nanofever

"Kerry wins in South, Clark to quit

FAIRFAX, Virginia (CNN) -- Sen. John Kerry took two victories in southern primaries Tuesday which drove one of his rivals with southern roots out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who finished third in both Tennessee and Virginia, will announce his withdrawl on Wednesday in his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas.

Kerry's twin victories in those states proves his message appeals to southern voters.

"Once again, the message rings out loud and clear: Americans are voting for change East and West, North and now in the South," Kerry told supporters in Fairfax, Virginia.

"[As] this campaign moves forward we will fight for every vote. We may be a little bit older, we may be a little bit grayer but we still know how to fight for our country." (Transcript)

With 99 percent of the precincts reporting in Virginia, Kerry was winning about 52 percent of the vote. North Carolina Sen. John Edwards was getting about 27 percent, and retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who was raised in Arkansas, is a distant third with 9 percent.

In Tennessee, with 96 percent of the precincts reporting, Kerry is winning with 41 percent of the vote, followed by Edwards with 27 percent and Clark with 23 percent. (Analysis of results)

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio are trailing far behind in single digits in both states.

Nearly 90 percent of exit poll respondents in Virginia said they thought Kerry could beat Bush.

Among the nearly four in 10 respondents in both states who thought "electability" was more important than a candidate's stance on particular issues, Kerry was the choice by a greater than 3-2 margin. (Full story)

Kerry has now won 12 Democratic nomination contests and lost just two. With his aura of inevitability rising, the senator has begun focusing his campaign against the Bush administration, especially on economic themes, a top issue with many Democratic voters.

"Today, in a rare moment of truth-telling, they actually told us what they were doing. They said that shipping jobs, American jobs overseas, is good for America," he told supporters in Virginia. "Let them tell that to a 45-year-old worker with three kids who doesn't have a job, who's seeing the factory lost, who's seeing their job gone and has nowhere to turn."

Exit polls also showed Kerry's appeal with key demographic groups, including African-Americans, veterans and seniors.

More than two-thirds of Virginia's black respondents and nearly two-thirds of respondents 65 and older said they voted for him.

Kerry also ran well among respondents in Virginia who said they were veterans, taking about half.

Up for grabs Tuesday were 82 delegates in Virginia and 69 in Tennessee. To win the nomination, a candidate needs 2,161 delegates. (Delegate scorecard)

Kerry is leading with 507, Dean has 182, Edwards has 163, Clark has 96, Sharpton has 12 and Kucinich has two. (Full story)
Clark campaign ponders options

Before the southern primaries, both Edwards' and Clark's campaigns insisted that they would go on to next week's primary in Wisconsin.

But Clark made no mention of himself or his next campaign move in Wisconsin while thanking his supporters in Memphis, Tennessee, Tuesday night. Instead he praised the Democratic party and talked of the need to defeat Bush.

Clark's advisers were said to have met Tuesday to discuss their options. And a Clark fund-raiser scheduled for Wednesday night in Houston has been canceled. His campaign staffers had given up their paychecks last week to free up money for TV ads in Tennessee.

Tuesday's results were not a surprise to analysts, who had predicted a Kerry win.

The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll showed Kerry is now the choice of a majority of Democratic voters nationally, well ahead of Edwards, Clark and Dean. The poll showed he is also in a virtual dead heat with Bush in a head-to-head matchup. (Full story)

A month ago, Kerry was supported by just 9 percent. The latest poll marks the first time any of the Democratic hopefuls has gone above 50 percent.

The Kerry bandwagon continued to grow Tuesday, as he received the endorsements of three members of Congress from Wisconsin -- Sen. Herb Kohl and Reps. David Obey and Ron Kind.

He also came in first place in caucuses of Democrats living abroad, held from Friday through Monday in 19 countries. Kerry captured 55 percent of the votes and carried 17 countries. Dean came in second at 19 percent, carrying the most Democrats in Japan and Sweden.
Dean says he won't quit

Dean didn't put up a fight for either Virginia or Tennessee. He is planning to make a stand next Tuesday in Wisconsin, although he has backed away from earlier comments that the Badger State was a must-win for him.

Rallying the faithful in Milwaukee Tuesday evening, Dean criticized his rivals for voting for the war in Iraq and President Bush's education reform program, which he said made him a better choice to lead the fight against the GOP president in the fall.

