EDWARDS, OBAMA LAY OUT FINAL MESSAGES

John Edwards will take aim at both Senators Clinton and Obama in a retooled stump speech today in Iowa, after Mr. Obama laid out his closing argument to potential caucus-goers yesterday. “Nobody who takes their money and defends the broken system is going to bring change,” Mr. Edwards plans to say, in a swipe at Mrs. Clinton’s refusal to disavow Washington lobbyists.

But the former North Carolina senator will reserve his harshest comments for Mr. Obama, criticizing his message of unity and ridiculing his professorial tone. “Compromise and conciliation is the academic theory of change,” Mr. Edwards will say, according to excerpts released by his campaign. “It just doesn’t work in the real world. Fighting for conviction is the historic reality of change.”

Mr. Obama, a former professor of constitutional law, sharpened his own message of change in Des Moines, implicitly arguing against the confrontational tone adopted by Mr. Edwards and the legacy of partisanship that many voters associate with Mrs. Clinton. “It’s change that won’t just come from more anger at Washington or turning up the heat on Republicans,” Mr. Obama said. “There’s no shortage of anger and bluster and bitter partisanship out there. We don’t need more heat. We need more light.”

CLINTON BUYS TWO MINUTES ON TV FOR CAUCUS EVE APPEAL

While Messrs. Obama and Edwards trot out new speeches a week before the caucuses, Mrs. Clinton announced she would buy two minutes of airtime on local Iowa stations on January 2, the night before the election.

Her campaign said the extended ad would run during the 6 p.m. newscasts and give her one last shot at reaching a statewide audience with her closing argument. Typical television ads run 30 or 60 seconds.

BLOOMBERG’S COALITION BUYS ADS IN IOWA AND NEW HAMPSHIRE

Mayor Bloomberg may not be a presidential candidate yet, but that doesn’t mean he’s sitting out the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the bipartisan coalition of more than 250 American mayors co-chaired by Mr. Bloomberg and Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston, took out full-page ads in yesterday’s Des Moines Register and New Hampshire Union Leader urging voters to check candidates’ positions on gun control before voting in the primaries. “Every day, 30 Americans are murdered with guns — that’s a Virginia Tech-sized tragedy occurring every single day in our country,” the ad reads. “We want to know: Where do the candidates stand on illegal guns?”

Mr. Bloomberg, a strong supporter of gun control, has asked every major candidate to fill out a 16-question survey detailing their views on a variety of gun policies, including whether to screen gun buyers for mental illness or allow gun show dealers to sell firearms without a background check.

The coalition will then make public their responses, due January 2nd, on its Web site. “Illegal guns are too important an issue to ignore, ” Mr. Bloomberg said yesterday in a statement.

POLL SHOWS TIGHT RACE IN IOWA, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Senator Clinton holds a slight edge over Senator Obama in Iowa but has fallen into a statistical tie for the lead in New Hampshire, a new Los Angeles Times / Bloomberg News poll shows. Mrs. Clinton had 29% support among Democrats in Iowa to Mr. Obama’s 26%, with John Edwards at 25%, according to the survey.

But when the sampling group was narrowed to likely caucus-goers, Mrs. Clinton’s percentage rose to 31% while Mr. Obama’s fell to 22%. Mr. Edwards held steady at 25%, reflecting his higher level of support among Iowans who are veterans of the complicated caucus process.

In New Hampshire, Mr. Obama had 32% to Mrs. Clinton’s 30%, a gap that fell within the poll’s margin of error. Still, the Illinois senator has erased a double-digit lead for Mrs. Clinton since September. On the Republican side, Michael Huckabee maintained a comfortable lead over Mitt Romney in Iowa, while Mr. Romney holds a 13-point lead in New Hampshire over Senator McCain, who has leapt over Mayor Giuliani into second place there.

FOUR CABINET PRESS NEWSPAPERS BACK CLINTON

The Cabinet Press, which includes four weekly newspapers with a circulation of 31,000 in New Hampshire, yesterday threw its backing behind Senator Clinton for president.