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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill who wrote (21)	1/21/2004 9:08:16 PM
From: ChinuSFO	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

Editorial: After Iowa Now, it's New Hampshire's job to sort out the survivors. It's only Iowa, after all, a state whose political bazaar has yet to award a winning percentage of delegates to the Democrat who went on to become president. Still, on Monday Iowa caucus goers did their job and winnowed the field of candidates to seven. Now, it is up to New Hampshire to do what this state does better than any other - take the measure of presidential candidates and send the best of them on. In one more week, the race will move beyond the retail politics of corner diners and school gymnasiums. So we urge everyone to attend campaign events, meet the candidates, study the issues and make the most of the opportunity to play so great a role in the democratic process. Iowa voters did, and it was, we suspect, with a measure of sadness, that they turned to candidates other than their Missouri neighbor Rep. Dick Gephardt, winner of the 1988 caucuses. They divided their votes between Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards and, to a far lesser extent, Howard Dean. So yesterday, Gephardt followed former senator Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois out of the race. We don't want to make overmuch of the "Iowa bounce" because for the most part, there isn't one. But the Hawkeye State saw in Kerry's campaign energy and resolve he had yet to display in New Hampshire. They responded well to Edwards's infectious optimism and gave Dean a look hard enough to rattle the former Vermont governor, who came in a poor third. Dean had looked unbeatable in New Hampshire. But his smaller-than-expected showing and post-caucus performance have made him vulnerable. In what will become a political history highlight film, Dean, the steam almost visibly escaping his ears, blasted out the names of the states with upcoming primaries with an unnerving intensity that may have scared off undecided voters. Now, New Hampshire is up for grabs. This primary is one of the most wide-open and exciting in memory. Not that the winner will have a lock on the nomination. Gary Hart in 1984, Paul Tsongas in 1992 and John McCain in 2000 proved that. Democratic Party leaders decided to frontload the primary election process in hopes of avoiding the infighting that weakens their candidate. The idea was to select the nominee before March and have eight months to focus his or her attack exclusively on President Bush. Now, that may not happen. Seven states will hold primaries just one week after the New Hampshire vote. All sorts of scenarios are possible, including one that leaves room for a candidate from New England to do well. New Hampshire could decide which New Englander that is. The stakes for Dean are enormous. In New Hampshire, he will have to compete with Wesley Clark for the anti-war vote. But Dean supporters are fervent. Their candidate, like Kerry, may be stronger when cast as the underdog, not the front-runner. Dean also has the most money and a powerful, if loosely connected, campaign organization. The close contest means added scrutiny for the candidates and an opportunity for voters to see all of them work under pressure. For democracy, and the candidates themselves, that is a plus. For the next few days, just about any New Hampshire resident who wants to see a candidate up close can. Though the economy and the war in Iraq are never far from their minds, voters have turned their attention to electability. They want a candidate who reflects their goals and values, but they also want one who can beat George Bush. In that respect, Iowa raised more questions than it answered. Next week, it will be up to New Hampshire, which may not say who the nominee will be, but will say who it won't. concordmonitor.com