Overflow Crowd Greets Edwards' Tour

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards smiles after announcing his candidacy for president in the backyard of a house in an area affected by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans Thursday, Dec. 28, 2006. Edwards, part of the pack of a half dozen or more Democrats who hope to break through the hype about front runners Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., during the next year to win the nomination. These second-tier candidates may look more like the presidents who have previously occupied the Oval Office, but know they will have to run a new kind of campaign to get there in 2008.(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (Charles Dharapak - AP)

"I wish I knew the right answer," he said after one audience member booed.

But laughter greeted his exchange with an elderly woman who implored him to do more to help her fellow senior citizens.

After describing her frustration about getting a small pay raise only to face an increase in her rent, Edwards inquired whether he could ask her a question.

"Are you going to ask my age?" she said.

"I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid," he said. "Are you going to help make me president so I can do these things?"

"I will help you, honey," she said.

Besides, Edwards, only Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich have formally announced they were seeking the Democratic nomination.

Other potential candidates include New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, ret. Gen. Wesley Clark, and Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware, Chris Dodd of Connecticut, and John Kerry of Massachusetts, the 2004 nominee. Former Vice President Al Gore has said he has no plans to enter the race, but he has been careful not to completely rule out a bid.

Likely to face a larger field of competitors, Edwards is offering a new message focused on universal health care, poverty, energy and global warming. He continued to apologize for his vote to use force in Iraq, but New Hampshire Republicans weren't ready to let him off the hook.

State GOP Chairman Wayne Semprini seized on that vote to claim Edwards has a record of saying one thing and doing another.

"John Edwards likes to talk of two Americas, but in reality there is only one America but two John Edwardses," he said Thursday. "I think trust will be a real issue for John Edwards; he has his work cut out for him here in New Hampshire."