Victories for Kerry, Edwards in Primaries

Feb. 3, 2004 -- John Kerry rolled up big victories in delegate-rich Missouri,Arizona, Delaware, New Mexico and North Dakota to solidify hisposition as Democratic presidential front-runner. John Edwardscountered by taking his native South Carolina in a dramaticseven-state contest today.

Edwards and Wesley Clark were a few hundred votes apart inOklahoma, with Kerry close behind in the tightest race of thenight. It was a critical test for Edwards, who hoped to prove hispresidential mettle outside the South, and Clark, who needed a winto stay in the hunt.

Howard Dean earned no wins and perhaps no delegates, hiscandidacy in peril. Joe Lieberman was shut out, too, and droppedout of the race.

"It's a huge night," Kerry told The Associated Press, even asrivals denied him a coveted sweep.

Racking up a string of victories, Kerry dismissed Edwards'singular win. "I compliment John Edwards, but I think you have torun a national campaign, and I think that's what we've showntonight," the four-term Massachusetts senator said. "You can'tcherry-pick the presidency."

An AP analysis showed Kerry winning 65 pledged delegates,Edwards 43, Clark five and Al Sharpton one, with 155 yet to beallocated. Kerry's wins in Missouri and Arizona were the night'sbiggest prizes, with 129 delegates — nearly half of the 269 atstake.

Coveted Delegates

Today's results pushed Kerry close to 200 delegates out of2,162 needed for the nomination, including the superdelegates oflawmakers and party traditionalists. Dean trailed by nearly 70,Edwards by nearly 100.

In nearly every region of the nation, the most diverse group ofDemocrats yet to cast votes this primary season said they had asingular priority: Defeat President Bush this fall.

"I don't care who wins" the Democratic primary, said JudyDonovan of Tucson, Ariz. "I'd get my dog to run. I'm not kidding.I would get Mickey Mouse in there. Anybody but Bush."

In state after state, exit polls showed Kerry dominated amongvoters who want a candidate with experience or who could beat Bush.

Edwards had said he must win South Carolina, and he did bydominating among voters who said they most value a candidate whocares about people like them.

"It's very easy to lay out the map to get us to thenomination," Edwards told the AP, drawing a line from Michigan onSaturday to Virginia and Tennessee next Tuesday.

Uncertain Future for Some Candidates

To the roar of his supporters, Edwards declared, "The politicsof lifting people up beats the politics of tearing people down."

As the votes were being counted in Oklahoma, Clark mused aboutthe future of his candidacy. "This could be over," he toldreporters. "It could be a long way from over, and it could beimpacted tomorrow by something we don't know about."

Dean saved his money for a last stand in Wisconsin on Feb. 17, along-shot strategy that some of his own advisers questioned.

"We're going to have a tough night," Dean told supporters ashe promised to keep "going and going and going and going — justlike the Energizer bunny."

Said Steve Murphy, who ran Rep. Dick Gephardt's campaign:"Howard Dean is done." The list of ex-candidates grows: FloridaSen. Bob Graham dropped out first, then Carol Moseley Braun,Gephardt and Lieberman.

"Today the voters have rendered their verdict and I acceptit," Lieberman said.

Collecting Endorsements

Kerry, who just six weeks ago was written off as a candidate,reshaped the race with victories in Iowa and New Hampshire whileDean's candidacy cratered. "I'll keep working and fighting until Iwin the nomination, and then I'll keep working and fighting until Ibeat George Bush," he told the AP.

In a speech prepared for delivery to supporters, Kerry said,"George Bush, who speak of strength, has made America weaker — weaker economically, weaker in education and weaker in healthcare."

Kerry is racking up endorsements as he tries to unite the partybehind his front-running candidacy. To that end, the 1.2million-member American Federation of Teachers, the country'ssecond largest teachers' union, planned to back Kerry on Wednesday,a senior union official said on condition of anonymity.

Even Democrats who didn't vote for Kerry appear fairlycomfortable with him. Large majorities of voters — ranging fromabout 70 percent in Oklahoma to more than 80 percent in Delaware —said they would be somewhat or very satisfied if Kerry wins thenomination, exit polls showed.

Nearly half the voters in South Carolina were black and nearlyone in six in Arizona were Hispanic, the first contests withsizable minority populations in the primary campaign. In Missouriand Delaware, about 15 percent of the voters were black.

Dean’s Last Days?

Looking beyond today, Kerry planned visits to Washington stateand Michigan, where polls show him leading Saturday's caucuses.Edwards and Clark focused on Tennessee and Virginia. All threecandidates planned to air ads in the two southern states.

Kerry plans to buy ad time in Washington, D.C., to reachDemocratic-heavy northern Virginia, aides said. It's an expensivemarket, and it was unclear whether Edwards would have the money tomatch Kerry ad-for-ad as he did in today's states.

Dean, a former Vermont governor, ran out of cash and momentumafter finishing third in Iowa and a distant second in NewHampshire. He ran no TV ads in the seven states and intended tostay off the air for a spate of other contests until Feb. 17, whenWisconsin votes.

On a deeply divided staff, some Dean aides were focused onraising money to cover campaign debts, an emphasis that gave abackseat to costly political tactics such as televisioncommercials.

Exit polls also showed that nearly half of voters in five statessaid they made up their minds within the last week. One in fivewaited until today to pick a candidate.

Edwards scored well among whites, older people, theless-educated and voters who called themselves moderate orconservative, according to exit polls in South Carolina.

Kerry and Clark, both Vietnam veterans, had plenty of company.Seven in 10 Oklahoma voters, and nearly that many in SouthCarolina, said they had served in the military or have somebody intheir households who did, according to exit polls conducted for TheAssociated Press and the television networks by Edison MediaResearch and Mitofsky International.