I know Mephisto, it's frustrating is it not. Did you read the article re who is actually voting for Kerry? It's those who tend to be lemmings & follow herd mentality without doing their own research. Tonight's CA debate is 9PM--EST, 6PM--West coast. Following article focuses on debate strategy:
Edwards Hope for Strong Debate Showing Thursday, 26-Feb-2004 3:33AM Story from AP / TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press (via ClariNet)
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25-FEB-2004: Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., center, talks to steel workers at a sheet metal coating factory in Cleveland, Ohio, Wednesday Feb. 25, 2004. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) [Photo copyright 2004 by AP]
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- John Edwards was hoping a strong debate performance Thursday might help fuel a late surge in support heading toward a 10-state Democratic presidential showdown, while John Kerry was seeking to further solidify his dominance as front-runner.
But the North Carolina senator's advisers agreed that narrowing the gap with his Massachusetts Senate colleague would be difficult, especially in California, where Kerry enjoys more than a two-to-one advantage in recent polls.
"We have a mountain to climb," said Herb Wesson, former state assembly leader and California chairman of Edwards' campaign. "But we have just elected a governor who is an actor. So nothing's impossible in this state."
The two rivals were facing off in a debate in Los Angeles, the first since the field narrowed last week with Howard Dean's withdrawal after a disappointing finish in the Wisconsin primary.
The 90-minute evening debate at the University of California will include all four remaining Democratic candidates, including trailing contenders Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton. It is sponsored by the Los Angeles Times and CNN.
Both Kerry and Edwards had a relatively light schedule Thursday to give them time for debate preparation.
Edwards was picking up endorsements here Thursday from California Senate President Pro Tem John Burton and ACORN, an advocacy organization for low and moderate-income families.
Kerry, meanwhile, received the endorsement of The New York Times in an editorial published Thursday. He planned to join striking grocery workers on the picket line in Santa Monica before the debate -- one of two debates before next week's Super Tuesday contests. The other is Sunday in New York City.
A state poll showed Edwards badly trailing Kerry in California. Kerry also held commanding leads in other key Super Tuesday states, including Ohio and New York.
Of the 10 contests, Kerry appeared most competitive in Georgia, where a poll had him 8 percentage points behind Kerry.
Kerry so far has won 18 Democratic contests while Edwards has won one, South Carolina, where he was born.
Both Kerry and Edwards, meanwhile, courted Dean supporters. Campaigning in three California cities on Wednesday, Edwards called the former Vermont governor "my friend" and "a powerful voice for change."
Edwards' advisers conceded his challenge was a long shot, but they said the one-term senator and former trial lawyer's optimism and upbeat message have won over audiences, and that Thursday's debate could give cable television viewers in key primary states a chance to know him better.
"We're not running against Kerry, we're running against time," said David Axelrod, an Edwards' media consultant.
Edwards himself said Wednesday that he hopes in California and other key Super Tuesday states the same late-developing "powerful response and surge" that led to his strong second-place finish last week in Wisconsin.
In Washington on Wednesday, GOP chairman Ed Gillespie criticized Kerry's 19-year Senate voting record, citing his votes for anti-terrorism legislation, an education measure and a free-trade pact, and his subsequent criticism of the Bush administration.
"There are any number of things where Senator Kerry has gone back and forth on issues and raised a credibility question," Gillespie said.
In response, Kerry's campaign arranged a conference call for reporters with former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland and Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., a senior member of the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee, who defended Kerry.
"Give me a commander in chief who's going to have some skepticism about certain programs if they're not working," Dicks said.
Meanwhile, Teresa Heinz Kerry addressed a crowd of about 200 in Los Angeles Wednesday in support of universal health care, education and legislation that would create a pathway to legal status for the children of undocumented workers.
"Just because their parents are not American and they were not American ... (children) should not be penalized at 17 or 18 when they have attended schools, been good students, been good citizens," she said.
As mariachi music played, Kerry's wife addressed the mainly Hispanic crowd in both English and Spanish and talked about her experience as an immigrant from East Africa.
"We are all immigrants," she said. "I fought for human rights and civil rights because I grew up without them." |
