Hanging with Elizabeth Edwards

I went to meet Elizabeth Edwards today. I got there a little bit later than most so I didn't get a great seat, bummer, but I will still excited. It was a small group, 20 or so of us "mommy bloggers," mostly from Silicon Valley Mom's Blog.

Elizabeth was about 30 minutes late which I guess is sort of standard for these things. She walked in with a big smile on her face and said, "I still love you guys." We all sort of laughed a nervous laugh because SVMB was recently in the news when one of the writers challenged Elizabeth's parenting choices on the campaign trial. She immediately made her way around the room, hugging and shaking hands.

I am not going to tell you everything that was talked about. Sarah from SVMB did a great job live blogging which you can read here. What I will tell you is what I took away from our conversation.

The comment that Elizabeth said that struck me most was (thanks to Stefania for having all written down perfectly),

Look at the way the candidate runs his/her campaign. Ask yourelf: Is this a leader? Is this that different?

We have an opportunity for real change. It's going to be really easy to get more of the same. (John's) not the flashier candidate, but what he is, and has been, is a leader on every one of (his) issues. (John Edwards) put all his policies out at the very beginning of the campaign rather than waiting for September/October. From the beginning of the campaign it's been about the policies and the vision, not the person.

I will admit that before today, I thought about voting for Hillary because she is a woman. I thought about voting for Barak because he is a man of color and has so much charisma. I really realize that there are real issues at stake here and I really need to start thinking about them.

I can't say today that John Edwards is my candidate but I am really leaning towards him and I am going to do my best to educate myself about the other candidates and all the issues.