Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards yesterday brought his bus tour from Iowa to New Hampshire.
Edwards is hoping the five day Granite State tour will jump start his stalled campaign.
New Hampshire Public Radio's David Darman has more.
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The Edwards "Real Solutions" bus rolled in front of Nashua City Hall Wednesday.
Lunch time traffic rumbled up and down Main Street.
The North Carolina Senator bounded off the big, blue bus as soon as it stopped.
A handful of supporters were waiting for him.
20 111 nice to see you ...great to see you again...hello dave...my son david...hello....
Polls show John Edwards with barely 2 percent support in the Granite State.
That's far behind the more than 20 percent held by the two leaders in the Democratic field, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.
The campaign's Press Secretary Colin Van Ostern says Edwards is aware of his polling numbers.
So, in addition to his bus tour, he is planning to hold 100 town meetings before the presidential primary.
19 109 he's not as well known as some of the career politicians that are in the race, or some of the people from neighboring states who have name recognition with every voter that's out there. A lot of people in nh don't know senator Edwards yet. 19 123
Andrew Smith is the director of the UNH Survey Center.
He says Edwards is on the right track with his plan to travel around the state to meet as many voters as possible.
11 53 and if he was going to push a particular message, I think he has to push the 'electability' issue. And I think that's a problem in nh. It's a more of a left liberal electorate in the party up here. And he has to make clear that that's not what the rest of the country is. And that in order to get elected, in order to beat george bush, you have to be a more moderate democrat. 11 114
And that could be a problem for Edwards, says Ron Faucheaux (Fo-SHAY).
A former politician himself, Faucheux publishes Campaigns & Elections magazine.
HE says Edwards presidential campaign has so far (QUOTE) "gone over like a lead balloon".
He says Edwards overestimated his appeal as a presidential candidate.
And Faucheux claims Edwards has become too liberal, and gotten away from what made him a successful politician.
08 21 I mean when he was a senate candidate last time, he sort of ran as a moderate democrat, who was willing to buck the national party establishment and philosophy on some things. I mean he didn't run as a conservative. I mean ...he had the solid support of the democratic base when he ran, so I'm not saying he ran away from the democratic party for the most part, but he was very clear to have a stance of independence from the party.
Edwards is a first term Democratic senator in North Carolina.
He?s up for re-election in 2004.
And so far, Edwards has kept his options open regarding his senate seat.
Reporter John Wagner is the Washington correspondent for the News & Observer, a newspaper based Raleigh, North Carolina.
He says Tar Heel Democrats are nervous about Edward's non- decision regarding HIS senate seat, because it?s vulnerable.
15 certainly, in recent weeks there have been more democrats, including elected officials, who are speaking publicly about this. And the predominant sentiment about this isn't that he should do anything in particular, but that he should either pick one of the two, or that if he is going to continue his presidential run, at a minimum, he should give his blessing to other democrats to ramp up to run if he doesn't for the senate seat. 15 31
The Edwards presidential campaign won't discuss whether the senator would consider dropping out of one campaign or the other.
Press secretary Colin Van Ostern says Edwards is very clear about what he is doing.
19 202 well, he's a hundred percent committed to running for president. You know, you don't have to ask him, just look at his schedule. 39 stops in his first six days, a hundred town meetings before the primary, and this is a man who's dedicated to spending serious time here and meeting every voter in the state. focused on running for president right now.
Edwards may be able to put off a decision about which office to seek a little longer.
Under North Carolina law, he doesn't have to register as a candidate until next February.
And formally, he?s not announced his presidential candidacy yet.
He plans to do that in the middle of next month.
In the meantime, the Edwards "Real Solutions" Express is scheduled to travel around the state for the next few days.
He may be coming to a town near you .
For NHPR news, I'm DD
