"Of course I'm not going to apologize," Howard Dean said. "John Kerry gets his money the same way George Bush does."

"We spent a lot of money in Iowa and New Hampshire trying to win. We were trying to do what, essentially, John Kerry is now doing," Howard Dean said. "We took an enormous gamble and it didn't work."

"When you don't win and when you don't win repeatedly, your support dries up. Rank-and-file people switch to other candidates. Campaign workers lose heart and stop working," said David Rohde, a Michigan State University political science professor.  (2/3/2004)

More Money

Money is the necessary ingredient to continue to win delegates. At this point there is some good news in the Howard Dean camp. It is reported that fundraising is coming in at around $10,000 per hour. Not enough to match Kerry or get Dean back into the Feb. 3 round, but it will set Dean up for Michigan (Feb.7) and Wisconsin (Feb. 17).

Meanwhile, Kerry has dragged in over $500,000 since New Hampshire’s election. He has raised $1.6 million online since the Iowa Caucuses.

Bad news came in for Sen. John Edwards and Wesley Clark.  They have opted into the public financing of elections program. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is not able to pay 100 percent of the money owed. So, They will be paying out 43 to 45 cents on the dollar. Rep. Dennis Kucinich had been expecting $2.4 million in his February check; Wesley Clark, $1.4 million; Joe Lieberman, about $389,000; and John Edwards, about $302,000.

Candidates normally borrow against the money owed by the FEC.

Howard Dean

Howard Dean got some good news and some bad news in the poll numbers. The good news is that Sen. John Edwards is now 4 percentage points ahead of Sen. John Kerry in S. Carolina. The bad news is that Kerry is solidly in the lead in five of the other six states and has pulled within 3 percent of Clark in Oklahoma. Dean needs Clark and Edwards to slow Kerry’s gathering of delegates. His best hope is in these words from pollster John Zogby:

"Edwards moved up a couple of points over Kerry in South Carolina, is running respectably in Oklahoma and is within striking distance of achieving delegates in Missouri," Zogby said.

"Clark appears poised for a solid second place showing in Arizona. If Clark can couple that with a victory in Oklahoma, he will certainly make this pollster look twice."

If Kerry continues to build momentum, Dean will have a very difficult time creating a firewall. One of the big problems facing Dean is the latest USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll that has Kerry beating President Bush 53 percent to 46 percent. In the same poll Dean loses to Bush 45 percent to 53 percent. The other problem is that the number one factor for Democrats voting for a candidate is the question of who can beat Bush. The other candidates fail to beat Bush in the latest poll. The CNN poll also showed Edwards beating Bush, 49% to 48%.

Wesley Clark

Clark needs the second place finish in Arizona and the win in Oklahoma just to stay in the race. Edwards has to win S. Carolina to stay in the race. Money will dry up for both of them if they do not make a decent showing.

"Our intention and our focus is to go forward," said Chris Lehane, a senior campaign strategist for Clark.

As of Monday the poll numbers showed that Clark could still be in the race. We will see if the numbers translate to voters today. One of the factors for Arizona is the fact that half of the votes in that state have already been cast prior to today’s primary. Many of the votes were cast before the New Hampshire Primary.

Another factor is that Arizona is having bad weather today and polling places will be hard to find because they are only using 1/3 of the number of polling places than usual today.

McAuliffe asks for Unity Pledge

Democrat National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe is asking candidates to sign a unity pledge he has mailed out, "Another four years of a George W. Bush presidency would be a disaster for the nation and the world. I pledge to stand with the Democratic Party and support the Democratic nominee for President in 2004. I will do everything I can to help win back the White House for America."

What happens after today…

After today’s election results, there will be candidates who have run out of money and hope and the pledge will be important.

Also after today’s election we may still see John Edwards, Howard Dean and Wesley Clark creating such scenes as envisioned by ABC’s The Note, “…we can look forward to several weeks of attacks on special interest ties; comparisons of life experience; accusations of a do-nothing Senate record; talk about a French castle, off-shore tax shelters, the Big Dig, voting rights for felons, and the death penalty; and Roy Neel blog postings.”

