Peace, Justice, and the Environment

My picture with the next President of the United States :)

John Edwards was in Nashua with Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne. The event attracted a huge crowd and some attendees had to be turned back. Volunteers got a chance to meet with Edwards separately for a few minutes, and that was fun. Also in that room was Dave Gottesman a New Hampshire state senator from Nashua, whom I really like, and I got to tell him that and show him my support for the progressive bills he was helping to get passed.

Then we volunteers got to sit on stage, which gave me a good view of the happenings behind the stage so to speak. Bonnie and Jackson sang four songs, and then Edwards came on, right on cue, shook hands with people on stage on his way to the center of the stage. His demeanor was somewhat different from when he had met volunteers in a side room – he was more ‘natural’ there. On stage it was a bit more of being part of the show. Bonnie and Jackson are very active in the anti-nuclear movement, and are part of a group “Musicians United for Safe Energy”. They summed up their support for Edwards in one phrase – they support him because his ideology fits in with theirs’ – Peace, Justice, and the Environment.

Edwards’ speech was more simple (compared to when I had heard him before) in putting its points across. The campaign has modified its stump speech and settled on a version which clearly identifies corporations as an enemy. I guess having a specific enemy makes a message very clear and enables people to easily identify with the speaker – whether it be “islamo-fascism” or corporations. The speech focused heavily on fighting against exploitative forces and also on very progressive topics such as nuclear disarmament in the world (in addition to the standard democratic topics). Edwards was passionate, forceful, and urged people to vote for him, work for him, and get their friends to their polls. The evening ended with Edwards putting his arms around Bonnie and Jackson and all three receiving applause from the audience. Good fun!