Two weeks before the Iowa presidential caucuses, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards still shows remarkable restraint, compared to his fellow Democratic candidates, in remarks about former Gov. Howard Dean, the front-runner in most polls.

In a debate Sunday night in Johnston, Iowa, Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut harshly criticized Dean for his angry style and for his credentials. Edwards, however, went easy on Dean, and even received an apology from him.

Many political observers think that Edwards may be resigned to Dean winning the nomination, and that Edwards is pursuing the party’s vice presidential nomination. The Quad City Times reported that Edwards, at a New Year’s Eve stop in Davenport, made remarks similar to Dean’s, about the entrenchment of Washington politicians and their lack of willingness “to change America.”

“Do you think somebody who’s been in Washington, D.C., for the last two or three decades, do you think they’re going to change things?” said Edwards, who often emphasizes his short senatorial career. The newspaper reported that Edwards declined to mention any names and that he would “let others draw their own conclusions who I’m referring to.”

“The remarks are similar to what Howard Dean…has been saying in directly criticizing longtime legislators [Gephardt] and [Kerry], his main rivals in Iowa,” the Times said.

Conversely, those contenders and others hammered Dean in the debate. Lieberman, who is skipping the Iowa caucuses, challenged Dean on past remarks, made more than once, that the United States isn’t safer since the capture of Saddam Hussein. Kerry questioned Dean’s statement that he couldn’t prejudge Osama bin Laden’s guilt for the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

“What in the world were you thinking?” Kerry asked Dean in the debate.

Gephardt, considered Dean’s strongest competition in Iowa, chided him for his support of Republicans in 1995 on reducing Medicare growth.

In contrast, Edwards was less critical in his observations about Dean’s opposition to middle-class tax cuts and his pandering to religious Southerners. But Edwards, who at times has refrained from criticizing other candidates, rebuked Gephardt because he falsely said Edwards voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement. The agreement was passed before Edwards was elected to the Senate.

The Des Moines Register on Monday suggested that Edwards gained the most from the debate. The newspaper interviewed several undecided Iowa voters after the debate.

“The winner of the debate, I think, was John Edwards,” said Marcia Miles of Des Moines. She said she thought Wesley Clark, the only other Southerner seeking the Democratic nomination, was the loser “for not being there.” Clark is not competing in Iowa.

Another undecided voter, Joan Bealer of Hampton, told the Register, “I was very impressed with Edwards.”

But Edwards is still perceived by many as a better fit for the vice-presidential nomination. Charlotte Eby, political columnist for the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier, wrote Monday that Edwards “hasn’t stoked the passion of a large share of Democrats here, despite a good campaign organization and a positive reception.”

“If Edwards can pull out a decent number of delegates,” Eby wrote, “especially in rural areas, he could be in good shape for a vice-presidential spot on the ticket.”

Fueling speculation of a future pairing with Edwards, Dean offered him an olive branch in the debate. Des Moines Register Editor Paul Anger, the moderator, asked each of the candidates to own up to a past mistake, and explain what they learned from it. Dean referred to his candidness, which is often the cause for others’ criticism of him.

“One of the mistakes I’ve made was in this campaign, when I accused John Edwards of having said one thing to the California state convention and something else to his position,” Dean said. “I was wrong about that. I wrote him a letter of apology, and I apologize again today.”

“Thank you, Howard,” Edwards said.

Paul Chesser is associate editor of Carolina Journal. Contact him at [email protected].