However, if Kerry moves forward as the inevitable nominee, The Note suggest that we can look forward to: “tax cuts for the wealthy; Iraq credibility; Halliburton; manufacturing job losses; the Texas National Guard; Maverick Media finally doing something visible for all that money; several weeks of attacks on special interest ties; comparisons of life experience; accusations of a do-nothing Senate record; talk about a French castle, off-shore tax shelters, the Big Dig, voting rights for felons, and the death penalty; and Chris Heinz and Laura Bush blog postings.” (2/3/2004)

Dean, what are you doing?

There is some question about Howard Dean and his new plan to play like former Gov. Jerry Brown and hang back, hoping Sen. John Kerry will implode. Brown tried that tactic against Bill Clinton and it didn’t work out very well for him.

Well, Kerry now leads Dean in the delegate count by one. The count is 115 for Kerry and 114 for Dean. Dean can’t keep saying the reason he is staying in the race is because he has more delegates than Kerry. After Tuesday’s voting Kerry will be significantly ahead of Dean. The question is whether Dean can collect even a single delegate today.

Dean promised to keep going

However, in the meantime, Dean still keeps the public entertained. Dean received one of his biggest ovations after a heckler asked what he'd do to reduce the abortion rate. Dr. Dean suggested universal health care for children, sex education that isn't just abstinence-based, and finally, "We're going to tell all those white boys who run the Republican Party to stay out of our bedrooms." YYYEEEEEAAAARRRRLLLL!

Another entertaining moment was last Sunday when Howard Dean (on Meet the Nation) told Tim Russert that half the money to pay for insurance and prescription drugs in the new Medicare bill was going to pay for insurance and prescription drugs.

Hey, where is the other half going?

Dean, when asked about the Janet Jackson nipplegate debacle, said that an official investigation into FCC violations was ‘silly’ and went on to comment, "I'm a doctor," he said, "so it's not exactly an unusual phenomenon for me."

When asked about his non-front-runner status Dean said, "It's just the same as it was a year ago," he said, "just put one foot in front of the other and keep going."

Dean looks like he is going to abandon Michigan and set up his firewall in Wisconsin on Feb 17. The big question tomorrow is whether Dean will have won any more delegates. He has to get to 15 percent in order to be awarded delegates in the primary states.

In Lansing, MI, on a university campus with tens of thousands of students used to attend Dean rallies, 500 showed up last Thursday, and no other event since has come close to the 1,000 mark. Dean’s showing in these states where Dean used to draw capacity crowds is not helping to improve Dean’s image as someone who still has the capacity to draw new people into the party and election.

However, Dean’s campaign is still able to raise money in significant quantities. Over the course of the past two weeks, close to $2 million have come into his Burlington headquarters. This leads Dean to believe that if he spends no more than $1 million a week, he'll have the resources to compete until Super Tuesday on March 2.

Dean, who doesn't expect to win any of Tuesday's contests, will explain his strategy for staying in the race during meetings later this week with his three labor backers: the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Service Employees International Union and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades.

There are rumors that SIEU President Andy Stern has said that if Dean doesn't win any states on Tuesday, perhaps Dean should pull out.

Latest update on delegate count is Kerry is first with 118, followed by Dean with 111. (2/3/2004)

Poll watching

Zogby tracking polls as of Monday:

Arizona, 55 delegates: polls open at 8:00 am ET and close at 9:00 pm ET.

John Kerry 40 (36)

Wesley Clark 27 (24)

Howard Dean 13 (14)

Joe Lieberman 6 (6)

John Edwards 6 (4)

Dennis Kucinich 1 (3)

Al Sharpton less than 1 (less than 1)

Undecided 5 (13)

Missouri, 74 delegates: polls open at 7:00 am ET and close at 8:00 pm ET.

