Edwards pushes populist pitch

DEMOCRATIC presidential hopeful John Edwards implored New Hampshire voters yesterday to repudiate the Iowa caucus results and vote for a candidate “who will fight for the middle class” against corporate interests that he accuses of moving jobs overseas and making healthcare expensive.

Mr Edwards, who narrowly edged out Hillary Clinton for second place behind winner Barack Obama in Iowa, said New Hampshire voters “now have two choices”, implying Ms Clinton is out of the running. Without naming his rivals, Mr Edwards suggested he would wage a populist agenda more energetically than would Mr Obama as he addressed around 300 campaign workers and supporters at a dawn rally in Manchester.

Mr Edwards and his advisers saw Iowa’s results as a call for political change in America after two terms under President Bush. Their goal is to focus the choice between Mr Edwards and Mr Obama, and then portray Mr Obama as too tepid and conciliatory.

The key question, he said, is “are we willing to fight the corporate greed that has an iron-fisted grip on our democracy?”

New Hampshire’s primary on Tuesday is crucial to Mr Edwards’ and Ms Clinton’s hopes of slowing Mr Obama’s momentum. Mr Edwards’ challenge is especially tough because he has less money than the other two.

The former North Carolina senator tried to negate that disadvantage yesterday. “We’re not going to have an auction,” he said, “we’re going to have an election in four days.”

Saying he had faced two well-funded “celebrity candidates” in Iowa, Mr Edwards said he is not the candidate of money, glitz or glamour, but rather “the people’s candidate”.

Mr Edwards stuck with populist themes and also embraced a new metaphor suggested by his wife.

“We are Seabiscuit,” he said, referring to the famous race horse that beat the odds.