NewsMax.com Wires
Monday, Feb. 9, 2004

Boasting a daunting record of 10 wins in 12 contests, Kerry focused on the next round, Tuesday's primaries in Virginia and Tennessee, and the opportunity for the U.S. senator from Massachusetts to show his clout in the South.

Rivals John Edwards and Wesley Clark, the two Southerners in the race, talked of populist themes in hopes of making inroads with voters in the two states that offer 151 pledged delegates and, more important, continued survival in the Democrat race.

Neither Edwards nor Clark, nor one-time front-runner Howard Dean, could match Kerry's advantage in Maine, which held its caucuses Sunday with 24 delegates at stake.

Kerry outpaced Dean by a nearly 2-to-1 margin in the state, with Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio a distant third. Dean and Kucinich had made 11th-hour appeals to Maine voters. The win there came after Kerry's triumphs in Michigan and Washington a day earlier.

Kerry has more than twice as many delegates as his closest pursuer, as his win in Maine pushed his total to 426, compared with Dean's 184, according to a tally by the Associated Press. It takes 2,162 delegates to win the nomination. Kucinich appeared to fall just short of qualifying for delegates in Maine.

Aides: Edwards and Clark Will Lose Tuesday

Kerry's winning streak is beginning to demoralize his opponents. Aides to Clark and Edwards said they expected their candidates to lose Tuesday in Virginia and Tennessee.

Clark and Edwards, who promised on Sunday to forge ahead despite Kerry's increasing advantage, are counting on a Feb. 17 showdown in Wisconsin, where the front-runner can expect withering attacks from all his rivals with the potential for a slip-up by the leader.

Looking beyond his Democrat rivals to a matchup with the incumbent president, Kerry issued a statement after his victory in Maine vowing that "when the Republican smear machine trots out the same old attacks in this election, this is one Democrat who will fight back. I've fought for my country my entire life, and I'm not about to back down now."

Kerry ignored his primary opponents Sunday and criticized President Bush on Iraq. He also picked up backing from Virginia Gov. Mark Warner.

Clark, Dean and Edwards, appearing separately on Sunday television talk shows, all said they would continue to challenge Kerry for the Democrat nomination despite the senator's advantage in the polls and in endorsements.

"Real voters are going to decide who the nominee is," Dean, a former Vermont governor, said on CNN's "Late Edition."

Dean Waffles on Wisconsin

Dean, the former front-runner and winless since the start of voting, declined in interviews to repeat his earlier assertion that he would withdraw from the race if he lost Wisconsin. He planned to begin airing a 60-second biographical ad in Wisconsin that describes him as a maverick and focuses on his medical and gubernatorial background.

Clark said on CNN that he would run at least through the March 2 "Super Tuesday" primaries, including in California, Ohio and New York.

Edwards noted on "Fox News Sunday" that about 75 percent of delegates to the Democrats' national convention would still be up for grabs after Wisconsin votes.

American Research Group polls give Kerry sizable leads in all three states: 11 points over Edwards and 12 over Clark in Tennessee; 13 points over Edwards and 18 over Clark in Virginia; and 26 points over Clark and 31 over Edwards in Wisconsin. The margin of error in each poll taken last week was plus or minus 4 points.

Kerry Cranks Up the Democrat Smear Machine

Accepting Warner's endorsement in Richmond, Kerry said Bush had not fully answered questions about whether he fulfilled his National Guard service in Alabama during the Vietnam War.

"The issue here is, as I have heard it raised, is was he present and active in Alabama at the time he was supposed to be," said Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran. "I don't have the answer to that question, and just because you get an honorable discharge does not, in fact, answer that question."

In an interview broadcast Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," Bush said that he reported for duty and that his critics were wrong.

Kerry, who watched Bush's interview with Warner at the governor's mansion, also took issue with the president for saying that deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had the ability to produce weapons of mass destruction.

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© 2003 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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