John Edwards

The coverage of Elizabeth Edwards' week-old book and her promotional tour leaves us with two competing portraits. Is she (a) the valiant victim finally having her say for those who don't have a voice? Or (b) the unlikely opportunist, exacting revenge against her wayward husband and dragging her family back into the muck? Over two presidential campaigns and a public battle with cancer, John Edwards' wife mostly benefited from the media's predilection for a single narrative.

The top three Democratic presidential candidates have begun focusing intensely on becoming the second choice among supporters of less-popular candidates such as Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, in a behind-the-scenes battle that could decide the outcome of Thursday's Iowa caucuses.

In the dead of night, John Edwards was driven down an unpaved road to a rustic farmhouse in this tundra-like patch of western Iowa. Several dozen supporters gathered after midnight to greet the presidential candidate as he barnstormed the state before Iowa holds its first-in-the-nation caucuses today. "We are moving. We have momentum!" he said.

John Edwards launched a new television spot and a final, marathon bus tour through this state Sunday, acknowledging he was the underdog but insisting he would not give up a Democratic presidential contest that increasingly centered on Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

No letup in the last hours After Iowa, change is in the air in New Hampshire. In the Democratic primary, Barack Obama's emphasis on change has suddenly made him the candidate to beat. On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee has a tall order in replicating his win, but this has forced Mitt Romney to alter his tactics and helped revive John McCain's chances.

While John Edwards sought to put a positive spin on his third-place finish in Tuesday's New Hampshire Democratic primary, his failure to stay close to rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama raised doubts about whether his campaign could mount a credible challenge going into the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday caucuses and primaries. "Two races down, 48 states left to go," Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, told supporters after the polls closed.

Presidential hopeful John Edwards, speaking in a sunny brick courtyard Wednesday at the college he once attended, basked in the sweet air and the attention from nearly a thousand people at a noon rally at Clemson University. "Man, I can tell I'm back in the South," he said before he was interrupted by cheers. "And it feels good." Just how long that feeling will last is uncertain. South Carolina's Democratic primary will be held Jan. 26.

With California playing a meaningful role in the presidential race for the first time in decades, all three major Democratic candidates hit the campaign trail here Thursday, with talk of pocketbook issues in the face of a weakening economy. As the Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 300 points, Hillary Rodham Clinton laid out a plan to help struggling communities, Barack Obama spoke of revitalizing the economy and John Edwards condemned cuts to the California budget.

Shelby King is a fan of Barack Obama. She admires his charisma and passion and believes he could unite the country as president. On Saturday, however, King plans to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton in South Carolina's Democratic primary. "She's got the experience," said King, 61, a real estate agent in Columbia, the state capital. "She's tough. She's bright. I'm a female of her era, and I know how hard it's been to get to where she's gotten." Edward Pair also likes Obama.