Voters quiz Edwards on policy booklet By Holly Ramer, Associated Press Writer Sun Nov 25, 5:47 PM ET ROCHESTER, N.H. - Voters didn't mind that Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards was running a bit late Sunday — it gave them time to scrutinize the 77-page policy booklet printed by his campaign. Though many attendees at the town hall meeting came prepared with questions, others told the former North Carolina senator they were inspired by reading the booklet he has been distributing to voters in New Hampshire and Iowa. In it, he outlines his vision in four areas: standing up for working families, ending the war in Iraq, building a better future for children and ensuring opportunity for all. But one voter suggested a fifth category: balancing the federal budget. "We had good time to read your pamphlet while you were flying in. I love everything, but it seems to me that there is a Roman numeral five that might be missing," the woman said. "I worry that with you as the candidate, the other side would paint you as a typical way-out on the left, tax-and-spend liberal." Edwards said any Democratic nominee is likely to face that kind of criticism but said his universal health care, education and other initiatives would help working families, which in turn would spur economic growth and eventually allow for national debt reduction. "We need to have shared prosperity again," he said. "If we do that, we get rid of these structural problems in our economy and the economy will grow in the way it has in the past." <snip> Rochester, NH 11-25-07 (AP photos by Joel Page) John Edwards on New Hampshire Public Radio [mp3] - "The Exchange" hosted by Laura Knoy Edwards Touts Record as Trial Lawyer By Philip Elliott Bow, N.H. (AP) — Democrat John Edwards says his experience as a trial lawyer makes him the presidential contender best able to give voters hope — and to give the establishment grief. Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina, has focused his campaign on pledges to change a government system he says is rigged against most voters. "While you shop (for candidates), I hope you will think about two key things: Who can you trust to tell you the truth about what's wrong in Washington, and who can you trust to fight like hell to make it right?" Edwards said during a town hall-style meeting Monday. "Those are the two things we need in the next president of the United States." Edwards then turned to his background as a trial lawyer and work on behalf of plaintiffs. "What I did was I gave them hope. And then I walked into that courtroom and I gave the company hell because they deserved it," he said. "That's the kind of fight we need. We need a president of the United States who will give you hope, who will stand up and fight for you to reclaim democracy. ... But we also need somebody who is ready for that fight, somebody who has been engaged in that fight. I've been in this fight my entire life. It didn't start last year. It didn't start in 2004." Edwards said he is the candidate with a record of upsetting the system and standing firm. "I won. I just didn't fight, I won and I won ... not just because I was right, but because I never gave up and I will never give up." <snip> Manchester, NH 11-26-07 (AP photos by Charles Krupa)

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