NASHUA, New Hampshire -- Sticking largely to the same theme of fighting against corporate greed that served him in Iowa, John Edwards spoke to a ballroom of supporters today in Nashua, urging them to build on what he hopes can be momentum enough to vault him into another three-way race in New Hampshire. After a narrow second-place finish ahead of Hillary Clinton in Iowa, Edwards needs to compete well in the Granite State to continue his campaign.

Edwards and supporters cast the battle as movement against opponents buoyed by huge campaign accounts funded by special interests. "We are against lots of money on the other side," Elizabeth Edwards told supporters. "You know, the great machines."

Joined by children Emma Claire and Jack, Edwards sounded similar themes. "This is a grassroots campaign, this is a grassroots movement, and this grassroots movement is going to take back this democracy for the American people," he told the more than 300 volunteers gathered in a local hotel.

Having trailed Obama by eight points in Iowa, Edwards, who in recent weeks has begun attempting to seriously engage his junior rival. Change, he said, "will not happen on its own. And it's not going to happen by just being nice. It's going to take a fight." Edwards also repeated attacks on Clinton. "If we're going to be tough on [lobbyists], if we're going to restore the democracy for the American people, what we cannot do is nominate a candidate who's taken more of their money than any Republican candidate. You have to have somebody, like me, who has stood up to them, fought them, has been willing to take them on."

After hoping for, and failing to get, a win in Iowa, Edwards' campaign now faces few options. Another second-place finish in Iowa is unlikely to produce a bounce here, though the campaign points out that it has a much bigger field operation in New Hampshire now than it did in 2004. Obama and Clinton have poured millions into the state, while Edwards has spent much less, though he professed optimism. "The people of New Hampshire have a little bit of an independent streak, don't they," he asked. "We're not going to have an auction here on Tuesday. We're going to have an election."

In order to remain a top-tier candidate, Edwards has to finish well here. Still, he is mired in third place, 16 points behind Clinton and ten back of Obama in the latest RCP New Hampshire Average. Edwards repeatedly encouraged volunteers here to make a strong push in the final five days, and a sizable crowd in a state he has payed less attention to should be encouraging. But Edwards backer Dave Gottesman, a state senator from Nashua, summed up what the candidate needs to do to get back on top. "We really have to win this thing," Gottesman said.