19 Jan. - 5 Feb. 2004

Last update 5 Feb. 2004

Here: Democrats Steer Clear of Attacks In N.H. Debate Gephardt Aides Flock To Wes Clark's Campaign Clark stakes claim as top-tier candidate PRIMARY RESULTS: New Hampshire - January 27 Clark, Dean assail Democratic front-runner Kerry - Jan.29 S.C. debate Candidates target pitches with an eye to the South [Kerry's] Rivals assail remarks on abortion, South PRIMARY RESULTS: February 3 Clark Wins Oklahoma: 2nd in Three States Clark exults in first win in Oklahoma Analysis: Edwards, Clark in struggle as Kerry alternative Clark Eager To Move On After First-Ever Election Win

More on Wesley Clark's Program: Turnaround Plan Families First: Tax Reform Plan, etc Direction, Military Reform Wesley Clark's official sites: http://clark04.com http://americansforclark.com http://draftwesleyclark.com

From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39910-2004Jan22.html
'Kerry, Dean Defend Their Electability'

Democratic Candidates at the debate in Goffstown, NH, 22 Jan. 2004 The full transcript of the debate in 5 parts Read about TV media coverage of this debate

By David S. Broder and Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, January 23, 2004

GOFFSTOWN, N.H., Jan. 22 -- The Democratic presidential candidates pressed competing claims to electability over President Bush and reopened their arguments over the war in Iraq on Thursday night in the final debate before Tuesday's crucial New Hampshire presidential primary.

Personal and policy differences were submerged in what turned out to be a largely civil debate, as the candidates chose to emphasize the positive rather than attack one another. No one criticized Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), the winner of the Iowa caucuses, or former Vermont governor Howard Dean, who began the year as the front-runner but finished a weak third in Iowa behind Kerry and Sen. John Edwards (N.C.).

Dean appeared eager to explain his emotional concession speech Monday night, which has been replayed and ridiculed continually on television since. Given the opportunity to address it early in the debate, Dean said his hoarse voice was "not because I was whooping and hollering over my third-place finish" in Iowa. He added: "I would have liked to have . . . done a little better, but I congratulate John Kerry and John Edwards on great campaigns."

Dean and Kerry were challenged by questioners to explain how, if they become the Democratic nominee, they would fend off attacks from Bush in the fall debates -- Kerry over raising taxes and Dean over social issues.

Kerry said he would raise taxes only on those making more than $200,000 a year, and he said he would love to debate fiscal policy with a president who has run the nation into deep deficits. "That's a fight we deserve to have in this country," Kerry said. "That's a fight we will win."

Dean said he is "much more conservative on money" than Bush. He pointed to his states'-rights stance on gun control as evidence that he is not, as a questioner suggested, out of the political mainstream.

Retired Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark, challenged twice on his relatively recent adoption of the Democratic Party, used the question to state his commitment to the party's traditional values. Clark said he voted for Bill Clinton and for Al Gore and could attract millions of independents and even Republicans in a race against Bush. "I'll bring a lot of other people into this party, and that's what we need to do to win in November," he said.

Edwards, whose positive campaign seemed to spill over to the other candidates, said he is electable because of his southern roots and his connection to the problems of ordinary people. Toward the end of the debate, he rebuked the panel for focusing on differences among the candidates and ignoring issues of more importance to ordinary Americans. "We have 35 million people living in poverty, we have children going to bed hungry -- that's what we should be talking about," he said.

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), who like Clark skipped the Iowa caucuses, politely disagreed with his rivals' answers on electability. He argued that his "unwavering" support for the war in Iraq and his emphasis on moral values makes him the strongest candidate against Bush, a judgment he contended the president has expressed in private conversations.

Because the four television and newspaper questioners repeatedly pressed the Democrats with anticipated GOP attacks, the candidates found themselves more often agreeing with one another about what is wrong with Bush's presidency and agenda. That was in contrast to many of their past debates, when attacks on one another -- particularly Dean -- dominated.

As a result, Kerry, who has surged to the lead in New Hampshire in many polls, had a relatively comfortable night. Edwards and Clark were aggressive in making the case for themselves. Dean, toned down both by a cold and concerns about his Iowa performance, found many occasions to tout his record as governor of Vermont, the focus of his revised strategy.

The debate came at a critical moment in a Democratic race that was turned upside down by the unexpected results of the Iowa caucuses on Monday. Since then, Dean's lead over Kerry, once regarded as nearly insurmountable, has melted away in a matter of days. Several tracking polls have recorded Dean's slide and Kerry's rise, and heading into the final weekend, Kerry has moved into the lead, with Clark third.

