More local stumping coverage, this time from the Nashua Telegraph (NH), which is covering a series of 12 town hall meetings Edwards is holding in New Hampshire:

The crowd for the most part was enthusiastic and applauded frequently ... Applause was noticeably absent when Edwards defended his support for the war in Iraq.

He scarcely missed a chance during the evening to note that his father was a lifelong mill worker, and that despite his success as a lawyer, he knew what ordinary peoples' lives were like ...

... "I hope we still live in a country where we can believe the son of a mill worker can beat the son of a president," he said.

The Charlotte Observer (NC) has published some of the Q&A from a town hall meeting Edwards held at Conant Elementary School in Concord, N.H., Monday night. Here's a taste:

Q. If you could talk about the values you would look for in a Supreme Court nomination.

A. Many times federal judges -- not just Supreme Court nominees, federal judges at any level ... are the only thing that stands between what may be the popular will at the moment and a constitutional right or a civil right. ... Those rights can be abridged and taken away. ... It is not the role of the judge to legislate. ... The worry is they sit in front of you and give you the answers they think you want to hear and you end up with a (Justice Antonin) Scalia or a (Justice Clarence) Thomas.

From the Concord Monitor (NH):

How did it come to be that Edwards, 50, whose entire political career consists of one election and four-plus years in office, convinced himself that it was his duty - or right - to run for the White House?

It is his right, he told voters during a recent New Hampshire swing, because, "I hope you agree with me this is still a country where the son of a millworker can go toe-to-toe against the son of a president of the United States."

And it is his duty because - well, because Edwards has believed from his youth that he has a calling to advocate for those like his parents, who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow.

From Yahoo / AP:

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Monday unveiled a broad plan aimed at restoring integrity to a corporate America buffeted by scandal with the eventual goal of boosting the economy.

Making his appeal on populist terms, the North Carolina senator proposed a series of business reforms, arguing that "what's holding our economy down is the callous view of a few at the top in Washington and in the corporate world that the values that got us here can now be left behind."

The article also offers additional perspective on whether or not JE is going to run for Senate.From the News Observer (NC) / AP:

U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., continued his traditional annual beach walk here even though he's setting his sights on a higher prize nationwide.

The Democratic presidential candidate walked along Wrightsville Beach for an hour Friday, shaking hands with sunbathers as the holiday weekend began ...

... Edwards has made the beach walk an annual tradition since he won his Senate seat in 1998.

From Edwards' local Raliegh News Observer (NC):

Warren Gentry was among the dozens of beach- goers who greeted U.S. Sen. John Edwards warmly here Friday and wished him well on his White House bid.

But after the North Carolina Democrat and his entourage had moved down the strand on his annual beach walk, Gentry, a film producer from Raleigh, said he hoped Edwards would soon decide what to do about his Senate seat, which is also on the ballot in 2004.

"That's a very important thing for him to do," said Gentry, who voted for Edwards in 1998. "That could be the downside, if he doesn't get the nomination and the Democrats lose the Senate seat."

Six months into Edwards' presidential bid, such sentiments are becoming increasingly common.

From all appearances, Edwards is running full-bore for his party's presidential nomination and doing very little to prepare for a 2004 re-election bid. But he has yet to publicly foreclose that option.

From the Chattanoogan (TN):

Sen. John Edwards, candidate for the Democratic nomination for President, will hold a reception in Nashville June 12 at 1 p.m.

The reception, to be held in the Freedom Conference Room, 223 8th Ave., North, is open to the public.

"The Tennessee Democratic Party is here to elect Democrats and Tennessee will play a critical role in selecting the next Democratic nominee for President," Randy Button, State Party chairman said, referring to Tennessee's February Primary.

From the Wilmington Morning Star (NC):

U.S. Sen. John Edwards and his parents returned to his boyhood home Sunday for a day of memories and reunions to celebrate the Democratic presidential hopeful's 50th birthday.

Edwards, the North Carolina Democrat who became a successful attorney before rising to the U.S. Senate, walked around the small mill home his father Wallace and mother Bobbie rented for $35 a month when they worked in the area's textile industry a half-century ago.