The 2012 Campaign Spouse and Remembering Elizabeth Edwards

for a few events last week, including a stop at nearby Charleston Southern University.

It's been interesting to see what roles campaign spouses are playing on the trail this year. Some spouses have been almost non-existent on the trail. Others are sticking close to their spouse, often attending the same events.

Perry has taken up her own schedule on the trail, serving as an advocate for her husband. "I love to meet people and get out there and tell the story of Rick Perry and why I believe in him," she told me. "It's easy for me to do that."

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On Saturday, Mary Kaye Huntsman . It's hard to describe the candidate's comments on his wife other than to say that he gushed.

On the same day that Herman Cain was leaving the race in the face of affair allegations, and with front-runner Newt Gingrich having openly addressed his infidelity, veteran P&C political reporter Robert Behre asked Huntsman if it was a campaign decision to highlight his happy marriage.

Jon Huntsman noted it was a family decision to get in the race and that it's natural for the pair to share the stage at campaign events. Anything else, he said, "would be inauthentic."

Like Anita Perry, Mary Kaye Huntsman was able to offer the stories of their teenage courtship. "He was the same guy back then that he is today," she told the crowd.

Mary Kaye Huntsman also was able to stump in a very personal way for her husband. "He never got that first look," she said of other candidates' success. "I hope you all will give him that first look."

Elizabeth Edwards

It all reminded me a 2008 luncheon for the wives of the Democratic primary candidates (President Bill Clinton was invited, but could not attend).

One striking presence was Elizabeth Edwards — one of the classiest spouses on the campaign trail who we would later learn had issues with an unfaithful husband.

It was her second time on the campaign trail, after an unsuccessful run in 2004. "We're still talking about the same things, which aggravates the business out of me," she told me.

One of my favorite responses came from a question I asked about her support for gay marriage, which was counter to what her husband was supporting on the campaign trail.

"People can see we're real human beings with real opinions," she says. "We're not just mirrors of our husbands. It doesn't mean we change his mind, but it means that we make him think about the issue."