Voters admire, doubt Edwards' anti-corporate stance

By Scott Malone

PORTSMOUTH, New Hampshire (Reuters) - When Democratic presidential contender John Edwards takes to the stump, he rails against the political clout of corporate America, promising to limit the power of big business in Washington.

Voters in New Hampshire, the next key battleground in the 2008 presidential election, say they like his ideas, even if they're not convinced he can achieve his goals.

"If you can believe what he says about cracking down on lobbyists, that would be a thing worth doing," said Richard Ward, 75, a Portsmouth, New Hampshire, retiree, who said he was leaning toward former Massachusetts Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, but also considering voting for Edwards in Tuesday's primary.

While conceding that the change would not be easy, Ward said: "With our political system, if you are strong and you are willing to push for it, I think it is achievable."

Other voters who turned out to hear Edwards' pitch wondered if the Democratic Party's 2004 vice presidential candidate's promises were realistic

.

"I'm not sure if he can really do all he says in terms of taking on corporations," said Jeff Hillier, 65, a retired educator from North Hampton, New Hampshire, who said he was considering voting for Edwards, but currently leaning toward Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.

"And I'm not sure it's all their fault," Hillier said. "There might be some middle ground."

Edwards, the son of a textile mill worker, regularly says that if elected in November, one of his top priorities would be to curtail the power of corporate lobbyists in Washington.

He blames them for the slow pace of health care reform in the United States. Edwards said he would ban campaign contributions from lobbyists and prohibit them from taking top government jobs.

"You cannot sit at a table and negotiate with these people. It won't work," Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, said in a Portsmouth campaign appearance on Friday. "They are in a position of power. They have spread their money around Washington for decades and I think it's a fantasy to think that you can negotiate with them.

"You can't be just nice to these people. It doesn't work," added Edwards, who finished a better-than-expected second in his party's Iowa caucus on Thursday and is in third place in New Hampshire, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Saturday.

The New Hampshire primaries will help decide who runs in November's election to succeed U.S. President George W. Bush.

Even if Edwards does not attain all of his goals, his supporters said they liked the idea of a president trying to take on corporations.

"He's very genuine and he has the people's best interests at heart," said Diane Robinson, a 59-year-old registered Democrat who, along with her 57-year-old husband Wayne, a registered Republican, plans to vote for Edwards.

"I think he's going to give it a good effort," Robinson said. "It would be good just to see somebody try."