According to previews of John Edwards’s much-anticipated speech tonight, the junior senator from North Carolina will attempt to establish his foreign policy bona fides. At the center of the address, naturally, will be Iraq. The issue will be a tricky one for Edwards. Along with Senator Joseph Lieberman, Edwards was an unapologetic defender of the war throughout the Democratic primaries, even as John Kerry began his efforts to distance himself from his support of the war-efforts that culminated in Kerry’s embrace of the “antiwar” label.

But since he became Kerry’s running mate, Edwards has dismissed any connection between Iraq and al Qaeda and repeatedly suggested that the war in Iraq was “needless.” In doing so, the man known for his “Two Americas” stump speech risks opening himself to charges that there are two “Two John Edwardses” on Iraq.