Edwards stays on attack

The Democratic hopeful stresses his differences with Clinton on Iraq, insider Washington

John Edwards drew sharp lines between himself and Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday, saying he was the Democrat who most represents change when it comes to both the war in Iraq and corporate influence in Washington.

Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Edwards underscored his recent criticism of Clinton, portraying the New York senator as part of the entrenched Washington establishment.

"I believe we cannot replace a group of corporate Republicans with a group of corporate Democrats," Edwards said from Davenport, Iowa, where he is in the middle of a four-day, 17-county tour of the key caucus state.

Edwards has criticized Clinton in recent weeks for accepting contributions from Washington lobbyists and for her unwillingness to participate in the presidential public financing system.

Edwards, the former North Carolina senator, also sought to contrast his position on American involvement in Iraq with Clinton's.

Edwards said although he would withdraw combat forces from Iraq, he would keep a small number of troops there to protect the U.S. Embassy and would maintain "quick reaction forces" in nearby Kuwait.

He said Clinton would maintain U.S. troops in Iraq to engage in combat missions to fight terrorism.

"There are some real differences between myself and Sen. Clinton on this issue," Edwards said. "I am not for maintaining combat troops inside Iraq. They will have a target on their forehead while they are there. It continues the perception that America is occupying Iraq."

Edwards said he would offer the clearest choice in next fall's elections.

"I want to be able to say next fall, when I'm the Democratic nominee, and I'm standing with the Republican candidate, that Americans have a very clear choice," Edwards said. "They can choose a Republican who wants to continue the war or a Democrat who wants to end the war. We can't be just a little bit better than them."

On other subjects, Edwards:

DENIED THAT HE HAD TRANSFORMED HIMSELF since the last presidential election from a happy-faced centrist to a sharp-edged anti-war liberal. Edwards said his core values have not changed but that America has changed since the situation in Iraq has worsened.

DENIED THAT HE WAS BEING INCONSISTENT when he went to work as an adviser for Fortress Investment Group, which operates the type of off-shore hedge fund he has criticized. Edwards said he was the first candidate to propose to eliminate tax breaks for hedge fund managers. He said he had ended any hedge fund investments involved in home foreclosures. He said he should be judged on his entire lifetime of work, not just one position.

SAID HE WOULD BE THE STRONGEST Democratic candidate in the fall because he proved that he could win in "red" states when North Carolina voters elected him to the Senate in 1998.

SAID HE WAS NOT BOTHERED by the fact that Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama have significantly outspent him. "This is going to be an election," he said. "This is not going to be an auction."