Now Showing in N.H.: Edwards Campaign Ads

Former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) is hitting the airwaves in New Hampshire, the most tangible sign yet that his campaign is seeking to change the perception that he is pinning his presidential hopes almost solely on success in Iowa.

After Edwards's surprisingly strong second-place showing in the 2004 Iowa caucuses, the idea has hardened that he is almost a full-time resident there. But in recent months, the Edwards campaign has pushed back hard against that idea, fearing that it sets up a scenario in which anything less than a win in Iowa would be seen as a devastating blow to his candidacy.

In the new ad, Edwards embraces a broad message of grass-roots change. "The strength of America is not just in the Oval Office; the strength of America is in this room right now," Edwards says. "It's the American people." His wife, Elizabeth, is also in the ad.

-- Chris Cillizza

Elizabeth Edwards, Ann Coulter Go at It

Elizabeth Edwards, ever her husband's most aggressive defender, called in to MSNBC's "Hardball" yesterday to admonish conservative commentator Ann Coulter for using the "language of hate" to attack John Edwards. Elizabeth Edwards asked Coulter -- who has compared the former senator to a gay man and has mused about his death in a terrorist attack -- to stop using personal attacks as part of her public routine, a request Coulter quickly rebuffed.

"I think we heard all we need to hear: The wife of a presidential candidate is asking me to stop speaking. No," Coulter snapped. She went on to accuse the former senator of using a "shyster Las Vegas routine in front of juries" in medical malpractice cases against doctors.

The exchange brought an uncomfortable silence to the crowd gathered on the outdoor set at Rockefeller Plaza. Host Chris Matthews finally intervened, asking Elizabeth Edwards to respond.

"That language is hate, and I'm going to ask you again to politely stop using personal attacks as part of your dialogue," she said.

"Okay, I'll stop writing books," Coulter said.

Elizabeth Edwards responded: "If you can't write them without them, then that's fine."