Democratic rivals fan out
Kerry criticized for lobbyists' contributions
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John Kerry talks with a youngster on a campaign stop Monday in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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CNN's Bill Schneider on a new poll showing Sen. John Kerry leading President Bush in a head-to-head matchup.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien talks with Donna Brazile about John Kerry's momentum.
Sen. John Edwards tells CNN's Judy Woodruff why South Carolina is important to him.
CNN's Judy Woodruff on counting black votes in South Carolina.
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| DEMOCRATIC DELEGATES AT STAKE TUESDAY |
• Arizona: 55 • Delaware: 15 • Missouri: 74 • New Mexico: 26 • North Dakota: 14 • Oklahoma: 40 • South Carolina: 45 • Total: 269 • Needed to win: 2,161 When is your primary? For more key dates in the 2004 election season, see our special America Votes 2004 Election Calendar |
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(CNN) -- The battle for the Democratic presidential nomination played out on several fronts Monday as Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts sought to solidify his status as the Democratic front-runner, while his rivals looked to shake things up.
On the eve of the broadest series of state contests to date, most of the Democratic contenders focused on individual states in a bid to stall Kerry's momentum and bolster their own candidacies.
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, in appearances in New Mexico and Arizona -- two of the seven states to hold primaries or caucuses on Tuesday -- hammered away at Kerry as beholden to special interests.
"I'm so tired of Washington politicians who have the nerve to say they're going to fight special interests and then take all of their money," Dean declared at one stop in Santa Fe, New Mexico, later criticizing Kerry by name.
That line of attack picked up over the weekend with the release of figures from the Center for Responsive Politics that show Kerry has received more campaign contributions from registered lobbyists than any current or former senator since 1989.(Full story)
But Kerry fought back Monday, touting the endorsement Monday of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, whose career has been marked in part by tackling Wall Street wrongdoing.
"This is somebody who knows how to stand up to you and me -- who knows how to push back against special interests, who knows how to stand up when matters of ethics and integrity come to the fore," Spitzer told a crowd at a Kerry campaign event in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Kerry's campaign also received some encouraging news from a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll that showed him the overwhelming choice of registered Democrats and also showed him leading President Bush in a hypothetical matchup.(Full story)
With polls showing Kerry competitive in all seven states holding contests Tuesday, his rivals adopted a strategy of focusing on specific states in a bid to deny Kerry a clean sweep and keeping the nomination fight alive.
Edwards eyes S.C.
Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, for example, was spending the day in South Carolina, a state he has described as critical to his candidacy. Polls show Edwards in the lead in that state.
Edwards was fighting bronchitis as he toured the state by bus Monday, promising to bring jobs back to a state hard hit by the loss of manufacturing jobs, particularly in the textile industry.
"A job is about more than a paycheck," he said. "It's about dignity, it's about self respect, it's about men and women who have spent their lives taking care of their families, and want to do it again. As your president, we will bring jobs to South Carolina."
Meanwhile, Sen. Joe Lieberman -- who skipped Iowa and placed fifth in New Hampshire -- said he intends to win one state Tuesday to keep his campaign alive, concentrating his efforts on Delaware, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Arizona.
"I have said all along that the first big test for my presidential candidacy would come on Tuesday, February 3," he told reporters in Oklahoma City.
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark was due to hit three states Monday: Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona.
An aide to Clark told CNN that his campaign hopes to win in Oklahoma and finish second in a couple of other states. But the aide stopped short of saying whether the retired Army general will pull out of the race if Tuesday's results fall short of expectations.
Dean's campaign -- which once enjoyed front-runner status -- played down expectations for Tuesday, reflecting its focus on Michigan caucuses on Saturday and the Wisconsin primary on February 17. Dean's new campaign chief, Roy Neel, said fewer than 10 percent of Democratic convention delegates would be selected after Tuesday, and said Dean plans to be "the last-standing alternative to John Kerry after the Wisconsin primary."
"Has such a strategy ever worked before? No. It's never been tried," he told volunteers on the campaign's Web site. "But prior to this year, no candidate had ever raised $46 million dollars, mostly from ordinary Americans giving $100 each."
How the numbers add up
On Tuesday, Democrats in five states -- Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, Oklahoma and South Carolina -- go to the polls in primaries, while North Dakota and New Mexico hold caucuses.
Republicans will hold primaries in Missouri and Oklahoma, where President Bush faces no significant opposition.
In all, 269 Democratic delegates are up for grabs Tuesday, about 12 percent of the 2,161 delegates needed to win the nomination at the party's national convention July 26. (Where things stand: A delegates scorecard)
The latest CNN/Los Angeles Times polls of likely voters show Kerry with a double-digit lead over Edwards in Missouri and narrow edge over retired Clark in Arizona. Those are the two largest states holding contests Tuesday, with together nearly half of the 269 delegates up for grabs. (Poll: Three states, one question)
However, in South Carolina, Edwards led Kerry by a wide margin, according to the poll. Lieberman, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and the Rev. Al Sharpton trailed in the polls.
CNN's Candy Crowley, Kelly Wallace, Justin Dial and Phil Hirschkorn contributed to this report.
