Every time I go to a political rally I vow it's the last time, but the John Edwards town hall meeting this afternoon was one of the better ones. We got there in time to get seats, a couple of my family members actually got seated on the stage and I had a chance to change my voter registration from nonpartisan to Democrat so I can "caucus" this Saturday. After more than 30 years, Mr. Ann and I will no longer be in a "mixed marriage"! (I spent most of those years as a Republican but almost always voted Democratic in general elections.)

Edwards was at his best today. He made a lot of good points such as "I'm the only candidate who hasn't taken any money from corporate lobbyists" and "I'm the only candidate in a recent CNN poll who could beat each of the Republican candidates." I hate to be paranoid, but is his stance against corporate greed the reason for the apparent news blackout of him?

The highlight of the entire event was the young woman who introduced Edwards. Her name is Rachel Miller, and she's a UNR student who has been working for the campaign. She's attractive, she's confident, she's a good speaker and she knows her candidate and the reasons everyone should support him.

Unfortunately for her, she finished her prepared remarks and still hadn't received the cue that Edwards was ready to come on stage. She handled it beautifully. I know it was stressful, but she explained what was going on and ad libbed for a few minutes. When she was finally allowed to leave the stage, we gave her a well-deserved standing ovation. I'd count on her to accomplish anything she is assigned.

News note: I'm not seeing or hearing this anywhere else (including the Washoe County Democrats page—here comes the paranoia again), so I'll mention it here. Edwards will be back in Reno tomorrow night, Thursday the 17th, at the Carpenters hall at 1150 Terminal Way at 6:15 p.m. for another town hall meeting. It will be another chance for people who had to be at work this afternoon.