Dean also was asked about his comment at an appearance earlier in the day when he said that he leads "with my heart, not my head." Asked whether that was what Americans want in a president, Dean said: "I say what I believe. I think it's time that somebody in this party stood up for what we believe in and wasn't so careful about what they were saying. If we're willing to say anything we have to say to get elected, then we're going to lose."

Much of the two hours was spent rearguing familiar positions about the war in Iraq. Although the exchanges were rarely personal, the differences among the candidates emerged clearly.

Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio) and Al Sharpton, the two trailing candidates, restated their pledge for the early withdrawal of U.S. forces, a position none of the other candidates shared.

Despite his determination not to attack the others, Dean drew a clear distinction between his opposition to the resolution authorizing Bush to use force in Iraq and the votes of the three senators, who all supported the resolution.

Noting an earlier reference to 500 soldiers killed and more than 2,000 wounded in Iraq, he said pointedly, "Those soldiers were sent there by the votes of Senator Kerry and Senator Lieberman and Senator Edwards. That is a fact."

Kerry and Edwards said there was nothing inconsistent in supporting the resolution and later voting against Bush's request for $87 billion to continue military operations and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. They said Bush failed to keep a pledge to wage war "only as a last resort," with Edwards contending that the spending request amounted to a "blank check" to continue mistaken policy.

Kerry was equally direct in his criticism of Bush. "There's a right way to do it and there's a wrong way, and he choose the wrong way," he said.

At one point, Kerry was asked how he would feel as president if U.S. military personnel threw away their combat medals in protest, as Kerry and other Vietnam War veterans did in the early 1970s. Kerry called the veterans' protest "a movement of conscience," and said he was proud that they had stood up against President Richard M. Nixon.

Then, turning to the debate over Iraq, Kerry said, "I'm not going to listen to [House Majority Leader] Tom DeLay or the president or anybody else lecture the Democratic Party about patriotism."

Clark acknowledged having praised Bush's performance in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. But he insisted that Bush could have done more to prevent the terrorist attacks and had erred in starting a war with Iraq "we did not have to fight."

Edwards and Clark struggled with two questions on social issues. Edwards was pressed on the Defense of Marriage Act and said he would have opposed it had he been in the Senate at the time as an infringement of states' rights. The Senate passed the bill in 1996, but it did not restrict states from making their own decisions. Vermont, under Dean, passed its civil unions bill in 1999.

Clark tried to explain again his position on abortion, after a comment several weeks ago implying that he would allow abortions at any time during pregnancy. Choosing his words carefully, Clark said he supports a woman's right to choose "pre-viability and after viability," consistent with a doctor's recommendation and a need to protect the health of the woman.

Clark was asked how he reconciles his support for abortion rights with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, which he joined as an adult. He said it is "a matter of conscience."

The debate was held on the campus of St. Anselm College, just outside of Manchester. The two-hour session was moderated by ABC's Peter Jennings and Fox News's Brit Hume, with questioning also by John DiStaso of the Manchester Union Leader and Tom Griffith of WMUR-TV.

Seven candidates participated, and the debate marked the first joint encounter since Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.) and former senator Carol Moseley Braun (Ill.) withdrew from the race. Braun ended her candidacy before the Iowa caucuses, and Gephardt pulled out after a disappointing fourth-place finish there.

Sharpton may have had the best one-liner. Referring to Dean's post-Iowa war cry, he said, "If I had spent as much money as you did and came in third place, I'd still be hooting and hollering."

Staff writer Jonathan Finer contributed to this report.

Press release #212

http://clark04.com/press/release/212/

Press Room

ST. LOUIS, MO - Today General Wesley Clark's campaign announced that four members of Rep. Richard Gephardt's campaign team will join Clark's Missouri campaign.

"I'm pleased to have Dick Gephardt's aides join my staff," said Clark. "We'd like to have the support of voters in Missouri, and it really helps to have these folks on board."

The Gephardt veterans include Missouri native and former aide to Rep. Ike Skelton Mindy Mazur;Missouri native Andy Lavigne; Lindsay Marsh; and David Woodruff.

The four staffers will join the 35 former Gephardt aides already stationed in other states for Clark.

Clark also reports that 2,200 volunteers have joined the Missouri campaign, headed by captains in all nine congressional districts.

CNN:

Jan. 28, 2004

Wesley Clark celebrates with supporters after the New Hampshire primary.

BEDFORD, New Hampshire (CNN) --Vowing to send President Bush "right back to that ranch in Texas," retired Gen. Wesley Clark told enthusiastic supporters Tuesday that he "ain't slowing down until the final buzzer sounds."

