Edwards rises early in New Hampshire

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 08:47:13 -0500

MANCHESTER, N.H.—Former Sen. John Edwards was the first out of the gate in New Hampshire this morning, joining a rally in downtown Manchester as early light led a brittle New Hampshire morning from night into dawn.

"Well, good morning!" Edwards hollered to a crowd of some 300 supporters just before 7 a.m. "Boy, there’s energy in this room."

He flashed his grin to cheers in the dim innards of an old mill, the kind of textile factory in which his daddy toiled down South, pumping up the middle class here in the Granite State on the tide of his second-place finish in Iowa, Barb Barrett reports.

His voice was hoarsened and his shouts for change emerged more like squawks, but Edwards gave a version of the stump speech that has carried him this far: corporate greed bad—middle class good—change is tomorrow and tomorrow begins today.

"What we learned last night is that the status quo is yesterday," Edwards told the crowd. "Now we have four days, four days in New Hampshire."

More after the jump.

newsobserver.com projects - Edwards rises early in New Hampshire - Comments

Edwards rises early in New Hampshire