Kerry 50 (43)

Edwards 15 (14)

Dean 9 (8)

Lieberman 4 (3)

Clark 4 (3)

Sharpton 3 (3)

Kucinich less than 1 (1)

Undecided 11 (22)

Oklahoma, 40 delegates: polls open at 8:00 am ET and close at 8:00 pm ET

Clark 28 (25)

Kerry 25 (23)

Edwards 21 (18)

Dean 8 (8)

Lieberman 7 (8)

Kucinich 1 (1)

Sharpton 1 (1)

Undecided 9 (16)

S. Carolina, 45 delegates: polls open at 7:00 am ET and close at 7:00 pm ET.

Edwards 31 (30)

Kerry 24 (23)

Clark 11 (12)

Sharpton 10 (10)

Dean 9 (9)

Lieberman 4 (3)

Kucinich 1 (1)

Undecided 10 (12)                 (2/3/2004)

• "Over the course of this campaign, the Democratic Party seems to have found its soul again," Howard Dean said. "Even the very Democrats who wouldn't stand up to the president a year ago are beginning to adopt the message of change."

• "What I want to know is where is the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party?" Howard Dean asked campaigning in Washington. "I think it's in Washington state."

• Dean said: "They had a headline today that implied I'd given up on Michigan. That's obviously not true since I'm now spending parts of three days in Michigan." So it wasn't the story, it was the headline? "Yeah, as far as I can tell. We're not giving up on Michigan. That's clearly not true."

• “Number of times a presidential candidate has gone 0 for the first nine contests and received his party's nomination: 0.” -- writes ABC’s The Note.

• "I think the General is about to meet Sitting Bull," said state Senate Minority Leader David Paterson, a Manhattan Democrat.

• The Washington Post's Broder writes off Dean: "The Democratic presidential field has been narrowed to its serious center, a place where policy differences are minimal and the prospects of fielding a serious challenge to President Bush look best... So it comes down to Kerry and his two mainstream challengers, Edwards and Clark… If the Democrats can't form a competitive ticket by combining two of these three, then they're not smart enough to deserve the White House."   (2/5/2004)

Moving on

The race moves next to Michigan, 128 delegates and Washington state, 76 delegates on Saturday, then on to Maine, 24 delegates on Sunday, and Virginia, 82 delegates and Tennessee, 69 delegates both on next Tuesday.

Clark squeaked out a victory in Oklahoma, allowing him to stay alive for a while longer. Sen. Joe Lieberman should have heeded his staffs’ advice after New Hampshire and quit then. The race is beginning to look like it will be a battle between Senators John Edwards and John Kerry.

Howard Dean never made it into the top two in any of the Super Seven states. Dean is facing a big challenge Saturday in Washington where he hopes he can find the Democrat wing of the Democrat Party. Dean is not expected to do well in Michigan, making Washington state all the more important before Wisconsin, 72 delegates, Tuesday, Feb. 17.

Wisconsin is the only race on that Tuesday and the Southerners will have to show up in the North as well. Howard Dean has put his campaign future on the line in Wisconsin.

"This entire race has come down to this: We must win Wisconsin," the former Vermont governor said in a memo to supporters. "A win there will carry us to the big states on March 2 -- and narrow the field to two candidates. Anything else will put us out of the race."

Dean is asking supporters for $50 contributions so he could raise $700,000 by Sunday to pay for advertising in Wisconsin.

The Associated Press, Bloomberg, Fox News, CNN and others have reassigned their top Dean reporters to cover Kerry, Edwards or Clark.  (2/5/2004)

AFSCME drops Dean

It’s not easy being presidential candidate Howard Dean – all that money (gone), no wins, vanishing press… And it just got worse: the 1.5 million member service union AFSCME took back their support of Dean this weekend.

Ouch.

According to an AP story, union head Gerald McEntee gave the bad news to Dean during a meeting in Burlington, Vermont. There was some good news, though. Two other unions (Service Employees International and the International Union of Paintera & Allied Trades) are apparently still behind Dean – at least for now. Here are excerpts from the AP story:

Coming from one of the party's major players, McEntee's decision underscores how far Dean's campaign has fallen — from the undisputed leader six weeks ago to the brink of political obscurity. McEntee is one of Dean's earliest backers from the ranks of the Democratic elite. McEntee's early endorsement of Bill Clinton helped propel the then-Arkansas governor to the presidency.   (2/8/2004)

Trippi firm’s take is $7.2 million

An article in the Baltimore Sun reports former Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi’s consulting firm got $7.2 million from Dean for advertising:

The campaign paid $7.2 million to Trippi, McMahon and Squier, the Virginia-based consulting and media firm - 23 percent of the $31 million it spent through Dec. 31, according to PoliticalMoneyLine, which tracks political spending.

