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The Morning Grind / DayAhead |
Back to Burlington, again
By John Mercurio
CNN Political Unit
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Homeward bound: Howard Dean waves to supporters at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, Tuesday night.
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| ON CNN TV | 
Follow the Democratic presidential candidates' dash to next week's primaries as CNN-USA's anchors, correspondents and analysts track the latest campaign events and endorsements.
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VIDEO
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CNN's Judy Woodruff on John Kerry's win.
CNN's Candy Crowley on Howard Dean's second-place finish.
CNN's Frank Buckley on the next battleground.
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| UPCOMING PRIMARIES |
• Tuesday, February 3: Missouri, Oklahoma, Arizona, Delaware, South Carolina primaries; North Dakota and New Mexico caucuses • Saturday, February 7: Michigan and Washington caucuses • Sunday, February 8: Maine caucuses • Tuesday, February 10: Tennessee primary and Virginia primaries When is your primary? For more key dates in the 2004 election season, see our special America Votes 2004 Election Calendar |
SPECIAL REPORT
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MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) -- Howard Dean was supposed to be bouncing high by now.
Instead, he heads home to Burlington, Vermont, today for the second time in eight days, hoping to retool his campaign and find a way to navigate an upcoming week of even less-friendly waters.
We won't know specifically how Dean plans to proceed until top aides convene in Vermont later this morning. But aides have conceded for days that a double-digit loss in the Granite State would force them to narrow their focus as they head into a cold and unfamiliar February. (CNN.com's interactive Election Calendar)
"We have to be realistic," a Dean aide said last night, noting that TV ads are ready to run but won't air until after today's meeting. "Time and money are finite." (Dean: 'Very pleased' with New Hampshire finish)
Dean stopped running TV ads entirely in South Carolina, New Mexico and Arizona over the weekend to focus on New Hampshire, where advisers say he spent about $850,000, far more than his rivals. (Top story: Primary results, next moves, Candidates' fund-raising figures)
Dean is scheduled to conduct satellite interviews today in radio and TV markets in all seven February 3 states, and maybe Michigan as well. (CNN.com's interactive Primary Explainer)
Dean aides released key schedule info last night, giving a broad-brush picture of the states he plans to target. He expects to travel to Michigan, South Carolina, Missouri, New Mexico, Arizona, Washington state and Wisconsin.
The governor remained upbeat, if somewhat restrained, last night in Manchester. "We really are going to win this nomination, aren't we?" he said.
Adding to Dean's frustration: Exit polls showed he was regaining his strength. Exit polls showed Kerry edging Dean narrowly among the third of the voters who had chosen their candidate since Sunday. (Where things stand: A delegates scorecard)
But enough about Dean. The real story today is John Kerry, who, after two convincing wins, should drop the "Comeback" moniker and assume a more suitable title of "front-runner." It's only fair, truth in advertising. (Kerry to GOP: 'Bring it on')
In fact, given the challenges Dean faces in states like South Carolina, Missouri and Oklahoma, where antiwar liberals are harder to find than lattes, many strategists think Kerry's chief rival for the nomination is not Dean, but John Edwards, who tied with Wesley Clark for third last night but heads to friendly country today in South Carolina. (Primary results, Edwards predicts 'great victories, Clark stakes claim as top-tier candidate)
Kerry -- who exit polls show benefited most from voters' perception that he is more "electable" than Dean (Interactive: What shaped the vote) is to travel first today to Missouri, where he has staked the field's most aggressive claim to Dick Gephardt's base.
We hear he'll get the endorsements of Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, ex-Rep. Alan Wheat and Jackson County Executive Katheryn Shields, among others. (Notably absent, though, will be Gephardt. Sources say he is more focused on vacationing with his wife Jane right now than influencing the race in his home state.)
The Kerry camp now fans out across the country, dispatching surrogates to lock up support in several corners and build momentum heading into a more uncertain and unwieldy terrain next month.
They'll start airing TV ads today in all seven February 3 states.
Ted Kennedy, Kerry's most ubiquitous surrogate, hits the road tomorrow, doing a three-day swing through Michigan, Arizona and New Mexico. Operatives will meet today in Washington with all undecided House members. Kennedy is scheduled to attend and Kerry will call in, according to Roll Call's Chris Cillizza.
Later this week, the United Auto Workers will meet in Washington to decide whether to endorse anyone in the race. Sources said Kennedy is lobbying the union hard to back Kerry, but aides said this morning that the labor nod is not a done deal.
For all you reporters dreading the flight from Manchester to Washington today, consider Clark, who plans to visit four states before midnight. Leaving New Hampshire in third place, Clark will start out in Charleston, South Carolina; continuing on to Tulsa, Oklahoma; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and, finally, Phoenix, Arizona, tonight.
Clark spent yesterday afternoon doing satellite interviews with local stations in seven of the eight states holding primaries or caucuses on February 3 and February 10. (South Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Virginia, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Missouri.) Clark's new TV ad, which hit the air either last night or tonight, will run in those states. The ad will focus on Clark as the outsider.
After spending the night denying rumors he'd quit the race, Joe Lieberman had planned to go to Delaware today to campaign with Sen. Tom Carper, one of his most prominent backers. Alas, in the end, an ice storm prevented him from making the Delaware trip. (Lieberman vows to keep running)
Instead he left last night for Oklahoma City. He'll spend all day here and leave tonight for South Carolina in advance of tomorrow's debate in Greenville. Aides say they hope Lieberman can fly back to Delaware on Friday and make up for the time he's losing there.
Aides point out that there will be two debates (Thursday in South Carolina and Monday in Missouri) before February 3, and those encounters could, just maybe, change the dynamics of the race before next Tuesday's vote.
Lieberman aides insist he's in the race to stay, for now. "We're staying in this. If we finish bunched in with Clark and Edwards, then we're performing better than expected," said one strategist. "This is a three-way tie for third."
