John Edward’s memory of his second-place finish to John Kerry four years ago is vivid in his mind because had the campaign lasted a few more days….. he might had won!

So, for the final days in the contest, has shed his blue jeans and open-collar shirt and put on a suit and tie — and a pair of brass knuckles.

Nobody is more ruthlessly focused on closing the deal than the former senator…. hence the brass knuckles and nobody else in this presidential race understands the rhythms of campaigns better than Edwards.

And This time he’s trying to make it all the way, knowing that he cannot afford to lose Thursday night.

And that is why he has no inclination to finishing on a sunny and positive note, as he did four years ago. His "America Rising" theme is not a variation of "Morning in America."

It is a call to arms that is raw, angry and combative, with the commitment to return the power to the people. It is a message that is confrontational and intends to make all others seem timid by comparison.

One Edwards supporter, departing after a big rally in Des Moines on Saturday night said, he hasn’t heard a message as passionate or strong since Bobby Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign. Those of you who  are old enough to understand the significance of that statement are probably experiencing goose bumps and chills right about now!

Nice clothes aside, Edwards has turned street fighter for the final stretch. His message can be boiled down to a single word — "Fight!" — which he repeats over and over and over and over again: "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

He was, as he now explains, a brawler as a kid, taking on bullies the way he later took on corporations and insurance companies as a trial lawyer.

The enemy he sees is corporate America and corporate greed. His message seeks not to unite the country but to finish what he describes as "an epic struggle" against forces that are killing America — destroying jobs, holding down wages, putting people out of work and denying them medical care.

"You need somebody in the arena who will never back down," he says. The rich have an "iron-fisted grip" on democracy and won’t let go through negotiations. "Anybody who suggests that we don’t have an epic fight on our hands is living in Never-Never Land," he says.

He condemns wealthy corporate CEOs and "paid mercenaries" in Iraq with equal fervor: They are destroying the future of America.

"When will this stop?" he cried out at a rally in Knoxville, Iowa, on Saturday.

"With you!" a voice responded from the audience.

"With you and with me," he replied.

Excepts taken from Washington Post article by Dan Balz