According to Trippi, he did not take any salary for his job as campaign manager, but did take “a percentage” – or commission – on the advertising for Dean. Trippi maintains he did not know how much that commission was:

"I didn't want to know. I didn't do this for the money," Trippi said. "I was interested in beating [President] Bush. I was interested in building a campaign that could get Howard Dean in position. I'm proud of what I did. Anyone who knows me knows my personal money was never, ever on my mind, and it was nothing that motivated me."

But with $41 million dollars of fundraising already spent on a campaign that basically went bust politically and financially, Trippi’s nearly one-quarter take on the $41 million doesn’t look pretty. Dodging potential bullets, Dean campaign spokeswoman Sarah Leonard defended Trippi, stating his advertising firm actually lowered its commission. She further countered, “TMS didn't make tons of money off the Dean campaign," she said.

How does Leonard draw this conclusion? $7.2 million is a ton of money by most folks’ standards. But Leonard argues the $7.2 million paid to the Trippi firm yielded little profit:

The campaign paid the company about $250,000 for media production costs and another $6.7 million for media time, space and expenses. Trippi, McMahon and Squier also received $312,000 for political consulting.

Like Trippi, firm partner Steve McMahon also refused to state what the exact percentage of commission was. Leonard said the money the Dean campaign spent on advertising last year was "not a high percentage compared to most political campaigns."

Enter the ‘political spending expert’ – professor Anthony Corrado from Colby College – who says the point is the amount spent on advertising:

But Anthony Corrado, a professor of government at Colby College who is an expert in campaign spending, said the television spending was "extraordinary" because it was so much and so early.

"It's certainly out of scale in what you see in other presidential campaigns in other election cycles," he said.

Corrado also said that Trippi's dual roles - as campaign manager and as a principal in the media company - "at least raises questions about conflicts."

Trippi’s response:

"I had no conflict of interest because I wasn't interested in money," he said. "If I was doing it to get rich, I would have done a better job than this. I didn't have control of the checkbook."

[IPW NOTE; If people think this is bad, wait until we find out the facts about the Clark campaign and what the former Clinton aides are charging that campaign]     (2/8/2004)

Maine snows on Dean

Sunday was the scene of yet another Democratic party contest – this time the Maine caucuses --  and Howard Dean was in the state, pushing through the snow to campaign. According to a Reuters story, the once hot Howard fought the cold to try and heat up his support there… but with all polls showing John Kerry in a strong lead, the former Vermont governor seemed likely to suffer his 12th straight defeat in the battle for the Dem nomination for president.

And he did. Kerry won the Maine contest easily, with Dean straggling far behind in second place.

Dean is clearly making his stand, though, in Wisconsin on February 17th. TV ads are airing in that state today. Without a win in Wisconsin, Dean’s campaign will be over. But according to the Reuters story, many already think Dean should drop out now:

A Time/CNN poll released on Saturday found that 49 percent of 1,000 people surveyed said Dean should drop out, 39 percent said he should stay and 12 percent were uncertain.

The feisty-but-not-as-feisty-as-before former governor told CBS on Sunday that is was too early to concede the nomination to John Kerry:

"No one would argue that John Kerry doesn't have a great deal of momentum right now," Dean said. But "at some point -- I know from my own experience because I had all that momentum in December -- people are going to say, 'Now, wait a minute. Let's take a closer look."

