jersey was a Democratic stronghold a month ago when Kerry-Edwards led Bush-Cheney by 10 points. Now "it is a critical battleground state. At this point, it's pretty close," says Ms Scarlett. "We certainly want to shore up our support." A visit anywhere in America from the Democratic running mate should make local headlines, but Edwards has shrunk in stature as a major attraction, at least in the Big Apple. Yesterday I could not find a report of his Sheraton speech in a single New York newspaper.