Edwards Seeks the Issue to Win Iowa

The Edwards camp, hoping one of the front-runners will falter -- and hoping to contribute to the fall -- was quietly pleased when the Clinton and Obama camps began sniping last month. Supporters also took heart from a recent CNN poll that showed Edwards as the only Democrat currently seen as beating each of the Republicans in November 2008.

On the plus side of Edwards's election equation are the likes of Doug Bishop, laid off at the Maytag factory in Newton, east of Des Moines. He knew he would support Edwards from the moment several years ago when Edwards dropped to one knee, looked Bishop's 7-year-old son in the eye and said, "I'm going to keep fighting for your dad's job."

Now the elected Jasper County treasurer, Bishop is predicting that in the last two weeks before the caucuses, Edwards is "going to float straight to the top."

The Edwards campaign is banking on the turnout of experienced and committed caucus participants, many of whom backed Edwards in 2004 and have stuck with him. Max Tipton, a United Auto Workers representative for 35 years, likes Edwards's biography and sees him as the candidate who will best protect pensions.

The day after Maytag shut its Newton plant on Oct. 26, Edwards showed up to rally the workers. Edwards won Jasper County in 2004, but even Tipton acknowledged that Democratic support is splintered. He sees it on Saturday mornings during breakfast with four friends.

"We've got an Obama, we've got a Hillary, and the other two I'm not sure," said Tipton as he headed out to speak for Edwards at a potluck supper for UAW retirees. "This is the first time I can recall when we're on different sides."

After Obama's Oprah Winfrey bounce and as Clinton barnstorms the state aboard a helicopter, Edwards backers are trying to build some buzz of their own. In Des Moines, they brought aboard Culver, a lawyer who taped a valuable commercial for her husband, Gov. Chet Culver, in 2006 and showcased Edwards's wife, Elizabeth.

To win, Edwards must persuade fence-sitters like Marilyn Heaps-Nelson Bull, 61, a retired physical therapist. Not keen on Obama or Clinton, she listened and hoped to commit, but found Edwards overly pugnacious.

"I'm not angry. I'm not against corporate America. My kids work for Intel," Bull said. "I'd be interested to see if the other candidates have a little more willingness to work together."