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)

"The media's covering this as a horse race with no inspection of where candidates stand on issues.  And I say, before the horse crosses the finish line, check what's in the saddlebags." – Dennis Kucinich.  (2/10/2004)

Kucinich on jobs

Nader-esque presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has the following posted on his website regarding the White House on the loss of American jobs overseas:

According to a report by the Los Angeles Times on February 9th, the White House has embraced the concept of “outsourcing” as a positive development for the American people and the economy. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of Bush’s Council of Economic Advisors, prepared the administration’s newly-released economic report which welcomes the outsourcing of American jobs. This same report promises to create 2.6 million new jobs. “Outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade," said Mankiw in the Los Angeles Times article.

“Outsourcing” is a process in which American jobs, mainly in technological fields, are contracted out to countries where wages are significantly lower. According to the February edition of Wired Magazine, the typical salary for an American programmer is $70,000 a year. The typical salary for a programmer in India is $8,000 a year. U.S. companies are expected to ship 200,000 jobs a year to India in the foreseeable future in pursuit of these lower wages.

The Bush administration is embracing the loss of our technological base while promising to create 2.6 million jobs. These two realities cannot exist side by side. The continued loss of our ability to control the development of our technology, and the continued loss of hundreds of thousands of American jobs, are issues of national and economic security.

"The outsourcing of US jobs is being accelerated with the help of NAFTA and the WTO, which make it impossible to place taxes or tariffs on such work,” said Congressman Kucinich. “Canceling NAFTA and the WTO will enable the US to protect high-tech jobs from outsourcing. This, plus careful monitoring of H1B visa practices, will slow the tide of outsourcing.”   (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)

Kucinich is out there and up

Kucinich has two TV ads up in Wisconsin. One points out that he is the only candidate to vote against going to war in Iraq.

Kucinich also took his quest for a girlfriend and some recognition to late-night television — and won a date with actress Jennifer Tilly. After Kucinich selected Tilly and she emerged from behind a screen, Jay Leno presented Kucinich with a gift certificate to a Santa Monica vegan restaurant.   (2/13/2004)

Still a race?

"Not so fast, John Kerry," said Sen. John Edwards. “We're going to have an election here in Wisconsin this Tuesday and we've got a whole group of primaries coming up, and I for one intend to fight with everything I've got for every one of those votes.”

While Kerry is the front runner, none of the candidates sought to knock him out of his position. Instead, they focused on Bush bashing. They especially tried to open up a credibility gap for President Bush.

"Certainly the integrity and character of the president of the United States is at issue -- no question," Edwards said.

"I do not think we were told the truth about why we went to war in Iraq and I think that's a huge problem," Howard Dean bashed

"The president lied to the American people," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich.

The only real hit came from Edwards against his two strongest rivals Dean and Kerry on free trade. Edwards has spent nearly a week in Wisconsin pushing the issue of manufacturing layoffs in the state.

"Senator Kerry is entitled, as is Governor Dean, to support free trade, as they always have," Edwards said. "The voters of Wisconsin deserve to know this is something I will take very personally. I will stand up and fight every way I know how to protect these jobs."

The ‘not so fast’ as to why both Edwards and Dean are still in the race is the looming question… Kerry The Gold Digger’s affair that is yet to break. The question is whether it will break in time for the Primary season. Will it have an affect on Democrats, who clearly don’t mind sexual misconduct in the White House Oval Office? Was there a cigar involved? What is next?

This despite the fact that Kerry is at 47 percent, Dean is at 23 percent and Edwards is third with 20 percent in the latest Wisconsin polls. However, sentiment could still change with the breaking of the affair story.

Of course these numbers may change, because Dean has the problem of the Al Gore aide who just mutinied. He had previously stated that he would wait until after the Wisconsin election on Tuesday:

"If Howard Dean does not win the Wisconsin primary, I will reach out to John Kerry unless he reaches out to me first," The Dean Campaign chairman Steve Grossman is reported to have said.

However, he abandoned ship for Kerry’s money and paycheck today.

I guess it is still worth the other two hanging around to see what happens.

Maybe Kerry should ask his friend Ted Kennedy what to do.

Terry McAuliff may want to start calling Hillary or be stuck with a charismatic Sen. John Edwards, whom his own party says is not ready. Or McAuliff may want to re-read the Des Moines Register’s article about Edwards that says, “He’s ready.”   (2/16/2004)

Delegate count

Here is ABC’s delegate count:

Kerry—590

Dean—200

Edwards—186

Sharpton—15

Kucinich—2     (2/18/2004)