The four-page document, obtained by CNN, instructs his campaign captains in Iowa precincts to describe former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean as an "elitist from Park Avenue in New York City." And it says Sen. John Kerry "can't claim to change America because he has been part of the failed Washington politics for too long."

It also offers a particularly detailed critique of Rep. Dick Gephardt... Under his leadership, it says, House Democrats "lost control of Congress in 1994, and lost four more times since then. ... We can't afford another losing national campaign against George W. Bush and the Republicans." It adds, "Even if Gephardt somehow wins in Iowa, his campaign is eventually dead, just as it was in 1988."

The only one who escaped criticism in the Edwards memo was Dennis Kucinich, whom Edwards likes. Edwards campaign says Edwards didn't know about the memo, even though it's contained in a handbook bearing his signature:

Having been made aware of it, he thinks it was wrong and he has instructed his staff not to do anything like it again," she said.