Edwards Questions Clinton's Sincerity on Iran Vote

HUDSON, N.H. — John Edwards has spent two weeks questioning Senator Clinton's judgment in voting to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. Yesterday, he questioned her sincerity.

Last month, Mrs. Clinton was one of 75 senators who voted for a resolution giving the president the authority to call the guards terrorists. She has characterized the vote as a way to gain leverage for American negotiations with Iran, but some of her rivals, including Mr. Edwards and Senator Obama, argue it amounted to giving President Bush another blank check to go to war.

At several stops yesterday, Mr. Edwards referred to a New York Times column in which unidentified Clinton supporters say she voted for the resolution in part because she already has shifted from "primary mode," when she must appeal to liberals, to "general election" mode, when she must find broader support.

"I may have missed something — and you can tell me — have we already had the New Hampshire primary? Have we decided who's going to win the New Hampshire primary yet? I think we're going to actually have a campaign and an election," Mr. Edwards said at a town hall meeting in a school cafeteria.

"Instead of moving from primary mode to general election mode, why don't we have tell-the-truth mode, all the time, and not say something different one time than we say another time?" he said.