But the campaign nostalgia ended there. This is, after all, the high-tech age of campaigning and Edwards, who jetted in and out of Salt Lake City International Airport, was really making what amounted to an ATM withdrawal.
The former North Carolina senator collected more than $100,000 from local bigwigs who paid $500 apiece to have a cocktail and shake the first-tier Democratic candidate's hand.
Edwards then continued on to Las Vegas, where he hoped to line up support from the Culinary Workers Union for the Nevada caucus in January. Polls place Edwards - who ran unsuccessfully in 2004 as Sen. John Kerry's vice presidential candidate - just behind Democratic opponents Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.
"I didn't come here just for the purposes of fundraising, but I wanted to talk to all of you [news media] so the people of Utah could see me here also," Edwards said.
That indirect contact with Utahns amounted to a brief news conference, at which Edwards did his best to compress his campaign into sound bites.
"I want to provide the same kind of opportunities I've had in my life to millions of Americans who deserve them," said Edwards, who made his fortune as a personal-injury attorney. "I come from nothing, and I've been lucky enough to be successful. And those chances ought to be available to everyone."
Addressing the major issue of the campaign, he said Iraqis need to take "responsibility for their own country."
"There is no military solution. Even President Bush sees that," Edwards said. "The only difference of opinion is how we shift that responsibility to them. It ought to be done in an orderly way and a responsible way. But at the end of the day, the Iraqis are going to have to take responsibility for their own country."
Of the candidates, Edwards was the first to offer a plan for universal health care. The annual $90 billion to $120 billion proposal would require all children be covered. Americans who don't have insurance through their employers could choose from private plans or a government plan similar to Medicare.
"We have a dysfunctional health care system," he said. "People are terrified of losing their health care. People are locked into their jobs." The nation, he said, needs to develop an efficient system "to bring down costs and cover people who are not covered."
Later, Utah Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Holland said Edwards' brief stop is another indication that once-dependably Republican Utah is starting to matter again to all presidential candidates.
"They are recognizing this is a great place to stop in," Holland said. "When we told Edwards' people the fundraiser would be to the tune of a little over $100,000, I think we surprised them."
Another Democratic presidential candidate, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, will visit Utah on July 13, Holland said, and he expects a visit from Obama and a second stop by Edwards before Utah's Feb. 5 primary.
Utah has already been visited by three Republican presidential hopefuls: Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. All were rewarded with substantial donations for taking the time to drop by.
Romney, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has landed nearly $3 million from Utah donors, second only to the $3.5 million he got from populous California. Giuliani reported that he took in $76,000 from Utah; McCain got $110,000.
Even Obama has received $28,000 from Utah without even setting foot in the state.
gwarchol@sltrib.com
