Dan Murphy, 50, an Democrat and a sixth-grade teacher from Iowa, is in the market for a presidential candidate.

In a community college conference room on a sunny Saturday in Ottumwa, Ia., he’s here to hear John Edwards’ pitch.

He likes Sen. Barack Obama but says the Illinois freshman “hasn’t been around long enough.”

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton?

“Too much of a Washington politician.”

Edwards, though, “is pretty down to earth and knows what’s going on with people at my income level.”

Murphy’s assessment of the man in faded jeans, blue shirt and yellow “Livestrong” wristband is exactly what John Edwards hopes to achieve in his second presidential run.

This time, the 2004 V.P. nominee has a refined message, framing the 2008 election as a struggle that pitting the political and corporate elite against regular people who just want to make a decent living, afford health care for their family and end the Iraq war.

John Edwards, who made millions as a personal-injury lawyer taking on big business, tells audiences he understands that they feel squeezed because they “pay more for everything… but their pay is not going up.”

The challenge is to convince voters in primaries and caucuses that he is a populist who would put their interests above those of big corporations and big government. He must prove that message will triumph over the personal and political appeal of Clinton and Obama.

Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University, says Edwards’ themes remind him of the us-vs.-them populism of the 1960s.

It’s a message that hasn’t worked since then on a national level except for Jimmy Carter in 1976, notes Martin Kaplan, a professor at the University of Southern California.

“Carter campaigned as a man of the people. He stayed in people’s homes instead of hotels and carried his own luggage,” he said.

Al Gore’s “people vs. the powerful” theme in 2000 didn’t become a national rallying cry. Dick Gephardt’s populist idea that employers be required to provide insurance for health care didn’t win him the 2004 nomination.

Or even better than fourth place in the Iowa caucuses.

“It’s one thing to talk about how individuals and their families are supposed to have equality and opportunity, but most people don’t think of themselves as poor. Most people think of themselves as trying really hard,” Goldford said.

He doubts that populism will work now for Edwards.

“There’s a danger for him. By crafting his message for caucus and primary voters, [Edwards] could be undercutting the reasons for moderates and independents to support him.”

David Rohde, a political science professor at Duke University, says the time might be right for a resurgence of populism.

“What would make it even more plausible,” he says, “is if the economy went into a tailspin. The appeal of populism is class-based, on behalf of the people at the bottom of the economic spectrum when economic power is divided very unevenly.”

John Edwards welcomes the label.

“If the word populist means that I stand with ordinary Americans against powerful interests, the answer’s yes, but that phrase is sometimes used in an old, backward-looking way,” he says in an interview with USA Today.

His brand of populism is “very forward-looking,” based on big ideas that will help all Americans, he says.

Edwards’ new house in North Carolina has become a symbol of what some see as a contradiction between his image and the way he conducts his life. The challenge is making sure that doesn’t negate his populism.

Aerial photos of the 102-acre estate show a 28,000-square-foot home worth about $4 million and includes a recreation building with basketball and squash courts and swimming pool.

“What would Jesus do with John Edwards’ mansion?” asked Brit Hume on his Fox News blog, citing a comment Edwards made in an interview this month on a religious website.

“I think that Jesus would be disappointed in our ignoring the plight of those around us who are suffering and focus on our own selfish short-term needs,” Edwards told Beliefnet.com.

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