Still, the centrist drift of Bill Clinton's presidency, with its emphasis on reining in welfare and helping the middle class, has left many activists and liberals hungry for a return to the party's traditional commitment to the disadvantaged.
"That appeals to Iowa Democrats," said former state party Chairman Gordon Fischer, who is not affiliated with any candidate. "It's the kind of throwback that appeals to traditional Democratic values."
But Edwards' focus on the disenfranchised has also left him open to allegations of hypocrisy. Wealthy from his career as a lawyer, Edwards has been pummeled by reports that he spent $400 for haircuts, built himself a 28,000-square-foot mansion on a 100-acre estate, and did consulting work for a hedge fund that trafficked in offshore investing of the sort he had criticized.
"It has hurt him, and I say that as someone who admires and respects John Edwards a tremendous amount," said Fischer.
Edwards says being well-off does not disqualify him from being an effective advocate for the have-nots of the world. He points to his modest roots.
"I haven't forgotten where I came from," he said in the phone interview. "I came from nothing and have been successful. Most people think that's a good thing."
Edwards' up-by-the-bootstraps life story was a central part of his campaign for the presidency in 2004, as well as of stump speeches after he was named Sen. John F. Kerry's running mate. The son of a millworker, Edwards grew up in a tiny North Carolina town and was the first in his family to go to college. He went on to law school and in time made millions, largely by representing plaintiffs in lawsuits against big companies.
His 2004 campaign had an element of populism, with its critique of "two Americas," one for the rich and the other for ordinary people. But his tone was more cautious than today, and his image was one of a Southern centrist.
In the years after he and Kerry lost the 2004 election, Edwards has labored to establish himself as a champion of the disenfranchised. He established a research center on poverty at the University of North Carolina, which gave him a platform for speaking to important Democratic constituencies around the country.
"The poverty center was a significant piece of infrastructure that kept him in the national dialogue," said Ferrel Guillory, an expert on Southern politics at the University of North Carolina.
