demohacks play dirty tricks on each other:All four contenders invoked the ghosts of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and John Kennedy during the day, vying for acceptance as the one rightful political heir to past Democratic presidents.
The final television commercials were upbeat, as well, including one from Edwards that relied on the written word -- rather than the spoken one -- to make its point. ``To all those who stood up, listened and spoke out. Made us laugh, question, think and believe a positive vision of hope and new ideas can change America. Your time is now,'' rolled across the screen.
But the niceties ended there in a race so unpredictable that the last round of polls differed on which contender led, and found a narrow point spread among the four.
Kerry, who has gained ground in recent polls, said Dean and Gephardt were trying to dampen his momentum in the agriculture-conscious state with a ``smear effort'' that distorted his record on farm issues. On Friday, the two rival campaigns provided reporters with comments Kerry made five years ago, indicating he would scale back the Department of Agriculture and revamp farm subsidies.
Kerry said during the day he would change the subsidy program, not end it. But Erik Smith, a spokesman for Gephardt dismissed the charge, adding the Massachusetts senator has ``been sending negative mail on Gephardt for weeks.''
Kerry's campaign, too, stood accused of unsavory campaign practices. Aides to Dean -- who support has slipped in recent surveys -- said at least one of their voters had received a badgering phone call from a Kerry supporter who called the former Vermont governor an ``environmental racist.''
Stephanie Cutter, a spokeswoman for Kerry, said the call was an ``isolated incident'' caused by overzealousness on the part of a young voluntee. She said he had been asked to leave the campaign, and was writing a letter or apology to the woman he called.
Neither side seemed willing to let it drop, though.
``This kid's supervisor made no apologies for his phone call. Nor did that supervisor's supervisor,'' said Trish Enright, spokeswoman for Dean.
Kerry's aides provided a supporter who said she had received a similar phone call from a Dean volunteer. ``I said, `I don't need to put up with this and I hung up,'' Leslie Sheeder said in an interview.
For his part, Edwards said he had received reports of middle- of-the-night phone calls by people ``representing themselves as part of our campaign. Which is false.'' |