"If I'm wrong, I'm wrong," Dean said. "I've said clearly that I'm going to support John Kerry or whoever wins the nomination because we need to beat George Bush."  (2/9/2004)

Dean re-hashes Bush interview

Here are some quotes by Howard Dean regarding President Bush’s “Meet the Press” interview aired yesterday on MSNBC:

On Iraq:

This president has some peculiar thing going on about Saddam Hussein. There's no question that he's a terrible person. There's now no question at this point that he was never a threat to the United States nor an imminent threat to the United States. The president for whatever reason has not been truthful with the American people about why we went to war.

Whether he was deceived by his own intelligence or the vice president's office, or whether he knew that he wasn't being truthful to the American people, we don't know. If there were a Democratic Congress right now there would be a series of very serious inquiries along the matter.

On the Intelligence Inquiry:

I think this commission needs to be a great deal more independent than it is. If you were investigating the fact that we went to war apparently on false information, it seems to me that you need an inquiry that is not appointed by the president of the United States no matter how good the people on it may be. They owe something to the president of the United States. They owe their appointment to the president of the United States. The president of the United States sent our troops to war.  (2/9/2004)

Dean to stay in race

Yes, he said he’d stop if he lost in Wisconsin, but today Howard Dean is declaring his intent to go on past Wisconsin – regardless of the outcome February 17th. According to an AP story, Dean told Wisconsin television reporters he’d changed his mind about dropping out:

"I've just changed my mind," Dean said in the interview. He said supporters had persuaded him, during the past week, to stay in the race, and that he is campaigning to win Wisconsin.

"We're in, we're bringing something to the Democratic Party," Dean said.

Clearly, the force is not with Dean. Polls show him far behind John Kerry. And losing the AFSCME union endorsement (widely reported over the weekend and made official today) isn’t a step in the right direction for Dean’s chances. Meanwhile, Dean continues to portray himself as the Washington Outsider, and his opponents as wishy-washy Washington do-nothings.

Money-wise, Dean seems to have enough to at least grab some air time in Wisconsin. According to the article:

The campaign was trying to fire up Dean's online legions by asking them to vote for an ad to air in Wisconsin. The plan was for one of three supporters to describe why he or she was backing the former Vermont governor.

Dean is spending $50,000 in Wisconsin's five media markets through Tuesday to run his 60-second biographical ad. The television industry estimates that the buy is large enough that the average TV viewer in each market likely could see the ad once over the two-day run.  (2/9/2004)

Trippi to Dean: Don’t give up the list!

According to ABC’s The Note, former Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi has advised against that campaign releasing it’s coveted email addresses list of supporters to the Dem National Party. The article referred to by The Note is carried in the Las Vegas Sun. Excerpt from the Las Vegas Sun article:

Joe Trippi, credited with making the Internet a powerful tool for the former Vermont governor's White House effort, told a group of about 300 online mavens Monday that a decision of what to do with more than 600,000 e-mail addresses rests entirely with the Dean campaign. He was ousted from his job after Dean's third-place finish in New Hampshire.

Joe Trippi, appearing at the O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference yesterday, is on hiatus from politics… for now. But he did take time to speak to reporters while at the conference. Not surprisingly, Trippi has laid some ground work for his political future, though. The article points out that Trippi has recently purchased “several Internet domain names under the moniker ‘Change for America’, but says he hasn’t yet decided what to do with them.

Of course, Trippi was questioned about the sinking of Dean’s campaign. The article states:

“He [Trippi] pinned the campaign's downturn largely on former Vice President Al Gore's endorsement, which, he said, sparked a torrent of media scrutiny and attacks from rival candidates.”  (2/10/2004)

Whoooooosh!

What is that whooshing sound that you hear? It is all the hot air escaping from the self-styled "blogosphere."The blogosphere is the alternative reality Internet world, supposedly populated by vast communities of keyboard tappers linked by the World Wide Web. This campaign season, for the first time, the blogosphere had its own presidential candidate: Howard Dean.

Interesting read: The Boston Globe’s writer Alex Beam takes a level look at the Dean-Internet-Blog phenom and pronounces it “OUTTA AIR!” Exerpts:

Just a few months ago, hype ruled supreme. In early August, on the week that both Time and Newsweek slapped the improbable Dr. Dean on their covers, Time marveled at the "Internet-drive rabble that packs his events." The magazine made much of the mysterious "meetups" and "flashmobs" of Dean sympathizers who held impromptu rallies for the standard-bearer of the New Politics.

