It's Edwards for me
Today I went to the Exeter High School to hear Obama. Though I got there right when the doors were supposed to open, I had to sit in the overflow room. After his speech, he breezed through our room, said a few words, then shook a few hands. I was struck again by what a great presence he has and I can see why he seems to be winning so many people over. If he is the Democratic nominee, I will feel good about voting for him. And yet I've been won over more by Edwards. As I watched the post-Iowa speeches, I was struck by the way that Edwards used his as an opportunity to talk about the problems that he wants to fix and the people he wants to help more than his prospects in the coming primaries. More than most politicians, I get the sense from Edwards that he is running not so much to fulfill his ambition but to address issues he cares about. I've also learned that as a political candidate he has never taken campaign donations from corporations or PACs. As an attorney, he helped people fight against negligent corporations. He seems like the one candidate who is most likely to stand up agains the awesome power of the money interests in American politics--corporations that fire employees who try to form unions or that default on pensions, for example.