| Susan Sarandon, left, and Tim Robbins listen to John Edwards. – – Patrick Gavin/Examiner |
BEDFORD, N.H. – John Edwards campaigns as the candidate for everyday, hard-working Americans. But he sure has been able to bring out Hollywood A-listers to help convince voters that he’s one of them.
On Monday, Edwards brought out a celebrity lineup that included Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Madeleine Stowe and James Denton. The group headed to several spots around New Hampshire.
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At the Smith house in Bedford, Stowe had the opportunity to meet Sarandon for the first time, leading to this introduction: “Hi, I’m one of Tim’s six ex-wives.”
Sarandon raised an eyebrow at first, but then got the joke: Robbins and Stowe played husband and wife in the Robert Altman film “Short Cuts.”
We asked Edwards’ daughter, Cate, whether all this celebrity might hurt Edwards’ argument that he’s a man of the people. But she pointed out that even celebrities like Denton can come from humble beginnings. Robbins was more blunt: “We’re here to get the cameras here.”
And it worked, what with all the media celebs on site, such as Tim Russert, Andrea Mitchell, Matt Lauer, Mike Barnicle and Suzanne Malveaux.
But with all those cameras, the irony was lost on Edwards’ wife, Elizabeth, when she said, “So much of campaigns is just theater.”
We had to ask Sarandon what she thought of Edwards’ support of the death penalty (in some cases) despite her portrayal of death-penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean in “Dead Man Walking.”
“I can’t expect that we’ll agree on everything,” she told Yeas & Nays.
For Denton, he truly was just a country boy: He had a pouch of Red Man in his back pocket, a toothpick in his mouth and a fur-lined winter coat.
And Cate,29 years younger than her father, confessed that her dad is much better at pulling all-nighters than she is, as he continues a 36-hour campaign marathon before today’s primary (he did the same leading to the Iowa caucus): “I don’t know how he does it! You’d think I’d have more stamina, but I have to be honest: I couldn’t stay up all night last night.”
