Kim and I got up early. I mean real early. It was 2 AM when the alarm went off and we started our last minute scramble to get out the door. Destination: Manchester, NH, to welcome Sen. Edwards after his strong showing in Iowa and to prepare for the final days of campaigning before the New Hampshire primary. Fiona woke up and came down stairs, all ready to go.

It was cold and dark as we drove up. At times, the dashboard read as low as three degrees. Fiona fell asleep in the back seat, and I rested as much as I could in the passengers seat. In our rush to get out the door, we accidently left the directions back in Connecticut. We used Google Mobile to get us close, but then drove around in circles for a while in Manchester trying to find the rally.

Kim was wearing a Healthcare Voter T-Shirt she had gotten from some SEIU members at a rally the last time she was up here canvasing in New Hampshire. One of the organizers saw it and asked Kim and Fiona to get up on the stage to stand behind Sen. Edwards.

As we waited, various staffers lead the crowd in various cheers. Fiona spoke with one of them and got to lead a cheer for the whole crowd. The staffer helping her with this was wonderful, and everyone seemed to have a great time. Afterwards, Fiona spoke with various members of the press talking about how she was six years old, had gotten up at 2:30 to come up from Connecticut and about how much she likes Sen. Edwards.

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Afterwards, we headed out to breakfast and Kim explained how lucky she was to get to be on the stage with Sen. Edwards and to lead people in cheers for him.

Check the video below to see the lead up to the cheer and Blip.TV for more videos from the event. I'll put them up on YouTube when I get a chance as well. Also, check out some of the pictures I took and posted on Flickr.

There are a lot of people up here pumped up for four exciting days of campaigning. If you can make it to New Hampshire, please come!