Candidates hail wives in White House campaign

3.00pm

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire - Howard Dean brought out his "secret weapon." Joseph Lieberman is hoping for "skirt tails" and John Kerry thinks he has a vote winner.

Wives were at the forefront on the campaign trail on Sunday as several Democrats vying for the right to challenge President George W. Bush on November 2 showcased their significant others, the women who would be first lady.

Dean, the former governor of Vermont, campaigned in Manchester and Hanover with his politically shy wife, Judy, dispensing with "Bush bashing" to focus on issues like education, abortion and child abuse.

Making only her second appearance with her husband since he formally announced his candidacy, Judy Dean read her short introduction from a laptop computer propped on the podium.

"I wanted to come here today not only to show support for Howard ... but also to share my personal appreciation for all the sacrifices you have made.

"Whether it's our careers, raising our children or being there for the ones we love, we all struggle and juggle to do it all," she said. "And I'm here to tell you Howard gets it."

Judy Dean, a doctor like her husband, has shunned the campaign trail in favour of tending to her medical practice and her two children, Paul, a high school senior, and Anne, who is at Yale University.

Dean has said he would not "drag" his wife and family around as props, although she did jet into Iowa the day before the state's caucuses after it was suggested her appearance might help boost his chances.

At a Southern New Hampshire University women's forum two days before voters go to the polls in the state's primary, Dean introduced "a special guest, the secret weapon" as his wife took the stage.

After a dismal third place finish in Iowa behind Kerry, a Massachusetts senator and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, Dean is trying to claw his way back in New Hampshire, where he was once a prohibitive front-runner.

"Let me thank Judy. I really appreciate her coming down to New Hampshire," he said. "This is a very close race and it's getting closer every day ... and we now are within striking distance of winning."

He told the capacity crowd they would be disappointed if they came expecting the customary diet of "red meat."

"We may dispense with the Bush bashing," Dean said. "I'd love to take the hide off the president, of course -- which is what I'm famous for doing -- but the truth is women's issues don't get discussed on the campaign trail very much."

While the Deans were courting the women's vote in New Hampshire, Lieberman was showing off his wife on ABC's This Week.

Asked if he was trying to take a page out of Dean's playbook, the Connecticut senator replied: "No, Hadassah's been here. ... She's been all over the country. She's my asset. When I get elected, it's going to be because I go in on her coattails -- I mean her skirt-tails."

Over on Fox News Sunday, Kerry extolled the grace with which his wife -- ketchup heiress and philanthropist Teresa Heinz -- agreed to take out a US$6.5 ($9.7) million loan on his Boston home to finance his campaign.

"My wife has been unbelievable and extraordinary in this effort, campaigning her heart out beyond anything that I anticipated or could have expected," Kerry said. "She has won me enormous number of votes."

- REUTERS