"Never, never underestimate what a determined soldier can accomplish when he's fighting for his country," said Clark, who was supreme commander of NATO forces in 1999 during the Kosovo war.

Clark made his comments as he clung to a projected third-place finish in the New Hampshire primary. Results showed Clark with 13 percent of the vote, just ahead of Sen. John Edwards.

The retired general hailed the results as a victory for his fledgling campaign.

"Four months ago, we weren't even in this race. We had no money. We had no staff. We had no office. All we had was hope and a vision for a better America," he said.

"Four months later, we came into New Hampshire as one of the elite eight. Tonight, we leave New Hampshire as one of the final four."

Clark had hoped to win one of the top spots in an effort to add credibility to his presidential campaign. The New Hampshire presidential primary was Clark's first election of any sort.

He has been criticized for coming to the Democratic Party late in life. He has acknowledged voting for Republicans Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, but said he voted for Democrats Bill Clinton and Al Gore.

Clark, a Rhodes scholar and West Point graduate, works as an investment banker in Little Rock, Arkansas.

His inexperience on the campaign trail has been evident several times, when he has answered questions or made stump speeches that later required retraction or clarification.

He attempted to put those gaffes behind him Tuesday and looked ahead to the seven states that hold primaries or caucuses February 3.

"We must beat George W. Bush," he said. "I can and I will."

He added, "If there's one thing I learned during my 34 years in the United States Army, it's this: That real leadership comes from deciding and doing, not talking and debating."

Clark said he jumped into the race because he "couldn't stand by and watch while this country that I and so many others have fought for unravels.

"I couldn't stand it," he said.

He then criticized the Bush White House for its tax cuts and its dealings with Beltway special interests.

Then, the general said, "I couldn't stand by and watch as, day after day, our servicemen and women lost their lives in an unnecessary war in Iraq."

Clark's supporters gave a resounding cheer when he promised to "march onward, state after state, until we send George W. Bush right back to that ranch in Texas."

CNN:

Democratic Presidential: Modified closed primary
27 total delegates* -- 22 tied to January 27 primary

State Information: 4 electoral votes
690,159 registered voters as of November 2002 -- 25.6% Dem., 36.7% Rep., 37.7% unaffiliated

SpatiaLogic maps of primary results

This page represents results, including delegate count, reported immediately after each state's contest. More >

RACE	STATUS	CANDIDATE	VOTES	VOTE%	DEL	PRECINCTS	LOCAL	EXIT POLL
New Hampshire updated: 3:12 p.m., January 28	W	Kerry	84,229	39%	13	100% reporting	results by county	voter survey results
		Dean	57,788	26%	9
		Clark	27,254	13%	0
		Edwards	26,416	12%	0
		Lieberman	18,829	9%	0
		Kucinich	3,104	1%	0
		Sharpton	345	0%	0

New Hampshire has 22 pledged and five unpledged delegates. Of the 22 pledged delegates, 14 are district-level delegates (based on results of a given district's binding primary), five are at-large delegates and three are "party leader and elected official" (PLEO) delegates. Of the five unpledged delegates, four are decided on March 1, 2004, and one is selected at the state Democratic convention on April 24, 2004.
• For more about the delegate selection process, click here.
• How does CNN project winners in races? Click here.
• Exit polls are a survey of selected voters taken soon after they leave their voting place. Pollsters use this sample information, collected from a small percentage of voters, to track and project how all voters or specific segments of the voters sided on a particular race or ballot measure. For more on how to read exit polls, click here.

boston.com/news/politics

By Ron Fournier, Associated Press, 1/30/2004

Wesley Clark

WASHINGTON -- John Kerry scooped up key union endorsements Friday as presidential rivals criticized his nearly 20-year Senate record, calling the Democratic front-runner all-talk, no-action on affirmative action and health care.

"We're not going to beat George W. Bush with old-style, fudge-it-up politics," retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark said as the seven-candidate field steamed toward a seven-state showdown Tuesday. Kerry's campaign said the criticism was a sign of desperation.

Polls showed the Massachusetts senator with a commanding lead in Missouri, Arizona and North Dakota -- states with 143 of the 269 delegates at stake. Kerry shared the lead in two others, South Carolina and Oklahoma, and party strategists gave him the edge in New Mexico and Delaware.

Kerry hopes to knock Clark and Sen. John Edwards from the race Tuesday, then finish off a staggering Howard Dean four days later in Michigan and Washington state.

Dean, trying to salvage his campaign after losing to Kerry in Iowa and New Hampshire, questioned his rival's Senate record.

"If Senator Kerry had accomplished anything in health care, he ought to be able to explain to the people of South Carolina how come there are so many uninsured kids here and there aren't any in my state," said the former Vermont governor.