And, of course, Internet fund-raising was the shiny object that caught the eye of the Time hacks: "Then Dean's forces burst from their blogs (weblogs are the jungle drums of the Internet age) and made themselves heard in the old-fashioned language the political establishment understands: money."

Game over, webhead.

Beam’s look at the once mighty Dean Machine is a must-read, IMHO…  (2/10/2004)

Kerry leads Wisconsin poll

It’s a week away from voting day in Wisconsin and John Kerry is showing strong. A new poll, used in an AP story and taken by Market Shares Corp. for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel & WTMJ-TV, show Kerry at 45 percent. Kerry was followed by Wesley Clark at 13 percent; Howard Dean at 12 percent; John Edwards at 9 percent, Al Sharpton at one percent and Dennis Kucinich at one percent with 17 percent undecided

The Wisconsin primary is February 17th. The poll of 666 likely Wisconsin voters was conducted by Market Shares Corp. for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and WTMJ-TV, from Wednesday through Saturday. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

According to the AP story, of Wisconsin voters who said they were likely to vote for him, two-thirds said they decided to do so in the weeks since Iowa.  (2/10/2004)

Kerry wins Virginia & Tennessee

John Kerry has won convincingly in Virginia and Tennessee. with over half the vote in Virginia and 41 percent of the vote in Tennessee, according to the Associated Press story, making him the victor in 12 of the first 14 contests:

"East. West. North. And, today, in the South," a triumphant Kerry told The Associated Press. "It's exciting and gratifying."

With 69 percent of the vote, Kerry had 50 percent, Edwards 26 percent, Clark 9 percent, Dean 7 percent, Al Sharpton 3 percent and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio 2 percent.

Kerry’s fellow candidates had little to nothing left to cling to after tonight. The numbers, according to the AP story are: With 99 percent of the vote in Virginia, Kerry had 51 percent, Edwards 27 percent, Clark 9 percent, Dean 7 percent, Al Sharpton 3 percent and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio 1 percent. In Tennessee, with 92 percent reporting, Kerry had 41 percent, Edwards 27 percent, Clark 23 percent, Dean 4 percent and Sharpton 2 percent.

Clark, who almost ended his campaign last week, seemed destined for quits-ville after tonight, with the dismal show of support for his candidacy. A Clark aide, speaking under the cover of anonymity, told AP political reporter Ron Fourier that the former general is indeed ending his candidacy, but will announce that formally tomorrow from Little Rock, Arkansas.

A question mark remains concerning John Edwards. Within this party torn with strife and infighting, Dem leaders call for laying down the hatchets. According to the article, former Clinton chief of staff Leon Panetta said, “I think Democrats need to unify behind John Kerry and refocus on winning in November.”

But Edwards has not indicated any end yet to his efforts to secure the nomination, saying he’ll be in through March 2nd – the Big 10-state election day.   (2/10/2004)

Dean’s CBS interview: Edwards better

Howard Dean is pushing buttons again… this time in an interview for CBS News:

Dean told CBS News in an interview that will air Wednesday night that he believes Edwards would be the better candidate in the general election, even though Kerry has the advantage right now.

"My fear is that he actually won't be the strongest Democratic candidate," Dean told the network.

Edwards’ response:

"I agree with that. I think that he is a very wise man. ... The truth is that this campaign to bring about change is working with independents and voters that we will have to get in order to win the general election."

With the Wisconsin Primary looming on February 17th, Dean and Edwards have their work cut out for them… and joining forces against Kerry is predictable strategy. With Clark’s departure from the contest, and Dean’s no-win status, Edwards does seem the only possible challenger to Kerry’s momentum. And Edwards repeated today his intent:

Edwards said he has not entertained the thought of dropping out and not one Democratic official has asked him to. He is planning to focus his campaign on trade and job losses in Wisconsin, hoping the contest will force Dean from the race and leave him as the alternative to Kerry.

