NASHUA, N.H. — For John Edwards to succeed in the New Hampshire primary, he will need to benefit from “the slingshot effect,” whereby a win in Iowa leads to quick success in the Granite State.

Mr. Edwards, who competed in Iowa as a presidential candidate in 2004 and has devoted the bulk of his time and resources to the Hawkeye State, trudged across snow banks and patches of ice here yesterday to capitalize on the possibility of a win in the caucuses. The former senator from North Carolina began his day going door-to-door meeting voters in a dense section of Nashua, then headed north to the towns of Laconia and Conway.

Despite New Hampshire voters being slower to warm to him than his main opponents, Senators Clinton and Obama, Mr. Edwards said he was hopeful about his chances in New Hampshire. The appearance drew a handful of television cameras and roughly a dozen local and national reporters.

“My strong sense is that people are still listening very carefully to the candidates to decide what they’re going to do here, which is a good thing,” Mr. Edwards told reporters in Nashua. “I think it’s a wide open race here in New Hampshire, and I’m excited about coming back here after the caucuses.”

While not as large as his opponents, Mr. Edwards’s field organization won praise from the candidate. “I think we have a top-rate operation,” he said. “We have good people. …Very effective. Very organized. I feel good about it.”

A lawyer, Helen Honorow, and a Nashua police commissioner, William Barry, led Mr. Edwards around their neighborhood of graceful urban homes. Mr. Barry, who backed Bill Clinton in 1992 and Vice President Gore in 2000, said Mr. Edwards’s status as a Southerner made him capable of winning a national election.

His wife, Ms. Honorow, added: “People have been smothered thinking there is a front-runner in this race.”

A former political consultant to Bill Bradley in 2000, Michael Goldman, said Mr. Edwards had to put in an appearance in New Hampshire prior to the caucuses. “There will be a slingshot effect. If he is successful on Thursday [the day of the caucuses], they’re going to be coming here right away to take advantage of it,” Mr. Goldman said, adding that he is partial to but not working for Mr. Edwards. “You’re trying to go back and forth to remind people he’s still in play.” He noted that just five days, far less than in previous elections, will separate the two early contests, shrinking the window for candidates to take advantage of an Iowa win.

A talk-show host on WCCMAM, Arnie Arnesen, said Mr. Edwards could profit by largely staying out of the sniping between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton. “No one’s offended by Edwards,” she said. “Nobody who’s supporting the others would be upset if Edwards won.”

Also yesterday, Mr. Edwards put up a new television ad in New Hampshire while his campaign exhorted his supporters in Massachusetts to come northward and help their candidate.