He said Democrats need "a doer, not a talker" to beat President Bush in the fall.

Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said Dean is in no position to point fingers. "If Howard Dean wants to talk about records of accomplishment, then he has some explaining to do about balancing the Vermont budget on the backs of the poor, not taking action to better secure a nuclear power plant in the wake of Sept. 11 and throwing 400 family farms out of business," Cutter said.

Dean bristled at Kerry's suggestion that the former governor doesn't know enough about how Congress works. "That's just Washington blather," he said.

In Washington, the Communications Workers of America, with 700,000 members, endorsed Kerry and Michigan's largest teachers union, the 157,000-member Michigan Education Association, gave its support. A third union, the Sheet Metal Workers International Association, plans to announce its backing next week.

Two members of the Congressional Black Caucus also announced their endorsements Friday, with Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., backing Edwards and Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., supporting Kerry.

Bush cast his eyes warily on the race, planning a trip next Thursday to South Carolina. He campaigned in New Hampshire two days after the Granite State primary to counter Democratic criticism.

Kerry, Dean and four candidates addressed a forum on low income and minority issues in South Carolina, where about half of voting Democrats are minorities.

"I'm the only one who has been a civil rights activist in this race," said Al Sharpton, the field's only black. "The rest of these people talked about what should be done. I did something about it."

Surveys show Sharpton with single-digit support in South Carolina, though state Democrats said pollsters might be underestimating his support among blacks.

The other candidates had to work harder to connect with black voters.

Clark told a Benedict College crowd that he opposed racial profiling by police, because he was once a victim of it. Clark said he was an Army captain in 1968 when he raised the suspicions of a police officer by wearing slightly long hair and driving a car with a German license plate.

Edwards insisted he was the only politician who talked about poverty, an important issue to his audience.

"It's one thing for people to come in front of you and talk about poverty," Edwards told his native-state crowd. "It's a different thing to talk about poverty every time you speak, everywhere in America, which is what I do."

Kerry pointed to his service in the Vietnam War.

"Most of the kids I was with in Vietnam came out of the South side of Chicago, South-central Los Angeles or the barrio or elsewhere," he said. "They weren't the kids from the university that I went to."

Kerry was a Navy office during the war and earned a string of decorations, including three purple hearts. His Vietnam colleagues travel with Kerry, offering testimonials credited with turning his campaign around.

"In the heat of battle you learn about a man," said Rev. David Alston, a gunner on Kerry's boat. Kerry and Edwards poured more money into South Carolina ad campaigns. Polls show them tied in a state Edwards must win. Clark is trailing in state surveys, despite spending about $2.3 million on commercials in the first-in-the-South primary.

Kerry, Clark and Edwards are locked in a tight race in Oklahoma.

Clark faulted Kerry for failing to take responsibility for a 1992 comment on affirmative action. "When you make a mistake, you ought to fess up to it," the Arkansan said.

In a debate Thursday, Kerry was asked about reservations he had expressed about affirmative action 12 years ago. Kerry said he was only agreeing with then-President Clinton.

Sen. Joe Lieberman campaigned in Delaware, perhaps his strongest state. A poll showed him trailing Kerry by 13 percentage points.

boston.com/dailyglobe2/030/nation

NEWS ANALYSIS

By Peter S. Canellos, Globe Staff, 1/30/2004

WASHINGTON -- As the campaign swung toward Dixie with last night's debate, North Carolina Senator John Edwards started emphasizing his support of the Iraq war again, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry began stressing his partnership with moderate South Carolina Senator Ernest ''Fritz'' Hollings again, and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean ended his week of atonement and became feisty again.

After his first debate in the front-runner's dunking booth, Kerry was only a little wet, offering a tepid response to Dean's criticism of his failure to pass health care initiatives in the Senate. And in his first appearance as a true underdog, Dean came out punching, blaming Vice President Dick Cheney's visit to the CIA for intelligence reports exaggerating the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and knocking Kerry for his long tenure in Washington.

But it is unclear whether Dean's toughness will bring back memories of the straight-talker who dominated the race for most of last year -- or remind voters of the screamer whose Iowa concession speech made him the butt of jokes on late-night television.

''This is so mellow,'' Dean told moderator Tom Brokaw during a commercial break, as though eager to stir things up.

While Dean put on his boxing gloves, Edwards, retired Army General Wesley K. Clark, and Connecticut Senator Joseph I. Lieberman took every opportunity to advertise their electability, as though challenging Kerry at his game. Exit polls in New Hampshire showed that Democrats were so concerned about beating President Bush that they supported the person they felt had the best shot: Kerry.

But voters in the South and West employ a different calculus.