"I'm going to be the nominee," Edwards told The Associated Press in an interview aboard his plane. "I'm definitely staying in."

While Edwards also maintains his no-mud-slinging approach to his rivals, Howard Dean was back in the muddy waters today:

 "What we now see is that John Kerry is part of the corrupt political culture in Washington," Dean said in an interview. He said he came to that conclusion after learning that former New Jersey Sen. Robert Torricelli contributed to an independent group that ran ads that used images of Osama bin Laden to question Dean's ability to combat terrorism if elected president.

Torricelli, who was forced out of office over ethical lapses, is now raising money for Kerry's presidential campaign. Dean said disclosures that money was also raised by backers of Dick Gephardt show Washington insiders are trying to derail his candidacy.

"The link is unassailable," Dean said. "The same fund-raiser who was ethically challenged and had to step aside from a Senate race because of that raised money from the same donors to support both Senator Kerry and his ... political action group.

"I intend to support the Democratic nominee under any circumstances," Dean said. "I'm just deeply disappointed that once again we may have to settle for the lesser of two evils."

And from camp Kerry:

Kerry spokesman David Wade called it "another day, another Dean act of desperation." Wade said Kerry has a record of fighting special interests in Washington and that voters across the country have said they want his leadership in the White House.

Dean finished in single digits in Virginia and Tennessee, having skipped both states to campaign in Wisconsin. He's hoping to revive his candidacy there, but some of his supporters have been questioning whether it is possible.

"I think there comes a point when you have to recognize reality," said Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, one of Dean's high-profile endorsers. "I understand he made the commitment to go to Wisconsin, but I think at some point there's going to have to be a reckoning here."   (2/11/2004)

Dean criticizes opponents for supporting Bush proposal

Howard Dean’s at it again, portraying himself as the Washington Outsider who gets things done and his opponents as Washington Insiders who wimp out to President Bush:

At a town hall meeting in Superior, Wisconsin, Governor Howard Dean, MD discussed the impact of the failed education bill on the nation's education system and the failure of Democrats in Washington to stand up to President Bush when he pushed it through Congress. He also mentioned that the only way to beat George W. Bush and change Washington is to nominate a Democrat who has consistently stood up for what is right, even when it's not popular, as he did when he opposed President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act.

"When George W. Bush proposed the No Child Left Behind Act I recognized how this program would cripple school budgets and impact communities- particularly hiking property taxes," Dean said. "Only if we send to Washington an outsider, a leader with a real record of results, can we beat George W. Bush, strengthen American values and bring real, positive change. America deserves better, Wisconsin deserves better."

Every Washington Democratic presidential candidate voted for the once popular No Child Left Behind Act, an unfunded mandate that has resulted in higher property taxes and financial strain on schools. U.S. Senator John Kerry said it gave him "great pleasure" to vote for NCLB, what he called at the time "groundbreaking legislation." U.S. Senator John Edwards called NCLB "a quantum leap forward for America's children." Both Kerry and Edwards also skipped the vote to fully fund the unfunded mandate.

"Washington's failed education program that leaves every child behind, every teacher behind, every school board behind and every property tax payer behind," Dean said.

In Wisconsin alone, the implementation NCLB would require an increase of 35 percent or $2,880 per pupil. Governor Dean will continue to take this message to the people of Wisconsin today at a middle school in La Crosse and a rally in Milwaukee this evening.   (2/11/2004)

Dean supporters vote on ads

Taking a page out of MoveOn.org online voting for television ads, the Dean campaign supporters have picked the two ads that will be running in Wisconsin.

"We heard from so many of supporters who wanted us to be running more than one of these ads, and the balloting between first and second place was so close, that we thought it would be best to take the top two ads," Director of Internet Organizing Zephyr Teachout explained.

The transcript of the two selected ads follows:

"Mike" -- 30 seconds: "Well, I've been a Republican all my life. Bush - I just can't abide. Dean is all for building alliances with Europe and Asia. I like his position on gun control. He was against the war. He's the guy who can beat Bush. How long a list do you want? I'm Michael Reinhardt. I'm a stockbroker and frankly, I'd like to take back my country."

