GracieMae
01-31-2004, 03:00 PM
By Alan Elsner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidates campaigned furiously on Saturday before Tuesday's seven-state electoral test, with Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) fending off an attack from former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (news - web sites) that he was addicted to campaign contributions from lobbyists.
Pushing for a sweep that would solidify his grip on the race for the party's White House nomination, Kerry won an important new endorsement from Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who was set to formally announce her decision later Saturday.
A Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby poll Saturday showed Kerry with a comfortable lead in Missouri and Arizona, two of the seven states holding primaries and caucuses on Tuesday.
But North Carolina Sen. John Edwards (news - web sites) of North Carolina remained narrowly ahead of Kerry in South Carolina, which he has declared a must-win state, while retired Gen. Wesley Clark (news - web sites) had a slight edge over Kerry in Oklahoma. The other states voting Tuesday are North Dakota, New Mexico and Delaware.
"For now, Kerry is running well, but this is not over yet if Clark and Edwards can at least stay where they are today. There are still a substantial number of undecided voters in all states," said pollster John Zogby.
A Newsweek nationwide poll had Kerry leading the Democratic field with 45 percent. Dean, his closest rival, trailed with 14 percent. The same poll also had Kerry narrowly ahead of President Bush (news - web sites), 48 to 46 percent.
Dean, who for much of last year dominated the race for the right to challenge Bush on Nov. 2, launched a new attack on Kerry, calling him a typical Washington insider beholden to lobbyists and special interests.
Citing reports in the Washington Post and New York Times that Kerry had raised more money from paid lobbyists than any other senator in the past 15 years, Dean said the Massachusetts lawmaker was no better than Bush in that respect.
"We are not going to beat George Bush by nominating someone who is the handmaiden of special interests, " Dean told hundreds of cheering supporters at a rally in Tucson.
INDIVIDUALS YES, GROUPS NO
Kerry told reporters he had taken no money from organized groups -- only from individuals. "The only people that have contributed to my campaigns to the United States Senate are individual Americans. Now are some of those individual Americans lobbyists? Yeah, sure," Kerry said.
The Washington Post said Kerry had accepted $640,000 from lobbyists, many of them representing the telecommunications and financial services industries that had business before committees Kerry sat on.
Kerry responded: "They haven't gotten anything for it. Those guys have never, ever, ever gotten anything."
Dean, who is running poorly in all the states voting Tuesday, has decided to focus on primaries in Michigan on Feb. 7 and Wisconsin on Feb. 17.
Dean shook up his organization after his disappointing second-place finish in New Hampshire on Tuesday and pulled his TV advertising from the air to conserve funds.
He hopes to outlast all the other candidates except Kerry so that he can take on the Massachusetts senator one on one. But it is a risky plan because by the time that happens, if it ever does, Kerry may be too far ahead to beat.
The leading candidates crisscrossed the South and West in their search for votes. Kerry embarked on a hectic day with stops in Missouri, Oklahoma and North Dakota. The central event was an afternoon rally at the firefighters' museum in Oklahoma City.
Clark kicked off his weekend by meeting veterans in Sierra Vista, Arizona and planned a brief stop in New Mexico before ending the day in Oklahoma, which has emerged as his best hope for a primary victory. Edwards was also in New Mexico and Oklahoma.
The latest Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby poll showed Kerry holding a 33-point lead in Missouri, the biggest prize on Tuesday with 74 delegates at stake.
But Edwards widened his lead over Kerry in South Carolina to 4 points in the latest three-day tracking poll. That margin remained within the statistical margin of error.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidates campaigned furiously on Saturday before Tuesday's seven-state electoral test, with Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) fending off an attack from former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (news - web sites) that he was addicted to campaign contributions from lobbyists.
Pushing for a sweep that would solidify his grip on the race for the party's White House nomination, Kerry won an important new endorsement from Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who was set to formally announce her decision later Saturday.
A Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby poll Saturday showed Kerry with a comfortable lead in Missouri and Arizona, two of the seven states holding primaries and caucuses on Tuesday.
But North Carolina Sen. John Edwards (news - web sites) of North Carolina remained narrowly ahead of Kerry in South Carolina, which he has declared a must-win state, while retired Gen. Wesley Clark (news - web sites) had a slight edge over Kerry in Oklahoma. The other states voting Tuesday are North Dakota, New Mexico and Delaware.
"For now, Kerry is running well, but this is not over yet if Clark and Edwards can at least stay where they are today. There are still a substantial number of undecided voters in all states," said pollster John Zogby.
A Newsweek nationwide poll had Kerry leading the Democratic field with 45 percent. Dean, his closest rival, trailed with 14 percent. The same poll also had Kerry narrowly ahead of President Bush (news - web sites), 48 to 46 percent.
Dean, who for much of last year dominated the race for the right to challenge Bush on Nov. 2, launched a new attack on Kerry, calling him a typical Washington insider beholden to lobbyists and special interests.
Citing reports in the Washington Post and New York Times that Kerry had raised more money from paid lobbyists than any other senator in the past 15 years, Dean said the Massachusetts lawmaker was no better than Bush in that respect.
"We are not going to beat George Bush by nominating someone who is the handmaiden of special interests, " Dean told hundreds of cheering supporters at a rally in Tucson.
INDIVIDUALS YES, GROUPS NO
Kerry told reporters he had taken no money from organized groups -- only from individuals. "The only people that have contributed to my campaigns to the United States Senate are individual Americans. Now are some of those individual Americans lobbyists? Yeah, sure," Kerry said.
The Washington Post said Kerry had accepted $640,000 from lobbyists, many of them representing the telecommunications and financial services industries that had business before committees Kerry sat on.
Kerry responded: "They haven't gotten anything for it. Those guys have never, ever, ever gotten anything."
Dean, who is running poorly in all the states voting Tuesday, has decided to focus on primaries in Michigan on Feb. 7 and Wisconsin on Feb. 17.
Dean shook up his organization after his disappointing second-place finish in New Hampshire on Tuesday and pulled his TV advertising from the air to conserve funds.
He hopes to outlast all the other candidates except Kerry so that he can take on the Massachusetts senator one on one. But it is a risky plan because by the time that happens, if it ever does, Kerry may be too far ahead to beat.
The leading candidates crisscrossed the South and West in their search for votes. Kerry embarked on a hectic day with stops in Missouri, Oklahoma and North Dakota. The central event was an afternoon rally at the firefighters' museum in Oklahoma City.
Clark kicked off his weekend by meeting veterans in Sierra Vista, Arizona and planned a brief stop in New Mexico before ending the day in Oklahoma, which has emerged as his best hope for a primary victory. Edwards was also in New Mexico and Oklahoma.
The latest Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby poll showed Kerry holding a 33-point lead in Missouri, the biggest prize on Tuesday with 74 delegates at stake.
But Edwards widened his lead over Kerry in South Carolina to 4 points in the latest three-day tracking poll. That margin remained within the statistical margin of error.