Lieberman presented the electability issue as a mathematical equation. He said his moderate positions on issues attract independents and ''disgruntled Republicans,'' which could lead Democrats to victory in November.

''I'm the one experienced moderate in this race,'' Lieberman said, implying Clark and Edwards were moderates-come-lately.

Perhaps aiming at the large numbers of military families in South Carolina, where independents and Republicans can vote in the Democratic primary, Lieberman advertised his unwavering support for the Iraq war and brushed aside concerns about flawed intelligence leading up to the war.

''Saddam Hussein himself was a weapon of mass destruction,'' he declared, in a clip no doubt being filed away by the GOP for reference in the fall campaign.

Edwards, too, took pains to defend his support for the war, which was something of a shift: In Iowa and New Hampshire, he would respond to any question about Iraq with an attack on Bush.

He said he backed the war in part because of reports that Hussein was ''gassing Kurdish children in northern Iraq,'' though the last reported gas attack was 15 years before the war.

But electability was also on Edwards' agenda last night, and he offered an equation of his own: No Democratic president has ever been elected carrying fewer than five Southern states.

And Edwards later pointed to his North Carolina roots, emphasizing that he understood the struggles of working people. ''I've lived with this my entire life,'' he said, neglecting to mention the multimillion-dollar fees he collected as the state's leading personal-injury lawyer.

Clark, too, hails from the South, having grown up in Arkansas, and he even offered a hint of a drawl, pronouncing the nation's capital as ''Warshington,'' as in ''I'm not a Warshington insider.''

His answers were clearer and quicker than in his subpar performance in the New Hampshire debate, but it remains to be seen whether his outsider campaign can catch on in time.

As for the new front-runner, this debate was the only scheduled televised event before the Feb. 3 primaries, where Kerry's appeal will be tested in seven states where he has had little time to campaign.

Voters got to see the good Kerry, whose quick-witted retorts to questions about the Iraq war have been a key to his resurgence, and the bad Kerry, lecturing the audience on the ways of Congress.

Peter Canellos can be reached at canellos@globe.com

© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.

boston.com/dailyglobe2/030/nation

KERRY UNDER FIRE

By Patrick Healy, Globe Staff, 1/30/2004

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Senator John F. Kerry, facing the increased attention that comes with front-runner status, came under multiple attacks yesterday from rival Democrats over his recent remarks on abortion and winning Southern votes, while top Republicans assailed him as soft on national security.

Kerry struck back immediately with retorts that he and his advisers had crafted beforehand, a sign of his campaign's zeal for avoiding the political damage suffered by other Democrats who did not respond swiftly to attacks, including Howard Dean, who was weighed down by attacks from Kerry and other rivals when he was well ahead in early polls.

Advisers to one Democratic candidate circulated a newspaper article in Missouri -- which holds a key primary Tuesday that Kerry has targeted for victory -- that said Kerry personally opposed abortion ''as an article of faith'' because he is required to do so as a Catholic. Kerry added that a lawmaker should not ''legislate his personal beliefs,'' according to a transcript of the interview with Missouri reporters, but that was not included in the published story.

Kerry was raised a Catholic, served as an altar boy, and once considered becoming a priest. Nevertheless, he said yesterday, ''Whatever my personal beliefs are, they have no place here,'' and repeatedly stressed his view that the constitutional separation of church and state forbids lawmakers from regulating abortion based on their religious beliefs.

On a day when the seven Democratic candidates gathered here for a forum, rival John Edwards sought to sow doubt in Southern Democrats' minds about a key campaign theme of Kerry's -- that he is the most ''electable'' of the Democrats challenging President Bush. Edwards told reporters that the Massachusetts senator would be a ''risk'' as the party nominee because his mix of liberal and centrist views would not appeal to Southern voters.

''We've never elected a Democrat in the United States without winning at least five Southern states,'' Edwards said. ''If Democrats across the country want to take a risk that for the first time in American history that's a possibility, then they can do that.''

Voters in both Iowa and New Hampshire expressed similar concerns in the weeks before Kerry's recent victories in those states. He reassured them -- in comments that Edwards and others are now seizing upon -- by saying that he would compete in the South but didn't necessarily have to do well there during the general election. Instead, he said, he would seek to win all of the states that Al Gore carried in 2000, plus New Hampshire, Ohio, or West Virginia.

Yesterday, Kerry said his remark was not tantamount to writing off the South, but rather that it was ''merely a comment on mathematical counting.''

''It is not possible for me in my strategy to not campaign in the South and not win states in the South, and I intend to,'' Kerry said during a stop at Midlands Technical College in Columbia, S.C., where he picked up a key endorsement from the state's senior black congressman, James E. Clyburn.

