At the start of the year, John Edwards repeatedly slammed Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton on her refusal to apologize for her 2002 vote authorizing the use of force in Iraq. His critiques generated a great deal of media attention but did little to convince voters to abandon their support for her, and subsequent studies showed that likely Democratic primary voters’ thoughts on the war — the top issue this campaign cycle — bore little direct relationship to positions taken by the candidates almost five years ago.

Now Edwards is taking a different tack and going after Clinton on the No. 2 issue this election cycle — health care reform — and wedding it to his critique of Clinton’s ties to health industry lobbyists.

“I think you’d have to go to Mars to find someone who doesn’t understand why we don’t have universal health care,” said Edwards at  the Livestrong Presidential Cancer Forum in Cedar Rapids. “I think most people in America know why we don’t have universal health care. The reason we don’t have it is because of entrenched interests in Washington — insurance companies, drugs companies and their lobbyists. They’re the obstacles.”

“I believe the insurance companies, the drug companies and their lobbyists killed the health-care reform that was attempted in the 1990s by Sen. Clinton,” he continued. “My lesson is not the same as hers. Her lesson is: Give them a seat at the table — at least that’s what I heard her say a few minutes ago. I think if you give drug companies, insurance companies and their lobbysists a seat at the table, they’ll eat all the food.”

The audience of cancer survivors and health care activists laughed and applauded enthusiastically.

“I think you have to take their power away from them,” said Edwards. “I don’t think they’re ever going to voluntarily give away their power. I think you have to take them on. You have to confront them. You have to beat them.”

A March 2007 Harris Interactive-Wall Street Journal Online poll found that 77 percent of Democrats trusted Clinton to come up with good policies for reforming the health care system, while 58 percent trusted Edwards, who earlier this year released a widely praised plan for achieving universal health insurance coverage by expanding the pool using private insurance, along with new regulations and a mix of federal subsidies and novel gap-filling public insurance programs.

Polls also routinely find between 60 and 70 percent of Americans hold unfavorable views about Washington lobbyists. By tying Clinton’s views on health care to her receipt of money from inviduals who work for the pharamaceutical industry or who lobby for health sector interests, Edwards may be able to reduce the level of trust Democrats have in Clinton’s ability to bring about changes in the health care arena, and thereby their support for her campaign.

“If you could do it by compromise and negotiation, why don’t we have universal health care today?” asked Edwards. “I think we have to confront them head on.”