In a speech delivered today from St. Anselm’s College in New Hampshire, John Edwards laid into Hillary Clinton and claimed the moral high ground–literally. By refusing to decline corporate contributions like he has, Edwards said that Clinton as president would perpetuate the same culture of corruption that Democrats had been claiming was the special province of the GOP. Titled “The Moral Test of Our Generation,” the speech lacked outright references to God or religion but decried such ungodly activities as soul-selling. The Edwards campaign emailed it to supporters. Excerpts:

I am not holier than thou. I am not perfect by any means. But there are events in life that you learn from, and which remind you what this is really all about. Maybe I have been freed from the system and the fear that holds back politicians because I have learned there are much more important things in life than winning elections at the cost of selling your soul….
Because Washington may not see it, but we are facing a moral crisis as great as any that has ever challenged us. And, it is this test — this moral test — that I have come to understand is at the heart of this campaign….
America lives because 20 generations have honored the one moral commandment that makes us Americans. To give our children a better future than we received….
I am not perfect — far from it — but I do understand that this is not a political issue — it is the moral test of our generation.

5