''I've been to Alabama, to Tennessee, to Arkansas, to Florida, to Georgia, obviously to South Carolina,'' Kerry added. ''I think it is time that we create a new coalition in America. In my race for the presidency, I intend to prove that we are indeed `one America,' '' a phrase that Edwards has invoked for months.

Kerry also fended off a new line of attack from Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie, who said yesterday that the four-term senator had consistently opposed greater defense spending and laws that Gillespie said enhanced US national security.

While Kerry plans to use his Vietnam War service record and his foreign policy expertise as a bulwark to Republican attacks on his national security credentials, Gillespie drew a distinction between Kerry's experience as a soldier and his Senate record.

''John Kerry's record of service in our military is honorable. But his long record in the Senate is one of advocating policies that would weaken our national security,'' Gillespie said at the RNC's winter meeting in Washington yesterday.

Kerry said he welcomed a debate pitting his views on defense and security against Bush's, and called Gillespie's remarks ''the greatest form of flattery.''

''I have voted for the largest defense budgets in the history of our country. I have voted for almost all weapon systems that we have today with few exceptions. Unfortunately, these are people who've never met a system they didn't like. I have,'' Kerry said.

Before last night's forum with his rivals, Kerry earned bragging rights in South Carolina as he won support from Clyburn, who had previously endorsed Representative Richard A. Gephardt.

Kerry, who toured the technical college's manufacturing learning lab with Clyburn before announcing the endorsement, said that the two men had become friends during some of Kerry's visits to the state, where he has not campaigned since Sept. 12.

''I've had some good times with him, learned how to talk over the loud noise in a garage in a fish fry, and dance a bit late at night,'' Kerry said.

''I wouldn't call that dancing,'' Clyburn interjected.

''I thought for a white guy I showed some rhythm,'' Kerry replied. ''I guess I'll have to take a few more lessons. I'm ready for it, folks, come on at it. Bring it on!''

Globe staff member Raja Mishra contributed to this report. Patrick Healy can be reached at phealy@globe.com.

© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/primaries/pages/dates/02/03/index.html

	Democratic Presidential Primaries and Caucuses February 3 is the first of several multi-state election days in the 2004 season. Primaries are held in South Carolina, Arizona, Missouri, Delaware and Oklahoma and caucuses are held in New Mexico and North Dakota. More than 260 delegates are tied to the results of the February 3 races.
This page represents results, including delegate count, reported immediately after each state's contest. More >

RACE	STATUS	CANDIDATE	VOTES	VOTE%	DEL	PRECINCTS	LOCAL	EXIT POLL
Arizona updated: 5:12 p.m., February 4		Kerry	95,784	43%	30	100% reporting	results by county	voter survey results
		Clark	60,109	27%	22
		Dean	31,270	14%	3
		Edwards	15,583	7%	0
		Lieberman	15,123	7%	0
		Kucinich	3,644	2%	0
		Sharpton	1,113	0%	0

RACE	STATUS	CANDIDATE	VOTES	VOTE%	DEL	PRECINCTS	LOCAL	EXIT POLL
Delaware updated: 5:12 p.m., February 4		Kerry	16,729	50%	14	100% reporting	results by county	voter survey results
		Lieberman	3,683	11%	0
		Edwards	3,657	11%	0
		Dean	3,439	10%	0
		Clark	3,145	10%	0
		Sharpton	1,885	6%	1
		Kucinich	343	1%	0

RACE	STATUS	CANDIDATE	VOTES	VOTE%	DEL	PRECINCTS	LOCAL	EXIT POLL
Missouri updated: 5:13 p.m., February 4		Kerry	211,737	51%	36	100% reporting	results by county	voter survey results
		Edwards	103,198	25%	20
		Dean	36,305	9%	0
		Clark	18,328	4%	0
		Lieberman	14,726	4%	0
		Sharpton	14,312	3%	0
		Gephardt	8,306	2%	0
		Kucinich	4,876	1%	0
		Uncommitted	4,316	1%	0

RACE	STATUS	CANDIDATE	VOTES	VOTE%	DEL	PRECINCTS	LOCAL	EXIT POLL
New Mexico updated: 5:19 p.m., February 4		Kerry	40,964	42%	14	98% reporting	results by county	not available
		Clark	19,838	21%	8
		Dean	15,854	16%	4
		Edwards	10,953	11%	0
		Kucinich	5,365	6%	0
		Lieberman	2,520	3%	0
		Uncommitted	460	0%	0