"My question to Wisconsin is, 'Who do you want to stand with you in the foxhole, the guy who'll stand up when it's right or the guy who just stands up when it's popular?'" (Full story)

The next large contest is "Super Tuesday," when 11 states hold contests March 2. (Interactive election calendar)

CNN correspondents Kelly Wallace, Candy Crowley, Joe Johns and Dan Lothian and producers Justin Dial, Mike Roselli, Fran Fifis, Laura Bernardini and Sasha Johnson all contributed to this report. "

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/...ain/index.html

Kerry v. Bush in 2004 but will Clark be Kerry's VP ?

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Originally Posted by Norseman on another forum:
"Yeah, the problem with the world is the stupid people are all cocksure of themselves and the intellectuals are full of doubt."

Scipio

With Clark's exit, an edwards victory becomes a greater possibility. If you notice, in a few states Kerry only had a plurality, and if you combine the Edwards/Clark votes, they exceed Kerry's.

In short, what we have now is a two man race.

The media wants it to be a two man race. Before tuesay, what we had was Kerry versus three little guys. Three little guys with no chance. Sure, they might pull 25% of the vote in a given state, but they lacked momentum, and split their delegates. What about Dean? I honestly don't know. His candidacy is clearly done for, but as long as his superdelegates are on board, it's anybody's guess as to when or if he'll drop out. I want to say his voters are liberal and strongly interested in winning, so they might go to Kerry, but then again, those people might have gone to Kerry already. It might happen, then, that Dean's votes would go to Edwards, as a sort of anti-Kerry candidate.

It's anybody's guess, but Clark's exit helps Edwards.

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santafe5000

I'm not totally for Kerry, but when Clark made all the fuss about him being a General and Kerry being only a Lt., Clark lost all my interest. That is too arrogant. That's what we really need in the White House, A person that tells you he is better( a superior being) than you. Thru history a lot of men have been killed by an arrogant general, some thankfully saved by the lowly LT. who could see the stupidity of the Generals orders. I don't know Clark personnly, but i know i don't like his politics.

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mml

With Clark out of the race and Dean seeming to be slowly fading away Edwards now has a window of opportunity. Clearly Kerry is the frontrunner, and has a great deal of momentum, but the bright light of the media is now shining on him. Also, the Bush administration is begining to loosen the purse strings on that fat wad of cash they have. Nothing is written in stone, and the only candidate who I think could capitalize on this is Edwards. He is an energizing individual, and his policy stands are fairly mainstream for the Democratic party. He comes from a humble background, which Dems tend to like and many like his "positive image". I still think Kerry will be the nominee, but Edwards certainly has a shot.

If Kerry is the nominee, the VP shortlist could include Edwards, Bill Richardson, Evan Bayh, Gephardt, Clark and possibly Bob Graham or John Breaux.

If Edwards makes a surprise comeback, I have no idea, but possibly Clark to curb his foriegn policy/military weakness. But don't expect a Edwards/Kerry ticket.

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Scipio

Possible Kerry VPs:

Edwards, for very obvious reasons, though he is now clearly the anti-Kerry candidate. Besides, we lose his senate seat whether or not he wins the nomination.

Gephardt wouldn't add anything to the ticket. Kerry is strong where Gephardt is strong.

Evan Bayh is a strong on paper, though factionalism in the Democratic party might sink his chances. He helps run the strongly centrist DLC, whilst Kerry has one of the most liberal voting records in the Senate. He's a good pick if the DNC chooses a non-southern strategy (which is likely to work if it includes Florida and Arkansas/Tenessee).

I might suggest a counter-pick to Evan Bayh in Blanche Lincoln from Arkansas (my home state). Female, rural, southern, moderate, and charismatic. The Democratic party might lose the senate seat, but that's just the price of doing business.

Clark is a strong pick, but I think of him as more of a top level cabinet pick, ie SecState, SecDef, or NSA. He's not a strong campaigner. He ran on leadership, which isn't as important a consideration for a VP. In that sense, the general might overshadow the senator as a commander.

Basically, Kerry doesn't necessarily need a southerner to be his running mate, though it might help. I don't think the Lt. would take the Gen. to be his running mate for some reason. So what does he need? He needs someone loose. He needs someone who can connect with minority voters. He probably needs someone who can connect with women voters.

No time to talk about Edwards, but suffice it to say that he likely won't pick Kerry.

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