"Max" -- 30 seconds: "When all the other Democrats were laying around like, 'oh, I'm so afraid of Bush I can't do anything at all,' Howard Dean came out and said he was against going to war with Iraq. I've never been involved in a presidential campaign before. I like this guy. I may never be famous, and that's fine, but people are going to know I stood for something. My friends call me Max. I'm a claims adjuster and I'm taking back my country."   (2/11/2004)

Is Dean out next?

Dean has sharpened his message, placing greater emphasis on his record, "outsider" status, and willingness to stand up for Democratic values… but has thus far done little to make himself appear more electable. Add to that Dean's uncanny ability to step on his own headline either by announcing major strategy shifts following speeches, or by repeated losses in primaries, and you quickly have a campaign that is running out of time and out of ideas to capture voters' imaginations.

The AFL-CIO is meeting on March 8th and will likely endorse front runner John Kerry. The assumption is that Dean will be out of the race by that time.  (2/11/2004)

PAC’s $600,000 trumped $41 million

Americans for Jobs, Healthcare and Progressive Values raised $663,000 last year and spent $626,840 of it against Howard Dean. This was the group that spent $15,000 on an ad aired in South Carolina and New Hampshire that showed a picture of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and said Dean, former Vermont governor, didn't have the experience needed to take on terrorism.

"We did more with $600,000 than Howard Dean did with $41 million," said David Jones, the group’s treasurer.

The reference was to the fact that Dean lost Iowa and New Hampshire.

The group drew some big donors, including two giving $100,000 each. -- S. Daniel Abraham of Florida and Slim-Fast Foods tycoon was one of those, according to the Associated Press.  (2/11/2004)

ABC’s delegate count

Kerry has 512 overall delegates and has nearly three times as many delegates as Howard Dean, who places second in ABC’s estimate with 179 delegates. Edwards has 159; Clark, 94; Sharpton, 11; and Kucinich, 2.  (2/11/2004)

Poll watching

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel gives Kerry 45 percent in the Wisconsin primary, Clark 13, Dean 12 and Edwards 9, with 17 percent undecided."  (2/11/2004)

• ''I haven't promised to go to Washington and unify everybody. And there's a reason for my not making that promise. I think it's important to stand up for what you believe in,'' said Howard Dean.

• "The way to beat George Bush, whose White House is a wholly owned subsidiary of special interests, is with a candidate from outside Washington, who is independent and brings new people into the process," said Howard Dean.  (2/13/2004)

Dean pushing for student vote

The Dean campaign has over the past week visited at least five college campuses or technical colleges, not to mention a series of grade schools and university facilities. Indeed, the campaign's state director is himself a college student who coordinated some of Al Gore's student outreach efforts in 2000. But despite drawing strong crowds on campus, there's no evidence this strategy is working.  (2/13/2004)

The Doctor is still in

USA Today reports that Howard Dean still has a strong presence on the campaign trail. This is especially true when talking about health care:

Yet, even now, Dean brings to the fray unique virtues as a candidate. As a doctor-politician, he displays a level of confidence and insight in talking about the Democratic dream of universal health care that is difficult for his rivals to match. Kerry and Edwards also have detailed plans to provide medical coverage for the uninsured, but neither would dare advise audiences, as Dean does, what over-the-counter remedy is virtually identical to the pricey prescription drug Nexium.   (2/13/2004)

Dean’s wife appears

Dean, the one-time front-runner desperately looking to resurrect his campaign with a come-from-behind showing in Wisconsin, was joined on the campaign trail by his wife at a rally in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The once illusive Dr. Judy Dean was once touted by Dean as not being a ‘prop’, however, in the decline of the Dean Machine she has miraculously surfaced despite Dean’s earlier claim.  (2/13/2004)

• "There are an enormous amount of people who do want to continue. Whether it's enough to win the nomination, we will see," said Howard Dean.

• "What I see as the contribution of this campaign is winning the presidency and changing this country," Howard Dean said   (2/14/2004)