Edwards Has 'Common Touch' -- Sees Gains From Tour

 
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
Reviews Are In From NH Bus Tour

“For many people at the event, Edwards’ approach seemed to strike the right chord. They like his stance on many issues, but also thought he has a common touch.”

MANCHESTER, NH -- The reviews keep coming in from Senator John Edwards’ six-day, 26-town bus trip across New Hampshire this past week, and here’s what they’re saying:

* After months of getting a warm welcome from New Hampshire voters, Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards s finally hearing "welcome back." Several voters who met the North Carolina senator during campaign stops Saturday said they had attended one of his early Town Hall meetings or recognized him from his television commercials.


* said he was interested in several of Edwards's job creation proposals and had stopped by the forum at City Hall last night to see Edwards live. As the father of five sons, Lambert said he was especially attracted by the senator's college plan, in which the federal government would pay for a year of study at a public university or community college for anyone willing to work 10 hours a week. "If you're willing to work, is willing to help you out," said Lambert, 35.


* Saturday morning, the bus dwarfed all other entrants in the Pembroke-Allenstown Old Home Day parade, but Edwards' message matched the original goal of the celebration. Old Home Days - a party for returning sons and daughters - was started in 1899 as a way to cure the economy and the pessimism of the state's residents.


* Jose Lazo of Allenstown shouted out his support as Edwards' bus crept along the parade route blaring John Mellencamp's "Small Town." "They don't care about small town people," he said of Edwards' eight rivals for the Democratic nomination. "That's what America's made of."


* Sue and Bob Mitchell, a retired couple from Concord, were looking for someplace to have breakfast when they spotted Edwards' name on the diner's sign. Though they chatted with him only briefly, the couple, both Democrats, said they will support his campaign. Bob Mitchell cited Edwards' "charisma, youth and energy," while his wife, whose former job involved helping the homeless, zeroed in on the candidate's ability to empathize with those in need. "I would say he has a lot of compassion," she said.


* Keene city councilman Skip DiBernardo said he liked what he heard. “I like his commitment to the working class, and the fact that he worked his way up from nothing,” he said.


* Several people said they liked what they heard last night . “He's a good speaker,” said Ray Sears of Grantham, “and I think he really represents most of the core values of the Democratic Party.”… Mark Williams of Lebanon said he liked the way Edwards listened to the questions people asked and answered them directly. “It seemed like a real conversation.”


* The potential voters crowded into McKenna's small restaurant could have been tailor made for the campaign because many of them, including McKenna, said they had not chosen a candidate, yet. And many of them share a background similar to Edwards' early life as the son of a textile mill worker. "I feel his background is real life as opposed to growing up with money," said Elaine Belanger, 46, of Gorham, who said both her husband and father worked in the paper mills in Berlin. "I feel he's more in touch because of how he's lived."


* Bernie Quigley, 57, of Haverhill said he wanted to meet Edwards because he believed the North Carolinian represented the new focus in politics away from flashy stars to people with a working-class background. "It's really a shift away from the Clinton politics back to working class roots," Quigley said. "I think Sen. Edwards is more closely associated with that than the other candidates."


* Edward's warmth and ease in front of the crowd and with his children often leads voters to draw comparisons to former President John F. Kennedy. "He's young and charismatic, as opposed to Lieberman and Kerry, who make you feel like we've been there, done that, lost that," said Monte Clinton, a voter from Etna, N.H., who attended an Edwards town hall meeting Sunday night. "My first presidential election was for Kennedy. I watched that and got a shiver up my spine. And tonight , I got it again." "He knows what he wants, and I think he understands what we want," Clinton said. "We want to take back America from the wealthy, the special interests and the lobbyists."


* The line for free barbecue ran down the block, and roughly 300 people waited as Edwards strode through Manchester's city plaza, John Mellencamp's populist anthem "Small Town" blaring from the bus' loudspeakers. With the sleeves of his blue oxford shirt rolled to the elbow, Edwards plunged into the crowd shaking hands and gripping shoulders. Before long he was out front, promising he wouldn't talk too long but was willing to stay until everyone's questions were answered. Every once in awhile he paused to tell his 5-year old daughter, Emma Claire, and her 3-year-old brother, Jack, to "be still" as they danced around him waving campaign signs.


* Edwards' campaign stop in Lebanon is among 100 “town hall meetings” in New Hampshire that he intends to hold before the primary. He arrived in a large campaign bus…that played upbeat music as he stepped off and began shaking the hands of people waiting to hear him speak. And when he did, the crowd responded especially enthusiastically to his defense of civil liberties.


* Idyllic fall-like weather, children and politics can mix. If U.S. Sen. John Edwards could guarantee this formula at every stop of his “Real Solutions Tour,” then he’d need more than one campaign bus. But he’ll likely accept what he had Sunday at the Raymond Street home of Bill Barry and Helen Honorow: great weather, kids playing on a backyard swing set and about 70 people interested in why he’s running for president.


* For many people at the event, Edwards’ approach seemed to strike the right chord. They like his stance on many issues, but also thought he has a common touch. “He speaks from the heart,” said Hollis resident Eitan Ziera. “He’s got his moral bearing correct.” For Ziera, a properly attuned moral compass bodes well when the stakes run high in foreign affairs. Ziera said he is a Republican who votes Democrat.


* Edwards impressed many of the customers inside the restaurant. Belwin Sherman of Bethlehem works as a nurse. Outside the restaurant (in Littleton), he says Edwards has his vote. “He speaks well. He’s very articulate. I think he’s a very sincere man. I was very interested in particularly is views on health care issues, because I’m a nurse.” Other customers who met Edwards agreed that the North Carolina Senator was impressive in person.


www.johnedwards2004.com
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Building up steam...go Johnnie go!

strategies. Six days on a bus is brutal(although it's probably not Greyhound). Good luck to him.

Let's see if it translates into numbers.

Look at it this way: If he's enjoying himself, he wins.