John Edwards turns on his fellow Democrats

A couple of weeks later, Edwards sent an open letter to Obama, asking him to join in calling for the Democratic Party to ban all lobbyist contributions to any federal candidate or committee, a clear ploy designed to tarnish Obama's appeal as a reformer. (Edwards' proposal would still allow political donations from corporate executives and trial lawyers, a major source of funds for the Edwards campaign.) Obama, who has already announced that he will not personally accept lobbyist money, declined Edwards' invitation, choosing instead to invite Edwards to endorse his plans for campaign finance reform. Edwards responded on Aug. 20 with a second letter, which clearly grouped Clinton and Obama together as opponents of "bold change." Wrote Edwards, "We need to put an end to the money game altogether."

Behind the scenes, Edwards' advisors continued to highlight the differences in the Democratic field. Trippi claimed the other presidential campaigns opposed banning lobbyist contributions because they did not want to upset Democratic leaders like New York Sen. Charles Schumer, who is in charge of fundraising for the party's Senate candidates, a task that depends heavily on lobbyist contributions. "We are talking about really ticking off some of the Democratic Party establishment," Trippi said. "The tougher step is to say if it's good enough me and it's good enough for Barack Obama, [why] isn't it good enough for the Democratic Party?" Trippi said he believed Obama was not working to ban all lobbyist money because "he has to walk into the Senate cloakroom."

David "Mudcat" Saunders, a Virginia-based political consultant who is working as Edwards' national rural liaison, was even more direct in criticizing the other two major Democratic candidates. Saunders doubted whether Clinton was electable in many parts of the country. "I mean, we are going to lose blue states," he said, speculating on what would happen in November 2008 were Clinton to get the nomination. As for Obama, Saunders thought the Illinois senator had yet to establish his goals in concrete terms. "Obama hasn't said enough," Saunders insisted. "He's for hope. I'm for hope. You can quote me on that. That's all I know about Obama."

The Edwards strategy of using campaign finance issues to draw distinctions with Clinton and Obama has been employed with mixed success in the past. "Ross Perot did it in 1992," says Democracy 21's Fred Wertheimer, Washington's premier lobbyist working to reduce the influence of money in politics. "In 2000, it was kind of the organizing theme of McCain's campaign." This year, with congressional corruption still fresh in the minds of many voters, the stage is set for another money-in-politics-themed campaign. A Gallup poll released Wednesday showed that three in four Americans believe it is unacceptable for "Washington lobbyists" to give money to federal campaigns. (On the other hand, public financing of campaigns, which is supported by Edwards, Obama and Clinton, was unacceptable to nearly three in five.)

So far, both the Clinton and Obama campaigns have mostly avoided engaging Edwards' new critique of his fellow Democrats. The Obama campaign provided Salon with a statement disputing Edwards' claim to the issue of corporate influence. "Obama has done more to curb lobbyists' influence than anyone else in this race and has the furthest reaching plan to fundamentally reform government and shut the revolving door between the White House and K Street," wrote Jen Psaki, an Obama spokeswoman, in an e-mail. Clinton's advisors dismissed Edwards' speech by issuing talking points to the media that read, "Angry attacks on other Democrats won't improve Senator Edwards' flagging campaign."

Edwards, meanwhile, has tried to shoot down reports that his retooled stump speech is a direct attack on other Democrats. "Nothing I said yesterday has to do with other presidential candidates," he told reporters the day after the Hanover speech. Of course, he followed that statement with yet another attack on his rivals. "They need to move on from thinking about themselves and think about what's important to the country."

No doubt such sniping will soon become a standard feature of the Democratic contest. Edwards' rejiggered strategy was debuted during the hot days of August, when America vacations and teen beauty queens dominate the news cycle. The race -- and the rhetoric -- have really just begun. "There has been a campaign going on," explained Saunders. "But right now the rubber is hitting the road. It's Labor Day."

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