January 26, 2004
Dean Machine
We are coming back baby!
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Kerry Lead Shrinks to Three Points in New Hampshire
Jan 26, 12:31 PM (ET)
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
MANCHESTER, N.H. (Reuters) - Democratic presidential contender John Kerry holds a shrinking three-point lead over Howard Dean on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, according to a Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby poll released Monday.
Dean shaved four points off Kerry's advantage in the latest three-day tracking poll, as supporters who wavered after his dismal third-place Iowa finish and screaming concession speech appeared to be returning to the fold.
Kerry led Dean 31 percent to 28 percent in the new poll, with John Edwards jumping three points to narrowly trail Wesley Clark for third place, 13 percent to 12 percent. Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman remained static at 9 percent.
"There is no question that the race has tightened up," pollster John Zogby said. "Dean stopped the bleeding in the middle of the week and he has slowly regained some of the support he had lost."
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Hang in there, Kerry still has time to self destruct. Apparently he doesn't think much of the South. Me, I love it. :)
During a town hall meeting on the Dartmouth campus, Kerry noted that former Vice President Al Gore would be president if he'd won any number of other non-Southern states in 2000, including New Hampshire, West Virginia, and Ohio.
"Everybody always makes the mistake of looking South," Kerry said, in response to a question about winning the region. "Al Gore proved he could have been president of the United States without winning one Southern state, including his own."
"I think the fight is all over this country," Kerry said. "Forget about those red and blue states. We're going to change that now, and we're going to go out there and change the face of America."
Kerry spokesman David Wade insisted Kerry thinks campaigning in the South, "is important, too. Fritz Hollings [D-S.C.] wouldn't have endorsed John Kerry if he didn't believe he was committed to, and would and could carry states in the South against George Bush."
Wade noted that the minority leader of the South Carolina state house and former Georgia Democratic Sen. Max Cleland has endorsed Kerry and is campaigning on his behalf.
In addition, Kerry will travel to South Carolina late this week to campaign and take part in Thursday night's debate