WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards touted his prospects of winning the Democratic presidential nomination Monday, a day after Sen. Hillary Clinton, the race's perceived front runner, made her first foray as a presidential candidate into the key caucus state of Iowa.

"I've got a lead in Iowa, I'm in basically a tie in New Hampshire, which is a few places that at least in the past have been the most critical in the nomination process," Edwards told CNN's Miles Obrien on the heels of Sen. Hillary Clinton's successful visit to the Hawkeye state.

Edwards also sized up another formidable candidate for the nomination, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, calling him "very smart," but saying the campaign will reveal whether he is qualified to be president.

"This will be a test for him, just as it was for me the last time around -- if people will be looking for his depth, his maturity, and whether he has the kind of judgment that we need in the Oval Office," Edwards said. "

"That's a test that ought to be applied to him," Edwards added.