Kerry takes early Wisconsin lead
By Stephen Dinan
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
MADISON, Wis. — Sen. John Kerry failed to cement the Democratic nomination for president last night as he and Sen. John Edwards were locked in a tight battle in the Wisconsin primary.
Early returns and media exit polling showed that the race was too close to call — with exit polls as well as returns showing Mr. Kerry barely leading Mr. Edwards. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, whose campaign has all but collapsed in the past month, was running a distant third.
With 25 percent of precincts reporting, Mr. Kerry had 60,642 votes, good for 38 percent. Mr. Edwards had 59,664 votes, or 37 percent, and Mr. Dean had 29,244 votes, for 18 percent.
Mr. Kerry has won all but two of the primaries or caucuses before yesterday, and his lead in the delegate count is overwhelming.
But Mr. Edwards has exceeded expectations and proved a tenacious opponent. He has said he has the money to compete in at least some states through the early March primaries.
"I think the voters of Wisconsin made it clear they want a real choice," Mr. Edwards told the Associated Press last night as the returns rolled in. "They responded to my message of optimism and bringing change to America."
Not counting the delegates at stake last night, Mr. Kerry has won 578 of the 2,161 delegates needed for the nomination, according to an AP tally. Mr. Dean has 188, Mr. Edwards has 166 and the Rev. Al Sharpton has 16.
Mr. Sharpton and Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio participated in a debate in Milwaukee on Sunday night, and Mr. Kucinich campaigned in the state, but neither gained much support.
Mr. Kerry said during the day that he remains best positioned for the nomination because he has competed everywhere and Mr. Edwards has not.
"You can't run for president cherry-picking states here and there. You have to run nationally," Mr. Kerry said. "I think I've been the only one in recent weeks who's been doing that."
According to an AP exit poll, about one in 10 voters was Republican — Republicans can vote in Wisconsin's open primary — and about 30 percent were independents. Those voters broke for Mr. Edwards.
"That's been happening in other primaries, too," Mr. Edwards said. "Republicans who would consider voting Democratic and independents are the people we have to win over to win the general election. That's why I'm the best candidate to take on George Bush."
Mr. Kerry has campaigned during the past week as if his Democratic rivals were all but invisible — and in some cases they were. Mr. Kerry was the only candidate to fly to Nevada to campaign for that state's caucuses last week.
The Massachusetts senator has focused his remarks almost exclusively on President Bush, and particularly on his jobs record.
Mr. Kerry will be in Ohio today, one of the 10 states holding a primary or caucuses on March 2. But Ohio's significance goes far beyond the 159 delegates it accounts for to the Democratic convention.
Mr. Bush won Ohio by 50 percent to 46 percent over then Vice President Al Gore in 2000, and the state is worth 20 electoral votes in the general election, which could well be the deciding margin.
Ohio also has suffered serious job losses, including about 160,000 from the manufacturing sector. Mr. Kerry, who until recently was an ardent supporter of free trade, is repositioning himself as a labor-friendly candidate and taking that message to Ohio.
Mr. Kerry is expected to pick up the endorsement of the AFL-CIO tomorrow in Washington, and yesterday won the backing of 19 unions that previously supported Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, who dropped out of the campaign after Iowa's caucuses.
The Bush campaign enlisted Rep. Rob Portman to defend the president in a conference call with reporters yesterday. The Ohio Republican said Mr. Bush's tax cuts have made the past recession the shallowest in history.
"By acting, and acting decisively, he has not only allowed millions of Ohio taxpayers to keep more of their hard-earned money, he has also helped to keep us from going into a deep recession over the last two years, and brought us out of that recession," Mr. Portman said.
Mr. Edwards and Mr. Kerry have released schedules for campaigning later this week in the March 2 states, but Mr. Dean has not. He said early yesterday that he will return to Burlington, Vt., and reassess how to continue.
"We'll be talking about what we're going to do in the future of the campaign," he said on CBS' "Early Show." "We're going to keep going. We've got good organizations all the way through March 9 in Florida and Illinois, and certainly for Super Tuesday."
Wisconsin was supposed to have been Mr. Dean's chance for a big showdown with Mr. Kerry. After giving short treatment to the seven Feb. 3 primaries and caucuses, including South Carolina and Missouri, Mr. Dean proceeded to target and then forgo a big effort in Michigan and Washington state on Feb. 7, and completely ignored Virginia and Tennessee on Feb. 10.
He then set a bar for Wisconsin as his must-win state, but said later that he will continue anyway.
In the past few days he has said that even if he doesn't win the nomination, he will continue in "a different way" to pursue his message of changing the way Republicans as well as Democrats work in Washington.
This past weekend he gave a hint of what shape that might take, telling his audience at a rally in Racine, Wis., that he would like to use his base of supporters to try to help out 20 to 25 Democratic congressional candidates this year who are in tight races. |
