All-action Edwards Works Round the Clock

Presidential candidates often call on America to "wake up", but John Edwards is bringing that message to voters literally.

It may not be showing in the opinion polls, but the Democratic contender is attempting to win votes from an unusual demographic: insomniacs.

How else do you explain a hyperactive itinerary that saw Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, make a total of 13 appearances across snow-bound New Hampshire today, running deep into the night and not pausing even in the early hours of the morning.

The couple launched a whirlwind 36-hour bus tour of the state, beginning on Sunday and ending in the early hours of today - the day polls open.

Those on the late shift or unable to sleep were able to meet Edwards at 2am today in Berlin, a small town practically in Canada, where around 30 hardy supporters turned out.

If that was too early - or too late - then the awake and curious could still have caught up with the Democratic contender and his wife in Littleton, a city on the border with Vermont, at Miller's Cafe at 4am.

There, Elizabeth Edwards told 20 supporters that her husband was in it for the long haul - if that wasn't already obvious.

Early birds joined the pair at the more civilized hour of 6.30am at the Daddy Pops Tumble Inn Diner in Claremont. There, according to one blogger, Edwards told customers they should judge him by his exhausting schedule. "It is exactly what I will do when I am president," he added.

Ronald Reagan won the 1984 presidential election by running on a message proclaiming: "It's morning again in America."

Based on his last two days, Edwards wants to win this primary on a slogan saying: "It's morning, afternoon, evening - and morning again in New Hampshire".

His top adviser, Joe Trippi, told the Los Angeles Times: "It is going to be a really long, long, grinding campaign."

And at this rate, it's going to seem even longer.