Many of the residents seemed apathetic to the canvassers’ enthusiastic doorstep pitches. Though clearly at home, some residents did not even open the door.

“They’re indifferent, they’re not political dorks like Harvard kids,” said Head. The canvassers write ‘grouch’ next to the names of unreceptive residents.

The Edwards supporters say they have definitely seen an improvement in voters’ reactions to Edwards. “People now seem to have at least heard of him,” said Head. “When I first came up in October, people were like, ‘Who?’”

The voters who knew about Edwards’ platform did not seem to mind that he was a Southerner, a detail that may become important in a crowded Democratic field made up of mostly Northeasterners.

“It doesn’t make any difference,” said resident Elaire Perron, while his wife Pauline perused her copy of Edwards’ policy book, otherwise known as “the Plan.” “He’s from a similar background as us. This area used to be textile area before it moved south.”

The Perrons were unique of the residents visited. They were both watching CNN Headline News and seemed to know enough about the candidates to know that Dean’s positions had changed on some issues over the past couple of months.

They were leaning towards Edwards, they said, though they had initially planned to vote for Dean.

On another street, independent voter Eric Boucher agreed with the Perrons. Boucher, who said he “votes about the issues,” didn’t think Edwards’ roots would give him trouble in New Hampshire. “Maybe 20 years ago, it would matter that he’s a Southerner, but now, no.”

Though Boucher had not yet settled on a candidate, his five-year-old daughter Bayleigh didn’t deign to deliberate. When asked who she wanted for president, she pointed to her father.

The Edwards Enthusiasts

The sign over the entrance to the Manchester campaign headquarters asks, “What have you done today to elect John Edwards?”

The gentleman from North Carolina has attracted a dedicated group of staffers in this Northern capital.

Jonathan R. Menefee, 25, a field coordinator with the Manchester office, isn’t quite sure what to do once the election is over.

A native North Carolinian, he took a leave of absence from law school and drove cross-country from Sacremento to Edwards’ national headquarters in Raleigh last summer.

Headquarters sent him more than 500 miles north to New Hampshire to volunteer.