SAVANNAH, Ga. - Saying her husband is a candidate voters can trust, the wife of Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards compared him Tuesday with another North Carolina politician known for his blunt candor: archconservative former Sen. Jesse Helms.

Elizabeth Edwards, speaking to reporters before giving a speech in Savannah, invoked the name of the Republican when asked whether her husband could appeal to conservative Southern voters.

"I remember one time somebody saying, 'That John Edwards reminds me of Jesse Helms,'" she said. "They didn't agree on a single policy, I don't think. But here's what they agreed on - that people should know where they stood."

Mrs. Edwards said her husband has been honest with Americans in saying he made a mistake by voting in the Senate to authorize the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She said he blames himself, not faulty intelligence that suggested Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

"Certainly every woman loves to hear a man admit, now and again, that they were wrong," she told reporters. "And John's willing to do that."

Mrs. Edwards came to Savannah to address about 250 people attending a conference of the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina.

Mr. Edwards served as North Carolina's junior senator under Mr. Helms until the Republican retired in 2003 after 30 years in office. Mr. Helms' outspoken opposition to legalized abortion, homosexuality and to a national holiday marking the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday made him an easy target for Democrats.

Mr. Edwards has been known to speak critically of Mr. Helms.

"I'm now the senior senator from North Carolina instead of Jesse Helms, which is a very good thing for this country," he said during his first presidential campaign in 2004 at a debate in New Hampshire.

Mrs. Edwards also said her breast cancer hasn't hampered her ability to campaign for her husband while she also cares for their two young children - Emma Claire, 9, and Jack, 7.