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[cross-posted to johnedwards.com and Blue Mass Group]
After a productive afternoon of canvassing in Keene, I got to hear JRE's speech at Keene State College. The reason I couldn't see it is that he filled not only the room where he spoke but an overflow room with video (700 total people according to a KSC staffer) so the last 50 or so of us had to rely on audio in the lobby.
John was scheduled at 3:15 and started at 4:05, par for the course with these things. His warmup acts were actors Madeleine Stowe and James Denton and NH progressive icon (and 2004 Senate candidate) Granny D. He spoke for about 30 minutes, also introducing the mothers of a teenage girl who died from the lack of an operation denied by her insurance company and of the victim in one of his famous court cases.
I was surprised by the focus of the speech on his legal career, but it made sense in the context of his argument: (1) the status quo, of corporate domination of our democracy, is broken, (2) HRC represents this status quo and has already been rejected by the voters in Iowa, and (3) what qualifies him to change the status quo is his experience fighting it and his personal passion for the cause -- "I will fight every day as President for you and your children". The implicit argument against Obama is that he lacks this passion -- JRE said that the issues of poverty and inequality are not "abstract, technical, or academic" but "personal", suggesting that Obama lacks this commitment.
I particularly liked JRE's responses to the three questions. The first was about China, where he vowed to be tougher on trade, safety regulation of imports, environmental and labor standards in trade agreements, etc. The second was on education, where he argued that the federal government must level the playing field between local communities with different resource capacities and mentioned his proposal for a national teaching service academy. He said his daughter Emma Claire, in third grade in a public school, had suffered from the emphasis on standardized tests -- he argued for individualized, teacher-centered assessment and against punishing low-performing schools. The final question was from a worker at a non-profit diverting surplus food to the hungry, and gave JRE the chance to return to the theme that first excited me about him in 2003. We cannot accept poverty and inequality in America, he said, and people like the questioner deserved not only praise but government support in ending poverty.
The canvassing, by the way, went well -- I talked to several still-undecided voters and discovered several Edwards voters previously unknown to the campaign. One of the recent polls said that 49% of Democrats are undecided or leaning, which gives us some hope of outperforming the overall poll numbers. I ran into Obama, HRC, and McCain canvassers on the way, and drove by the Richardson event in Central Square (maybe 200 people). (I venture to predict that Richardson will do a lot better than his current statewide 4% in Keene -- I've run into a fair bit of support for him as I've canvassed.
I'll be back for Primary Day! (Then we will see what kind of campaign JRE can mount in my own Massachusetts...)
