Big crowd greets Edwards in Portsmouth
Big crowd greets Edwards in Portsmouth
By RICK DUMONT
Union Leader Correspondent
Portsmouth – Hundreds of people showed up to get a glimpse of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards as he stopped in to the Little Harbor School in Portsmouth for a Town Meeting yesterday.
Edwards declared his intention to make a second run for the White House on Thursday. He had lost the Democratic primary in 2004, and his subsequent vice presidential bid with running-mate John Kerry of Massachusetts.
Two years ago, Edwards came to New Hampshire supported by the theme song "Small Town," written by Indiana singer John Mellencamp. This year, Edwards kicked off the town meeting-style stump with INXS' upbeat celebratory song "New Sensation."
One of his staffers said Edwards wanted positive energized music to match his campaign theme: "Tomorrow Begins Today." It was standing-room only inside the gymnasium. More than 1,000 people were turned away for the 340 seat meeting, according to Edwards' staff. Edwards greeted the crowd waiting outside before going in to address the audience and answer questions.
"There's certainly an excited audience," Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand said. The crowd included union members, a solid cross-section of young and old voters, the mayor, and U.S. Rep.-elect Carol Shea-Porter. "They (Edwards staffers) underestimated what the turnout would be," Marchand said.
While there was some obvious jubilation surrounding Edwards' visit, the affable Southerner did get booed a bit when he told a questioner that he was "quite conflicted" about the idea of gay marriage. "It's a jump for me" to get from civil unions to the concept of marriage. "Internally it's a very hard thing for me."
He said he does support the idea of equal rights for gays on things such as health care and antidiscrimination laws.
He referenced his 24-year-old daughter, who attends school in Cambridge, Mass., saying that she believes that when her generation comes into power, the issue of gay marriage will be a non-issue.
"They could be right," Edwards said. "I just wish I knew the right answer."
Overall, the crowd was very receptive, energetic and respectful and Edwards returned in kind.
He spoke about issues including the war in Iraq, the view of America as a leader in the world, health care and social security.
Edwards answered one question about health care to applause, saying, "My plan will treat mental health the same way as physical health; I promise." Many people wanted to know how Edwards was going to fix some of the broken systems in this country.
"We can change this country," Edwards told the crowd. "There's so much we need to do" in dealing with health care, educating the young, ending poverty and ending reliance on oil for energy.
Edwards' campaign calls for residents to help bring America back into the position of true world leadership. America can provide moral leadership, Edwards said.
"As the most powerful country in the world, we have a responsibility to humanity."
From getting the troops out of Iraq immediately and stopping the genocide in the Sudan, to taking the lead on dealing with global warming and changing the perspective of the world's population toward America, Edwards said the country's role on the world stage should come from more than just a position of military power.
"It's time to ask Americans to be patriotic about something other than war."
He took a swipe at the current administration saying "raw power alone does not make you a leader, as we have seen over the last six years."
If elected President, Edwards said, he would bring America's message to the world's people, not just leaders of other countries.
Spending time in Delhi in recent years, Edwards said, he saw things in the ghettos that "made it hard for me to sleep."
Raw open sewage flowing through an outdoor schoolroom struck a cord deep within Edwards. America can do things to help eliminate poverty on a world level as well as internally, he said.
Edwards cited the recent earthquake in Pakistan where America provided aid to those hit hardest. For a brief moment, Pakistanis began to like Americans, Edwards said. "It's a small example of what's possible globally." Edwards was forced by time constraints to end the meeting while there were still dozens of people with questions. But he did say that anyone who wants to ask him a question can e-mail him through his Web site www.johnedwards.com.
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=b670c4eb-08e1-4f5c-aaa3-feec32281830&headline=Big+crowd+greets+Edwards+in+Portsmouth
By RICK DUMONT
Union Leader Correspondent
Portsmouth – Hundreds of people showed up to get a glimpse of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards as he stopped in to the Little Harbor School in Portsmouth for a Town Meeting yesterday.
Edwards declared his intention to make a second run for the White House on Thursday. He had lost the Democratic primary in 2004, and his subsequent vice presidential bid with running-mate John Kerry of Massachusetts.
Two years ago, Edwards came to New Hampshire supported by the theme song "Small Town," written by Indiana singer John Mellencamp. This year, Edwards kicked off the town meeting-style stump with INXS' upbeat celebratory song "New Sensation."
One of his staffers said Edwards wanted positive energized music to match his campaign theme: "Tomorrow Begins Today." It was standing-room only inside the gymnasium. More than 1,000 people were turned away for the 340 seat meeting, according to Edwards' staff. Edwards greeted the crowd waiting outside before going in to address the audience and answer questions.
"There's certainly an excited audience," Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand said. The crowd included union members, a solid cross-section of young and old voters, the mayor, and U.S. Rep.-elect Carol Shea-Porter. "They (Edwards staffers) underestimated what the turnout would be," Marchand said.
While there was some obvious jubilation surrounding Edwards' visit, the affable Southerner did get booed a bit when he told a questioner that he was "quite conflicted" about the idea of gay marriage. "It's a jump for me" to get from civil unions to the concept of marriage. "Internally it's a very hard thing for me."
He said he does support the idea of equal rights for gays on things such as health care and antidiscrimination laws.
He referenced his 24-year-old daughter, who attends school in Cambridge, Mass., saying that she believes that when her generation comes into power, the issue of gay marriage will be a non-issue.
"They could be right," Edwards said. "I just wish I knew the right answer."
Overall, the crowd was very receptive, energetic and respectful and Edwards returned in kind.
He spoke about issues including the war in Iraq, the view of America as a leader in the world, health care and social security.
Edwards answered one question about health care to applause, saying, "My plan will treat mental health the same way as physical health; I promise." Many people wanted to know how Edwards was going to fix some of the broken systems in this country.
"We can change this country," Edwards told the crowd. "There's so much we need to do" in dealing with health care, educating the young, ending poverty and ending reliance on oil for energy.
Edwards' campaign calls for residents to help bring America back into the position of true world leadership. America can provide moral leadership, Edwards said.
"As the most powerful country in the world, we have a responsibility to humanity."
From getting the troops out of Iraq immediately and stopping the genocide in the Sudan, to taking the lead on dealing with global warming and changing the perspective of the world's population toward America, Edwards said the country's role on the world stage should come from more than just a position of military power.
"It's time to ask Americans to be patriotic about something other than war."
He took a swipe at the current administration saying "raw power alone does not make you a leader, as we have seen over the last six years."
If elected President, Edwards said, he would bring America's message to the world's people, not just leaders of other countries.
Spending time in Delhi in recent years, Edwards said, he saw things in the ghettos that "made it hard for me to sleep."
Raw open sewage flowing through an outdoor schoolroom struck a cord deep within Edwards. America can do things to help eliminate poverty on a world level as well as internally, he said.
Edwards cited the recent earthquake in Pakistan where America provided aid to those hit hardest. For a brief moment, Pakistanis began to like Americans, Edwards said. "It's a small example of what's possible globally." Edwards was forced by time constraints to end the meeting while there were still dozens of people with questions. But he did say that anyone who wants to ask him a question can e-mail him through his Web site www.johnedwards.com.
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=b670c4eb-08e1-4f5c-aaa3-feec32281830&headline=Big+crowd+greets+Edwards+in+Portsmouth
posted by presgore19 at 9:10 PM
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