Edwards rising in Iowa

Happy new year! I am spending a few days in frigid Iowa to celebrate Christmas with the relatives. John Edwards came through my hometown today for an appearance at the local VFW post, so I took my mom to see him.

I have to say that I did not see the "angry" man that the corporate media keeps harping on. Edwards was very personable, and he spoke mostly about the need to rein in corporations, provide health care coverage for everyone, and about getting American troops out of Iraq as soon as possible.

I counted over 200 attendees at the event, nearly all supportive. A few folks that I spoke with said that this was the biggest turnout they had seen for any candidate so far, and some had seen everybody except Kucinich and Gravel. A Lee Enterprises newspapers poll has John Edwards and Barack Obama tied at 29 percent each, Hillary Clinton at 28 percent, and the remaining 19 percent of Democrats still undecided. Edwards has come up five percent in the last couple of weeks.

My hometown usually goes with the winner, so I am predicting that Edwards will be the surprise victor in the Iowa caucuses.