Edwards `more passionate' this time

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Edwards `more passionate' this time

Democrat Edwards Says He's `more Passionate' in This Race for the White House

MIKE GLOVER
AP News

Dec 04, 2007 18:32 EST

John Edwards says he's more seasoned in his second bid for the presidency — understanding what a candidate should and shouldn't do — yet more passionate at the same time about the causes that drive him.

In 2004, Edwards was relentlessly upbeat and insisted he wouldn't criticize his rivals, and that brought him a surprising second-place showing in Iowa and helped boost him onto the national ticket. This time, some view him as more confrontational.

"I am exactly the same person driven by exactly the same things," Edwards said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. But he pointed to at least one difference. "There is a depth and a seasoning that makes me stronger and more passionate," he said. "It means I am enjoying myself."

Edwards noted that most surveys showed him trailing badly only a few weeks before the caucuses in the last election cycle, and he predicted the same kind of big movement in the closing weeks this time.

"I don't think anyone thinks this is a two-person race," said Edwards, who is in a tight contest in Iowa with Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. "All you have to do is listen to caucus-goers at town hall meetings and it's obvious they think it is a three-person race and it's basically a dead heat between the three of us."

Edwards said he's learned from his previous campaign and "the key for me in the last month is the lesson of 2004. I've talked about what's wrong with Washington and now the key for me is to drive my positive vision for how we're going to fix it."

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