 |
|
The Morning Grind / DayAhead |
'It ain't a down day now'
By John Mercurio
CNN Political Unit
 |
Howard Dean addresses supporters in Concord, New Hampshire, on Tuesday.
Story Tools
| ON CNN TV | 
Watch CNN for ongoing live coverage of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
|
VIDEO
|
Sen. John Kerry hit the ground running in New Hampshire.
Sen. John Edwards is trying to carry the momentum he gained in Iowa to New Hampshire.
Howard Dean is calling himself an underdog in New Hampshire.
|
SPECIAL REPORT
|
|
|
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) -- Today was supposed to be Howard Dean's down day, his long-awaited chance to chill out and watch his son Paul's hockey game after a hard-fought victory in Iowa. But that was before his third-place finish Monday night. And then, of course, his third-rate speech.
"It ain't a down day now," a senior Dean strategist, who for once requested anonymity, told CNN's Candy Crowley yesterday.
The former front-runner, who despite his third-place showing (and, perhaps, also because of it) is by far the most compelling story coming out of Iowa, scheduled one public event for today -- a 9 a.m. ET pep rally at Dean HQ in Manchester, which the Grind plans to attend. He might "drop by" other sites, but aides said Dean will return to Burlington this afternoon to talk strategy with his campaign manager Joe Trippi and other top aides. He also hopes to catch the Burlington vs. BFA St. Albans hockey game this evening. (Go Seahorses!)
We don't know what exact roadmap will emerge this afternoon from 60 Farrell Street. But our chatty strategist said Dean, the new '04 "underdog," will renew his focus on his Vermont record and reframe his discussion of the Iraq war. "This now has got to be about his record. That got lost in the shuffle" in Iowa, the aide said.
Dean's antiwar rhetoric, which helped boost his poll numbers and fatten his wallet this summer, will now focus on his "courage" to stake out lonely stands, the aide said, not his anger or hostility toward those who disagree. Dean repeatedly summoned such courage as governor, we'll hear, taking bold stands on hard issues like civil unions and tax cuts. "He did these things when they weren't popular," he said.
Clark to get Dinkins nod
Also today, we hear Wesley Clark will pick up an endorsement from David Dinkins, New York City's first and only African-American mayor. Dinkins, who had been informally advising Dick Gephardt's campaign before he withdrew Tuesday, will endorse Clark today during a 3 p.m. conference call and will travel with Clark in New Hampshire on Sunday.
The middle man here is, of course, Harlem Rep. Charlie Rangel, one of Dinkins's closest friends and one of Clark's earliest and most influential backers. Dinkins' support benefits Clark, especially in the New York and South Carolina primaries. But given how little Dean benefited in Iowa from his vast coterie of big-name backers (entrance polls showed only 1 percent of caucusgoers said they were influenced by endorsements), we don't think Dinkins dramatically transforms the race.
Kerry on health care
Checking in with our '04 Dem front-runner-for-now, we hear John Kerry will give a big speech today focusing on "ending the era of special interests" in the Bush administration, laying out the differences between the Democratic and Republican parties, and announcing a new health care initiative.
Aides wouldn't reveal what that initiative would be, but Kerry's speech follows President Bush's State of the Union address and his announcement of new health care proposals.
Since the Iowa caucuses, aides say, Kerry has raised around $250,000 on the Internet and now has the support of 20 "prominent" Democratic activists in New Hampshire who were supporting Gephardt. Also, on Monday, Kerry's name was the most Googled name online, according to an aide.
That may well be true. But at the senator's chili feed in Pembroke last night, the Grind couldn't help but notice the underwhelming level of applause that greeted Comeback Kerry as he entered the crowded, but not packed, auditorium. State Sen. Sylvia Larsen, the first public official in New Hampshire to come out for Kerry, received a warmer greeting.
But then, who knows what anything means anymore? Having underestimated John Edwards and overestimated Gephardt in Iowa, we've decided to hang up our '04 crystal ball, sit back and watch the fur fly.
