BEDFORD – Barack Obama yesterday said good judgment, not just experience, is key to being a good commander-in-chief, downplaying criticism from other Democratic candidates that he is not ready to be President.

"I love when people criticize me about my foreign policy experience when they got either snowed into or intimidated into supporting the biggest foreign policy disaster in a generation, and I'm thinking well what good was your experience if you showed such poor judgment?" Obama said at a house party in Bedford.

Obama said he is confident he can lead the country and also confident that he could produce results as President, moving past the partisan bickering that he said has made politics petty and trivial.

Government is not the solution to everything, Obama said, but that does not mean it can not be effective. Americans, he said, should believe they can solve their problems, ticking off issues like health care, education, energy and the environment.

"When I talk about that sometimes people, especially the Washington press corps, roll their eyes and say, Ah, he's so naive. He's talking about hope again. He's a hope-monger. He's a hope peddler,'" Obama said. "But you know what, I stand guilty as charged. I am hopeful and I am optimistic."

On health care, Obama said the country should invest in new medical technology and programs that prevent illness. By the end of his first term, Obama said universal health care would be a reality.

As for education, Obama said teachers across the board should earn higher salaries and be given more flexibility and better tools to measure the growth of their students.

Obama offered a bleak assessment of the war in Iraq. "Let's face it, there are no good options in Iraq at this point," Obama said. "I talked about it in the debate yesterday. There are bad options and worse options. It will be messy, which is why I thought it was a bad idea to go in in the first place."

Many voters at the Bedford house party yesterday agreed with Obama on the importance of good judgment. "I like his focus on judgment rather than experience," said Eric Soederberg, a Bedford resident.

Sarah Murai, who recently moved to New Hampshire from California, said the Illinois senator's lack of experience was actually a good thing. "I think that's maybe a plus just like he was saying," she said, adding that Obama is "someone with fresh ideas who is not already contaminated by Washington."

Obama's message also is apparently wooing some moderate Republican voters.

Bob Warren of Bedford said he is not a supporter of any one Republican candidate and is leaning toward voting for Obama.

But Warren, who said he's been disappointed by politicians in the past, is not as hopeful about the next presidency as Obama is. "I want to believe what he says," Warren said. "I want to believe he can accomplish what he says he can accomplish."

The Bedford stop was one of many throughout the day including events in throughout the southern New Hampshire area. In Salem, Obama was questioned by another Republican giving his candidacy a second look.

"How much can you really get done even if you get elected?" said Wayne Deluca, a Salem Republican. "We've heard all the big problems and ideas but getting them done has been a huge stumbling block."

Later, Deluca, said he would feel more comfortable with Obama gaining more experience as a vice president, before staking his own claim to the White House.

"I don't like any of the Republicans. That's the troubling part," he said.

Union Leader Correspondent Jim Devine contributed to this report.