Populist Edwards will skip bigwig N.H. meet

[JI7]

<Former Sen. John Edwards has gone so anti-establishment that he's planning to skip the annual New Hampshire Democrats' pre-primary dinner tonight in Milford, N.H.

Ray Buckley, head of the New Hampshire Democratic party, said he heard this week that Edwards had given his regrets on the invitation. Instead, Edwards plans to be at an event in Portsmouth.

Buckley's still holding out hope.

"Candidates have said that before, and they've come," Buckley said Thursday, before the results were in from Iowa. "They said they couldn't make it. I said we'd still certainly welcome him and hope he comes by."

If Edwards does skip the event, he'll pass up the chance to give a 10-minute speech to 3,000 Democrats paying $100 to $1,000 a plate for the dinner. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama plan to be there, Buckley said.

The dinner, begun in 1959 with a speech from John F. Kennedy, is the state party's biggest annual fundraiser.

"Since 1959, we've hosted every candidate in the pre-primary dinner," Buckley said, "and I have faith we will this time as well.">

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/860007.html

[tblue]

1. Hope he reconsiders. He's a great orator and very persuasive. nt

[frogmarch]

2. What's the event in Portsmouth? nt

[MADem]

3. MAJOR MISTAKE. I too hope he reconsiders. It's a big event. nt

[silverlil]

5. Edwards .. he should go

to this event. Damn it and put everything aside ... now he is going to have to fight Hillary, so he needs all the face time he can get ... I wonder how the press will spin this lot now after tonight!

[Luminous Animal]

4. So, what is the event at Portsmouth?

I'm betting that it doesn't cost $100 to get in.

[MADem]

6. It's a town hall, and of course it doesn't cost anything to get in because it isn't a FUND raiser.

You're invited to a Town Hall with John Edwards

Friday January 4th, 2008 - 6:30pm
Portsmouth Town Hall with John Edwards
Frank Jones Center
400 Route 1 Bypass
Portsmouth, NH

This event is free and open to the public.
Text NH to 30644 to receive text message notifications on your mobile phone when John and Elizabeth are in town.

http://www.johnedwards.com/nh/events/rsvp/20080104-portsmouth

It's about an hour and a half from the Pre-Primary Dinner venue.

[maximusveritas]

7. Here's his reason for not going

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=John+DiStaso's+Granite+Status%3A+Several+candidates+see+Tuesday+as+a+must-win&articleId=a61bf74a-b8c3-4ff2-a73b-70792881dcbf

Campaign sources insist he's not "blowing off" the party dinner and raised about $16,000 for the event. But the fact is, the source said, "There will be maybe 10 undecided voters in that room and the goal is to get in front of as many undecided voters as possible" in the short time remaining.

I can understand that. He gets more out of having his town hall than he does at the dinner.

[frogmarch]

9. He's going to the town hall meeting because

he's the populist candidate. Good for him. Wise choice, especially since he already raised $16,000 for the bigwig dinner and can't be said to have snubbed them.

[Divine Discontent]

8. I have to agree with the comment above mine

yes, it would get him more time with the big wigs, but he'll get more with people looking for a candidate at a town hall meeting. he oughta rush around the state (probably is) that day and see as many people as possible and tell them, the party big wigs are not listening to YOU, they are at a fancy dinner, and I want to meet with you and tell you why I need your vote to take back America for the poor, the working class, and to end this occupation of Iraq for real!

[Tesha]

10. He is bopping around the state today.

> he oughta rush around the state (probably is) that day and
> see as many people as possible and tell them, the party big
> wigs are not listening to YOU, they are at a fancy dinner,
> and I want to meet with you and tell you why I need your vote
> to take back America for the poor, the working class, and to
> end this occupation of Iraq for real!

He is bopping around the state today. His day started with his
arrival in Manchester early this morning.

Later on, at 2:00 pm, he'll be in Nashua.

Then the 6:30 event in Portsmouth.

And Portsmouth is a *FAR* better venue for him than to be in
Milford eating rubber chicken with the bunch of dyed-in-the-
wool DLCers who run our state party. Portsmouth is as about
as close as we come in this state to a place that's "liberal".
It's also a hop, skip, and a jump from the University of New
Hampshire's home base in Durham. This ought to be fertile
ground for John.

Milford, by comparison, is full of folks who'll think Huckabee
is the second coming of Bush.

Tesha