GREENVILLE, S.C. - After meeting Elizabeth Edwards, Brannon Traxler said she feels confident voting for her husband, John Edwards, in South Carolina's Democratic presidential primary Feb. 3.

The 21-year-old described John Edwards - a U.S. senator from North Carolina and Seneca, S.C., native - as energetic and focused. And she has just as many nice things to say about his wife, who spoke at the Greenville County Democratic Women's meeting at the Greenville City Club on Monday night.

Traxler, one of the younger members of the women's group, said children's issues are most important to her, which is why she liked Elizabeth Edwards.

"She's very articulate and professional, but at the same time makes you feel at ease," the Clemson University student said. "She's got a daughter my age, so I feel like she's in touch with some of the issue that face the younger generations."

Edwards asked the group to vote for her husband because he is a family man who understands working people.

"He's the candidate that George Bush is pretending to be - that is Joe on the corner of a Southern street," she said.

Elizabeth Edwards made three stops in the Upstate on Monday. Earlier in the day in Spartanburg, she ate lunch with supporters, then read to a group of Head Start children.

Though Edwards refused to say anything negative about the other eight candidates running in the Democratic primary, she described her husband as intelligent, hardworking and committed to solving "real life problems with real life solutions."

"I think South Carolina is better off with John at the top of the ticket," she said.

Avis Canty, 30, of Greenville said it was obvious that John and Elizabeth Edwards have a strong marriage. "It was amazing how she's so in touch with her husband's ideas," Canty said.

Elizabeth and John Edwards met in law school at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. They married in 1977, the day after they took the bar examination.

Elizabeth Edwards practiced law until 1996, and now promotes after-school care and early childhood education. She has three children: Catharine, a Princeton University student; Emma Claire, 5; and Jack, 3. The couple's first child, Wade, died in a car accident in 1996.

Edwards said her husband may be considered one of the more handsome of the candidates for president, but that voters should look beyond physical appearance.

"At first, I was maybe a little dismissive because he was the cute guy," she said. "But he's smart as a whip and he's got a heart of gold. Those are the things they ought to be swooning over."

Edwards joked with the women's group about her husband looking 35 years old, even though he just celebrated his 50th birthday in Seneca this year.

"There is no one that hates that as much as I do," the 54-year-old Elizabeth Edwards said with a smile.