Last-minute speaker represents Edwards well

By Jesse Wright

The John Edwards campaign avoided a complete meltdown during the introductory speech period in the Union ballroom. The campaign’s speaker ended up being Bob Surran, an intern for the Edwards campaign, but he only learned that he’d be in the spotlight 15 minutes before the night kicked off.

“We literally wrote the speech in the Fox Room down the hall,” Surran said. “Everybody was nervous to speak, so I just went up and spoke.”

The local Edwards campaign was reacting to a last-minute notification that original speaker Elizabeth Lucas was unable to attend. Lucas, an Iowa field director for Edwards, had prior obligations for the campaign in Iowa. Surran’s hastily written address was playful and brought laughs from the audience.

The mock election’s Edwards campaign manager, Justin Miller, was not surprised by Elizabeth Lucas’ absence.

“We knew that the possibility of her making it was unlikely. The Edwards campaign is very busy in Iowa right now, and she just had a lot going on,” Miller said. “In her place we were expecting an intern, but that didn’t happen either.”

Miller believes general confusion led to the mistake. He believed that the arrangements for the speaker were never completely organized.

"It wasn’t until two or three weeks before the mock election that things started to get messy,” Miller said.

Members of the Edwards campaign team said that Surran did a great job stepping in and giving an enthusiastic speech to support the cause.

“He didn’t do too bad,” Miller said. “We expected to have a hard time considering that we’re in Illinois and at a college.” In the final tally, Edwards finished a close third, just eight delegates behind Hillary Clinton. The results suggest the mistake was not as vital as first expected by the campaign. Members of the campaign claim that Elizabeth Lucas may be returning on Thursday, but the way things are going, they won’t make any promises.

-- Wright is a student in Dr. Lisa Barr’s Reporting I class.