In Iowa Field, Edwards Sees Only Senator Clinton

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/us/politics/06edwards.html?ex=1195016400&en=9328e7651f983f82&ei=5043&partner=EXCITE


Erik S. Lesser for The New York Times

John Edwards, campaigning Friday in Cheraw, S.C., is exhibiting a fresh ferocity in his second run at the White House.

By JEFF ZELENY
Published: November 6, 2007

IOWA CITY, Nov. 5 — A few minutes before John Edwards delivered a forceful closing argument to the voters who will help determine the fate of his presidential ambitions, he called upon a gentleman seated near a window in the library in downtown Charles City.

“If the American people understood what’s going on all over, there would be a revolution tomorrow morning,” exclaimed the man, who said he was a retired eastern Iowa farmer.

“I’m with you, brother!” Mr. Edwards replied, nodding in affirmation.

Seldom do presidential hopefuls suggest the time for a revolution is dawning, but Mr. Edwards is exhibiting a fresh ferocity in his second run at the White House. With 59 days until Iowa opens the nominating contest, Mr. Edwards is intensifying his criticism of Democrats, Republicans and a government he calls corrupt.

The charm and optimism that characterized his campaign in 2004 are now fused with an urgent tone of anger and aggression as he seeks to present himself as a leading alternative to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. These days, he does not leave a room before telling his audience why he believes she should not — and cannot — be elected president.

“If she remains a candidate of the status quo and part of a broken system, I think it would be extremely difficult to win,” Mr. Edwards said in an interview.

FULL story at link.

Edwards knows that if he wins Iowa then he has a shot at winning the nomination.

But if he fails to win in Iowa, his whole campaign will be in big trouble.

For Edwards it's all or nothing. By contrast, Obama still has his Senate career to fall back on.

Edwards knows he has to be the candidate who speaks for the angry and disenchanted. People who feel cheated and left behind. Not just over the past 7 years, but over the past 27 years.

The Clintons are all about "the spirit of '92" and "back to the future".

Edwards is speaking for those who want to see some big changes in Washington.

It's his duty to tell people why he is the best person for the job.

It's also his right to point to the other candidates' drawbacks and weaknesses.

Will "Talkin' bout a Revolution" be the new Edwards campaign song?? :eyes: