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Kerry wis big in five states { February 4 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8547-2004Feb3.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8547-2004Feb3.html
Kerry Wins Big in Five States; Edwards, Clark Claim One Each
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 4, 2004; Page A01
Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) continued his dominance of the Democratic presidential race last night, decisively winning contests in Missouri, Arizona, New Mexico, Delaware and North Dakota, but missed out on a seven-state sweep when Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) easily won in South Carolina and retired Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark claimed a narrow victory in Oklahoma.
Kerry achieved his twin goals of winning a majority of the contests on the busiest day yet of the race for the Democratic nomination and rolling up far more of the 269 delegates at stake than any of his rivals.
Edwards made good on his long-standing pledge to win the first primary in the South by rolling up a big victory over Kerry, and hoped to use the result to move closer to his goal of becoming a principal alternative to the Massachusetts senator.
But Clark, who claimed victory for himself shortly before midnight after a seesaw battle with Edwards that saw the lead change hands several times, threatened to complicate the North Carolina senator's strategy, saying the Oklahoma result was enough to keep his candidacy alive. With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Clark led Edwards by almost 1,300 votes, with Kerry third.
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), who had staked his hopes on a victory in Delaware, quit the race after finishing a distant second behind Kerry there and running poorly in other states. "I have decided tonight to end my quest for the presidency of the United States of America," he told supporters. "Am I disappointed? Naturally. But am I proud of what we stood for in this campaign? You bet I am."
Former Vermont governor Howard Dean finished the night without a victory and with very few delegates, running third or lower everywhere -- a crippling result for a candidate who was the Democratic front-runner less than a month ago.
Kerry won at least 50 percent of the vote in Missouri, the biggest delegate prize of the day, and in Delaware and North Dakota, and more than 40 percent in Arizona and New Mexico. Coupled with his victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, the results put Kerry in a commanding position in the Democratic race, but with his opponents determined to contest his claim to the nomination as the race turns to Michigan, Washington and Maine this weekend, Tennessee and Virginia next week and beyond.
Kerry, in an interview on CNN, drew a contrast with his opponents by stressing that he alone was running a national campaign while his rivals were picking and choosing their targets. "I'm the only candidate that went to all seven states over the course of the last week," he said.
In his victory speech, which he delivered in Seattle, Kerry noted that "for the second time in a few days, a New England patriot has won on the road." Then he excoriated President Bush, attacking the president for abandoning veterans and yielding to drug and energy companies and other corporate interests.
"George Bush, who promised to be a uniter, has in fact become the great divider," he said. "We will resume the great march of our history -- to a country where everyone can hope and strive and move ahead, no matter who you are or no matter what the color of your skin."
A smiling Edwards spoke to his cheering supporters an hour after the polls closed in South Carolina, hailing his first victory as a breakthrough for his campaign. "Tonight you said that the politics of lifting people up beats the politics of tearing people down," he said.
Promising to "build an America that works for everybody," he added: "If the American people give me a shot at George Bush next November, I will give them back the White House."
Campaigning in Washington state, whose caucuses he hopes to win on Saturday, Dean warned supporters before all results were in that he was in for "a tough night tonight" but said he will "keep going and going and going and going and going, just like the Energizer Bunny." Then, taking a shot at Kerry without naming him, Dean said, "You cannot say you're going to get rid of special interests in Washington if you have taken more money from lobbyists than any other senator."
Clark, who began the day worried about the viability of his candidacy, was jubilant about his showing in Oklahoma. "I just couldn't be prouder," he told supporters. A few minutes later on CNN, he said, "I've won a state, and I'm thrilled."
Dean had said he will continue his campaign despite yesterday's anticipated poor showing, but he may quickly begin to see further erosion in his support, particularly among organized labor. He has insisted he has enough money to keep going long enough to turn his candidacy around.
Kerry's strongest attribute yesterday proved to be the belief among Democratic voters that he is the most electable candidate in a race with Bush. He swamped his rivals among those voters who cited that as the most important factor in their decision. But Edwards showed strength as a candidate who relates directly to voters looking for someone they believe understands and cares about their problems.
In Oklahoma, voters looking for a candidate with experience backed Clark. Those who were looking for a positive message or a candidate who cared about them supported Edwards. Those looking for someone to beat Bush went for Kerry.
Kerry will continue to play the electability card and will pick up the endorsement of the American Federation of Teachers today while continuing to press for support from elected officials and party leaders, adding to his total of "superdelegates" to complement his state-by-state total.
Edwards hoped to be the one candidate who can disrupt Kerry's front-running candidacy, but his route to the nomination remains challenging, particularly with the trio of weekend contests in states far outside the South. He also will need to replenish his treasury quickly to remain competitive and will look to success in Virginia and Tennessee to attract more money.
Dean has made it clear he will continue to attack Kerry as a Washington insider who cannot bring about genuine change. Edwards's positive message has struck a responsive chord with many Democratic voters. Whether he will remain so positive as he chases Kerry is a key strategic question facing the candidate and his advisers.
Lieberman's exit brought an end to a candidacy that never found a base of support, despite the fact that the Connecticut senator was the party's 2000 vice presidential nominee and one of the Democratic Party's leading centrist voices. But his strong support for Bush's decision to go to war against Iraq put him at odds with much of the Democratic electorate and he was unable to translate his experience or centrist message into a winning strategy.
Al Sharpton, who put his emphasis on South Carolina, finished a distant third behind Edwards and Kerry but told supporters last night that, after having finished ahead of Clark, Dean and Lieberman in the state, "we started a movement that will transform the Democratic Party."
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio) finished well out of the money but vowed to continue. "We are barely into this primary season," he said, predicting the race will go all the way to the Democratic National Convention in Boston this summer.
Yesterday's voting produced another day of big turnout, continuing a trend that began in Iowa and New Hampshire, with big vote totals in South Carolina, Delaware and Arizona in particular.
In South Carolina, Edwards won voters across the board, leading Kerry among both men and women and in every age group and income category, according to exit polls conducted for the NEP by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International.
Edwards had a huge margin among white voters in South Carolina, but among African Americans, who made up more than 40 percent of the electorate, he had only a slender advantage over Kerry, with both winning about a third of the black vote. Sharpton ran third in the black community, carrying nearly a fifth of the African American votes.
Jobs and the economy proved to be the dominant issue among South Carolina voters, with nearly half citing it as the most important issue in determining their vote. Edwards carried those voters 2 to 1 over Kerry. Among the one-fifth of the electorate who cited health care as their principal issue, Edwards narrowly defeated Kerry.
Kerry made a concerted pitch to military veterans in South Carolina, as he has everywhere, but Edwards won the veterans' vote as well as the votes of military households, according to exit polls.
Edwards also carried the votes of those who said they supported the Iraq war and those who opposed it, with exit polls showing strong opposition to Bush's policy there. Almost three in four South Carolina voters said they disapproved of the decision to go to war -- a figure higher than the New Hampshire electorate a week ago. Among African Americans, about four in five said they opposed the war.
In Oklahoma, a smaller percentage of the electorate said they opposed the Iraq war, but still the number was almost three in five.
In both states, Democratic voters expressed the same kind of pessimism about the U.S. economy as did their counterparts in Iowa and New Hampshire. About four in five voters in both states gave the economy negative marks.
About a third of the electorate in each state said the word "angry" best expressed their feelings about the Bush administration, with more than four in 10 saying they were dissatisfied though not angry.
Staff writer Ceci Connolly, assistant polling director Claudia Deane, and researchers Brian Faler and Lucy Shackelford contributed to this report.
© 2004 The Washington Post Company
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