GIVE PEACE A CHANCE: He’s got plenty of competition, but John Edwards looks like the best Democratic bet to play anti-Hillary Clinton come 2008.

Edwards hadn’t discussed Iraq in his just-concluded stump speech, but he pointedly invited questions on the subject. Now — shirtsleeves rolled up, deeply tanned, looking less fresh-faced than he did during his 2004 vice-presidential run — the former North Carolina senator responds like a skillful fisherman reeling in his catch. First, he mentions his 2005 Washington Post op-ed renouncing his former support for the Iraq war. “The first sentence was, ‘I was wrong,’ ” Edwards says. “And I do believe I was wrong. I voted for the Iraq-war resolution; it was my responsibility, and I take responsibility for that.”

Then, so quickly and artfully that you almost don’t notice, Edwards shifts from confessional to attack mode. “I think one of the problems that we have with leaders in America today is that they’re unwilling to say when they’re wrong,” he continues. “The result is — you see it with this president every day — the result is, we stay on a course that’s devastating in America, and devastating in some cases for the world.”

This assessment fits the broader critique Edwards offered at every stop on his two-day Granite State junket last weekend: America has too many politicians (focus-grouped, poll-obsessed, expedient) and not enough leaders (principled, candid, sincere). Politically, this apology/attack is a three-fer. It lets Edwards trumpet his own political virtue. It distances him from his 2004 running mate, John Kerry, whose obstinate refusal to recant his own Iraq-war stance hurt his campaign. And it’s a clear dig at New York senator Hillary Clinton, the presumptive 2008 Democratic nominee, whose centrist take on Iraq (no fervent mea culpas, no fixed timetables for troop withdrawal) has pissed off a hefty chunk of the Democratic left. Not bad for a one-minute sound bite.

Get in line
There’s no telling how many anti-Hillarys the Democratic Party will see between now and 2008. Russ Feingold has already been nominated as Hillary’s foil; so have Al Gore and Mark Warner and Evan Bayh. Clearly, this is an imprecise science — but the underlying theory is sound: as the presidential campaign heats up, Democrats who worry that Hillary’s polarizing nature makes her unelectable will look for a more palatable alternative.

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Now it’s Edwards’s turn. “It’s official: John Edwards is the new anti-Hillary,” the New Republic (TNR) recently announced. Why Edwards? TNR stressed the pending Democratic plan to rejigger the 2008 primaries, with Nevada holding caucuses shortly after Iowa and a South Carolina primary following close on the heels of New Hampshire’s. After all, Edwards is popular in Iowa; he finished second in that state’s 2004 caucuses, and topped a June Des Moines Register presidential poll. (A July University of New Hampshire poll put Edwards second among Democrats, with 22 percent to Clinton’s 30 percent.) In Nevada, Edwards should be able to capitalize on his good relationship with several influential service-sector unions. And since Edwards was born in South Carolina — and represented the other Carolina in the Senate — he could hold his own there against Clinton, who’s expected to garner significant support from the state’s African-American voters. This schedule could decide the nomination by the end of January; according to TNR, it would also be “tailor-made to Edwards’s strengths.”

No argument here. But while the Democrats’ new and (allegedly) improved primary schedule would help, there are some other noteworthy factors — beyond his charisma and high name-recognition — that give Edwards an advantage over other would-be Hillary alternatives.

First off, he’s no longer a senator. This seems counterintuitive: after all, when people kibitzed about Edwards’s future back in ’04, one worry was that he might struggle to stay relevant. In fact, Edwards’s exit from Congress has been a blessing. Instead of hanging around Washington as a member of the minority party, fulminating against the Bush administration and casting doomed votes, Edwards has been free to bolster his résumé as he sees fit — and he’s made some smart choices.

Early in 2005, Edwards signed on as the director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity, a new think-tank based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During the 2004 primaries, Edwards’s facility with class-related issues stood out in the Democratic field; thanks to his UNC gig, he should be even more adroit with economic matters come 2008. What’s more, as Washington Post political blogger Chris Cillizza noted a few months back, Edwards has participated in union actions across the country (e.g., picketing with Teamsters head James Hoffa at the University of Miami and aiding the hotel/service union UNITE HERE’s national organizing drive); campaigned for Senator Ted Kennedy’s minimum-wage-hike bill; stumped in several states that will vote on minimum-wage ballot initiatives this fall; and wooed union leaders in private meetings. As a result, Edwards has an excellent chance of being organized labor’s favorite candidate during the 2008 presidential cycle.