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Rising Edwards Eases Criticism Of Rivals

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By JIM KUHNHENN, The Associated Press

Published: December 15, 2007

IOWA CITY, Iowa - At a key moment during a labor-sponsored debate in August, John Edwards laid down a marker against Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"The one thing you can count on is you will never see a picture of me on the front of Fortune magazine saying I am the candidate that big, corporate America is betting on," he said, an unmistakable reference to a cover story about Clinton with the headline "Business Loves Hillary! (Who Knew?)"

On his current bus tour of Iowa, with the caucuses only three weeks away, Edwards rarely mentions his rivals. His campaign thinks he hardly needs to because he spent months branding them - Clinton as the corporate Democrat, Barack Obama as the callow compromiser who would negotiate with special interests.

On the campaign trail, his antagonists now are the corporations and special interests themselves. The Clinton and Obama references are merely implied, hidden in a populist message he calls "America Rising." For the former trial lawyer, it's a closing argument to break away from a virtual three-way tie in Iowa and rise above the fray engulfing his main opponents.

"The reason we don't have universal health care is the insurance companies, drug companies and their lobbyists in Washington," he said in Grinnell, Iowa, this week, repeating a line in his standard speech.

The unspoken message: Clinton tried to overhaul health care as first lady and failed; Clinton accepts political contributions from lobbyists.

"Some people suggest, 'Oh, we'll be able to sit at the table with drug companies and oil companies and they're going to give their power away'? Right," he said sarcastically at another point. "It will never happen. I'll tell you when they'll lose their power, when we take it away from them."

That's the unmentioned Obama. The message? He's too accommodating.

Asked why Clinton and Obama critical lines are now missing from his repertoire, Edwards said: "My focus for these last few weeks is on a positive agenda. That's what 'America Rising' is all about."

Not being Clinton seems to be enough for some Iowans.

"She changes her opinions from one day to the next," said Ellen Ballas, a college project coordinator who caucused for Howard Dean in 2004. She will caucus for Edwards this time.

"Since he began his campaign he has been concise in calling out the neocons and calling Hillary a corporate Democrat, which is exactly what she is. I think we're going to get more of the same from her as we did with Bush."

Public and internal polls show Edwards has the biggest support from the most reliable caucus-goers - those who have attended the caucuses before. A CNN poll this week showed he's the Democrat who can most soundly beat any of the leading Republican candidates.

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