by Jill Zuckman

Manchester, N.H. -- Even before former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney had delivered his power point presentation to the Florida Medical Association laying out his ideas for health care, former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) had pounced.

"What I would like for Gov. Romney to do is come here to New Hampshire and explain to the people I just met with why universal health care was good for the state of Massachusetts, but it's not good for the people of New Hampshire and it's not good for the people I met with today,'' Edwards said outside Elliot Hospital, where he had just finished speaking with seniors struggling to pay for their medical care.

Romney is proposing that the federal government help states to lower premiums by deregulating their insurance industries.

Edwards criticized Romney for taking a state-by-state approach, rather than addressing the health care crisis with a uniform, national plan.

"It doesn't solve the problem,'' Edwards said, "We have a national, dysfunctional health care system.''

Romney was a new target for Edwards, who has been sharpening his rhetoric lately and taking particular aim at Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), the frontrunner in the Democratic primary.

Thursday he had indirectly criticized her, as well as her husband's administration. And his campaign manager blasted Clinton directly for not pushing harder for a universal health care plan.

But on Friday, Edwards denied that he was talking about anything other than himself and the nation.

"Nothing I said yesterday has anything to do with any other presidential candidates,'' he said.

In fact, he referred to a Clinton-era practice of inviting high-dollar donors to spend the night at the White House.

"The American people deserve to know that their presidency is not for sale. The Lincoln Bedroom is not for rent," Edwards said during a speech at Dartmouth College, where he also warned voters not to give in to nostalgia.

The Clinton campaign accused Edwards of attacking other Democratic candidates in order to revive a flagging campaign. Edwards insisted that none of that was the case.

"This is not about me or about Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama or any of the other candidates,'' he said. "Unfortunately, that's the response you get when you're actually trying to talk. Instead of talking about politics, they ought to be focusing on what the country needs.''

So there.