Primary Place Online

I saw the same Edwards rally that a few have mentioned - a very long wait, a surprise concert by Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt, a too-long introductory speech by a gentleman who never introduced himself, but is a union activist and was very eager to tell the audience of his own political credentials and connections, and, finally John Edwards. First of all, I was annoyed by the introducer/staller who among other things was literally flexing his "union muscles" on stage, but in fairness, he had to keep the crowd amused for a long time while the Edwards's buses continued to be "just a few minutes away." And surely I can't blame edwards for this guy's remarks. The concert was fun, but it was Edwards I really wanted to hear. Edwards's stump speech didn't offer me anything specific enough to really develop a perspective upon. I think he mentioned the word "mill" over a dozen times. It was a brilliant way for him to connect his own background with this NH audience and the populist message seemed to resonate with the crowd, but there wasn't a lot of depth or specificity to the speech. I thought he did do a fantastic job responding to the questions and I wish that had been the bulk of the time. A little boy asked him about "No Child Left Behind" and he asked the boy what grade he was in, did he go to public school, how did he feel taking all those standardized tests? The kid said he hated it. Edwards said he too was disillusioned with the amount of time spent in test prep in his kid's school and that he'd overhaul the law or scrap it. He also answered questions on campaign finance (though I think there's more to the story with his acceptance of public financing than he explained to the audience), nuclear weapons reduction, and his opposition to nuclear energy.

For me climate change is the number one issue and when Edwards was asked the question he said something I haven't heard any other candidate say - he said that we need to sacrifice. He said we need the level of patriotism that we usually save for rallying behind wars. He said we need to drive smaller cars. This was an important answer for me to hear - other candidates talk about innovation, carbon trading, carbon-neutral government buildings, all important things, but none of them tells us that we might really need to change our lifestyles. I thought it was a gutsy, albeit unspecific, answer. (Even coming from a man who apparently lives in a 20,000 sq. foot house). It impressed me.

However, my enthusiasm was mitigated by his "save American jobs" rhetoric that borders on the jingoistic. And, ultimately, how will his promises to the unions cripple him on issues like toughening environmental legislation?

Overall, I found him to be a passionate man who interacted really well with the crowd, but it will all come down to the best mix of positions on the issues for me.

I started the fall leaning towards Clinton. My support for her has lessened in the last month after listening to Iowa debates and her climate change speech in California. (The one time I tried to see her she was so late I had to leave to put my daughter to sleep). I would definitely consider voting for Edwards. I am impressed by Biden, but worried he's too far back. I'll watch Saturday's debate and try to catch Obama and Clinton over the weekend and make my decision. I am truly undecided at this point and I want to be careful not to let the Iowa results influence my choice.