RACE	STATUS	CANDIDATE	VOTES	VOTE%	DEL	PRECINCTS	LOCAL	EXIT POLL
North Dakota updated: 5:13 p.m., February 4		Kerry	5,316	50%	10	100% reporting	not available	not available
		Clark	2,502	24%	4
		Dean	1,231	12%	0
		Edwards	1,025	10%	0
		Kucinich	308	3%	0
		Lieberman	98	1%	0
		Sharpton	28	0%	0

RACE	STATUS	CANDIDATE	VOTES	VOTE%	DEL	PRECINCTS	LOCAL	EXIT POLL
Oklahoma updated: 5:13 p.m., February 4		Clark	90,504	30%	15	100% reporting	results by county	voter survey results
		Edwards	89,298	30%	13
		Kerry	81,057	27%	12
		Lieberman	19,680	6%	0
		Dean	12,722	4%	0
		Sharpton	3,938	1%	0
		Kucinich	2,544	1%	0

RACE	STATUS	CANDIDATE	VOTES	VOTE%	DEL	PRECINCTS	LOCAL	EXIT POLL
South Carolina updated: 5:13 p.m., February 4		Edwards	131,174	45%	28	99% reporting	results by county	voter survey results
		Kerry	88,508	30%	17
		Sharpton	28,201	10%	0
		Clark	21,011	7%	0
		Dean	13,815	5%	0
		Lieberman	7,147	2%	0
		Kucinich	1,319	1%	0

• For more about the delegate selection process, click here.
• How does CNN project winners in races? Click here.
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Feb. 4, 2004

Wes Clark solidified his status as a top tier contender for the Democratic nomination by winning the Oklahoma primary and finishing second in Arizona, New Mexico and North Dakota. He landed more first- and second-place finishes than any other candidate beside John Kerry. Before departing to campaign in Tennessee, Clark told a cheering crowd of supporters, "I leave Oklahoma even more full of hope and even more committed to building an even better America."

Clark thanked the thousands of volunteers across the country who made phone calls, wrote letters and knocked on doors for the campaign.

"We're going to build a country that doesn't just talk about family values, but values families," Clark said. ""We're going to take the White House back for the rightful owners, the American people."

Clark's record as a doer, not just a talker persuaded voters to support his candidacy. For example, in the Army, Clark consistently fought for better health care, schools and affirmative action programs.

Wednesday, Clark begins a bus tour of Tennessee. He will meet voters in Memphis, Jackson, Camden, Clarksville and Nashville. He already has a strong organization in Tennessee, Virginia and Michigan -- states that will be holding primaries in the coming week.

More than 500 Democratic leaders in Tennessee have already thrown their support behind Clark. He has been endorsed by the Arab American News, based in Michigan, and hundreds of veterans in the Wolverine State.

"Today, Democrats went to the polls," Clark said. "The people have spoken, and the message couldn't be clearer: America wants a higher standard of leadership in the White House."

http://www.azcentral.com

Associated Press
Feb. 4, 2004 07:00 AM

OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma gave Wesley Clark his first-ever election win and breathed new life into the retired general's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"I can't wait to get to Tennessee and Virginia and lay out the case to the voters," Clark said in an interview on CNN. The two states hold primaries next Tuesday.

Aides said Clark would scale back plans to compete in Virginia to concentrate on Tennessee, where he was headed Wednesday. He will face strong competition in the state from Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.

But first there was time to celebrate his victory Tuesday in Oklahoma's Democratic primary.

"As an old soldier from Arkansas, I just couldn't be prouder of your support in the first election I've ever won," he told supporters.

"Today, across the country, Democrats went to the polls and tonight the people have spoken, and the message they sent couldn't be clearer: America wants a higher standard of leadership in Washington," Clark said.

With seven states voting on Tuesday, Clark also placed a distant second to Sen. John Kerry in Arizona and North Dakota. He finished well behind Kerry in New Mexico as well, just ahead of Howard Dean.

Clark narrowly won Oklahoma with support of voters looking for a candidate with the right experience and among those who said standing up for beliefs was most important, exit polls showed. But he lost to Edwards among those who valued a positive message and those who wanted someone who cared about people like them. He lost to Kerry among those who most valued the ability to beat President Bush.

On the issues, Clark won among those who picked education, health care or national security as their top concern. But he lost to Edwards among the bulk of voters who cited the economy.

Clark, a former NATO supreme commander, had stressed his Southern roots throughout the campaign but forfeited South Carolina to Edwards, who was born there, in order to concentrate his campaign efforts on Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico.

"I'm not part of the Washington problem," Clark said. "I did not vote for No Child Left Behind. I did not vote to go to war in Iraq. I did not vote, ever, to cut veterans benefits. You can go on and on and on."

