Tales from the Trail: Edwards in Bedford

A tale from the trail from assistant Brian Lawson. His blog is here.

BEDFORD, N.H. -- Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards spent Sunday rolling-out his health care policy.

Speaking at a specialized assistant living center for people with memory problems, Edwards discussed his proposal for universal health care coverage and the need to change the system in Washington.

"Changing the health care system will require us to stand-up to those who don't want to see the system change," Edwards told a crowd of 75 people at Arbors of Bedford.

Discussing the healthcare system, the Democratic presidential contender said people should speak-up and "not to stand quietly bye."

"It's just not sad, it's wrong."

When asked what the difference is between his plan and those purposed by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, Edwards said that his plan is mandatory while Obama's is not and the Clinton plan is "a copy".

"To be blunt about it, my plan came out in February and her plan came out in September. It's pretty close to being a copy," he said.

Edwards went on to criticize Clinton for accepting money from lobbyists representing drug companies and said "she's actually taken more money from lobbyists than any other candidate."

"I don't want a lobbyist deciding what kind of universal health care coverage we have in this country. I think we need to take their power away from them, instead of compromising and negotiation with them," Edwards added.

Edwards concluded the event by telling the crowd that New Hampshire voters are "the guardians of the type of president we have."