Edwards remains the same while rivals change tune

CONCORD, N.H. – John Edwards has a simple philosophy when it comes to fine-tuning his message for New Hampshire: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Edwards regaled a crowd of more than 200 this morning with indictments of corporate greed and lobbyists' grip on Washington D.C., along with pledges to fight for universal health care, fairer trade deals and an end to the Iraq war. He proclaimed himself the underdog in Tuesday's primary, but added "the real underdog in America is the middle-class, the low-income families in America who are struggling just to survive."
It's essentially the same pitch Edwards gave Iowans in the weeks leading up to his second-place finish in the Jan. 3 caucus (won by Sen. Barack Obama), and it's very similar to the language he employed on an early-fall swing through New Hampshire. And it stands in contrast to several other candidates touring the state this weekend, who have retooled their messages to appeal to New Hampshire's independent-minded voters and to incorporate lessons from the Iowa results.
Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton is delivering a New Hampshire stump speech that warns of sharp contrasts with Obama, and which Boston Globe article this morning called "remarkable for the number of new elements introduced in it." Republican Mitt Romney has re-branded himself a man of "change," and GOP rival Mike Huckabee has toned down his religious references and upped his tax talk.

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