While Clark and his aides sought to put a positive face on their effort, Clark's son, Wesley Clark Jr., expressed bitter disappointment in his father's first experience with electoral politics.

"It's really been disillusioning," the 34-year-old Clark told reporters. "You go out and see the way politics really works. It is a dirty business filled with a lot of people pretending to be a lot of things they are not."

Still, the younger Clark said he had great respect for his father's effort.

"He did his best," he said.

http://www.azcentral.com

David Espo
Associated Press
Feb. 4, 2004 07:00 AM

WASHINGTON - Even defeat is kind to Sen. John Kerry, not that the Democratic front-runner has tasted much of it in the latest round of presidential primaries and caucuses.

Winner of five primary and caucus states on Tuesday night, Kerry faltered only in South Carolina and Oklahoma.

But Sen. John Edwards took one and retired Gen. Wesley Clark the other, leaving the two men in a struggle to emerge as the main alternative to the Massachusetts senator.

Even Democrats who didn't vote for Kerry appear fairly comfortable with him. Large majorities of voters - ranging from about 70 percent in Oklahoma to more than 80 percent in Delaware - said they would be somewhat or very satisfied if he wins, exit polls showed.

"It's a big day for John Kerry. He certainly appears to be well on his way to the nomination," said Steve Murphy, who was campaign manager for Rep. Dick Gephardt, an early casualty in the race.

"The only question is who is going to be the last man standing" against him, he added.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman conceded it won't be him. The party's 2000 vice presidential candidate dropped out of the race. The self-described voice of moderation never found a viable campaign niche in an era of intense political polarization.

Increasingly, it seemed unlikely to be Howard Dean. The one-time front-runner said he intended to remain in the race, even though he failed to finish above third place in any of the states on the ballot.

"We're going to pick up some delegates tonight and this is all about who gets the most delegates in Boston in July and it's going to be us," he told his supporters.

Not many, though.

Of the 269 pledged delegates at stake Tuesday night, an AP analysis showed Kerry winning 128, Edwards 61, Clark 49, Dean seven and Al Sharpton one, with 23 yet to allocated. Rep. Dennis Kucinich got none.

"If Dean continues for another two or three weeks he'll turn himself into another Kucinich," said Merle Black, an Emory University politics professor. Kucinich generally pulls in the low single digits.

"It's Kerry's race to lose right now," added Black. "He comes out way ahead in the delegates and there appears to be no one else on the scene who appears capable of stopping him."

Kerry won primaries in Arizona, Delaware and Missouri as well as caucuses in New Mexico and North Dakota, and is the only man in the field to win delegates in all seven states on Tuesday's ballot.

He said he, not Edwards, was running a nationwide race. "You don't cherry pick the presidency," he jabbed at Edwards' southern strategy.

Interviews with voters leaving their polling places said Kerry benefited from the perception that he was the candidate best positioned to defeat President Bush this fall.

The Massachusetts senator drew the support of least two-thirds of the voters in Arizona, Delaware and Missouri who said they cared most about replacing Bush, an Associated Press survey of voters showed.

Officially, the Kerry campaign had said the Massachusetts senator's goal for the night was to gain more of the 269 delegates at stake than any of his rivals.

Still, in the week since his double-digit victory in the New Hampshire primary, Kerry campaigned for a seven-state sweep that could turn the race for the nomination into a rout.

Even before the night's results were known, he was looking ahead, lining up an endorsement from the 1.2 million-member American Federation of Teachers and anticipating more success in Saturday caucuses in Michigan and Washington.

Neither Dean nor Edwards nor Clark appears determined to put up much of a fight in those two states, with 204 delegates between them.

Looking further ahead, Kerry also moved aggressively to prevent Edwards and Clark from expanding their support into Virginia and Tennessee, both of which hold primaries next Tuesday.

Officials said the Massachusetts senator intended to buy television advertising time in the heavily populated northern Virginia suburbs outside Washington, an expensive proposition neither rival had yet committed to.

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David Espo has covered presidential politics for The Associated Press since 1980.

TheWMURChannel.com

POSTED: 10:59 a.m. EST February 4, 2004

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Wesley Clark says he's eager to move on after Oklahoma gave him his first-ever election win Tuesday.

Oklahoma Is O.K. For Clark

The Democratic presidential candidate and retired general tells CNN he can't wait to get to Tennessee and Virginia to "lay out the case to the voters."

The two states hold presidential contests next Tuesday.

Aides say Clark will scale back on his campaigning plans in Virginia to focus on Tennessee, where he's heading Wednesday. He's expected to face stiff competition from North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.

Clark narrowly won Oklahoma over Edwards, who told CBS the contest was a "virtual tie."

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.