Edwards

I went to see John Edwards today: and had a tremendous spot thanks to arriving a little early: the crowd was, I thought, reasonably large (around a thousand, I'd guess: very likely more than five hundred, very likely less than fifteen hundred) for a very conservative area, middle of the work day, impossible to park within half a mile without driving for half an hour to find a spot, rally.
His stump speech, of course, is his stump speech: there were a few changes for local context, but basically, it's the speech anybody watching closely has seen him give several times --- CNN has carried it on their "Ballot Bowl" series several times over the past week, it seems, and it is similar to his speeches after Iowa and New Hampshire. It's a decent speech, and he gives it with some fire: his message that we can't get reform with the corporations in control resonates well with people, at least the ones who turn out: and his examples, the cleft palate operation, the liver transplant, both are powerful.
I will say that I came away feeling likely to vote for him in the primary, but less impressed than I had hoped: he was not as tired as I had expected, but he could do with a little more of the firebrand he showed at the convention in 2004 with his "Two Americas" speech: I found myself wishing that this tour had played a few of his old hits as well as the new album!

I'm hoping to get a chance to see HRC and BO as well before having to decide --- no word on if/when they are coming here, but it wouldn't surprise me if they do. But at the moment, this is
Yours, leaning Edwards' way,
N.