Joe Trippi’s addition to the Edwards campaign already is having an impact.

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As we’ve seen in the latest polls, Edwards is surging in New Hampshire and is well-positioned to capitalize on a big win in Iowa.

John Edwards has solid leads against every Republican candidate in the latest Rasmussen polls:

Edwards (49%) Giuliani (43%)

Edwards (50%) Huckabee (41%)

Edwards (47%) McCain (38%)

Edwards (55%) Romney (29%)

Edwards (50%) Thompson (36%)

Here are Hillary Clinton’s numbers:

Clinton (46%) Brownback (41%)

Clinton (50%) Gingrich (43%)

Clinton (47%) Giuliani (48%)

Clinton (48%) Hagel (40%)

Clinton (47%) McCain (46%)

Clinton (50%) Romney (41%)

Clinton (43%) Thompson (44%)

And Barack Obama’s numbers:

Obama (49%) Brownback (34%)

Obama (48%) Gingrich (38%)

Obama (43%) Giuliani (44%)

Obama (50%) Hagel (34%)

Obama (52%) Huckabee (32%)

Obama (44%) McCain (44%)

Obama (51%) Romney (36%)

Obama (49%) Thompson (37%)

Hotline dishes some info about the Edwards campaign.

The highlights:

Advisers Nick Baldick and Caroline McCauly and other Edwards staffers may have more overall NH experience than any other team.

Jennifer O’Malley, who was Edwards’s IA field director in ’03-’04, will serve as his state director this cycle. O’Malley is engaged to Patrick Dillon, who is slated to become Gov. Chet Culver’s chief of staff. Dillon was Culver’s manager and worked on Edwards’s ’03-’04 field and press staffs in IA.

In South Carolina, John Moylan is running the show again, and ex-party executive director Lachlan McIntosh is recruiting field, political and communication staff. Edwards’s communications team is in fighting shape.

Finally, money. We can’t say for sure, because nobody who knows will tell us, but aside from a little bit of cut-in from Sen. Joe Biden’s courtship of the trial bar, the signals emanating from Edwards’s universe suggest he’s on track to beat expectations in the first quarter.