Presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., arrives at a campaign rally in Dubuque, Iowa on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2004. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
Posted on 01/11/2004 1:00:35 PM PST by Libloather
Democrats to Debate As Iowa Race Tightens
1 hour, 56 minutes ago
By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa - The Democratic presidential candidates shift focus to minority issues Sunday in the final campaign debate before Iowa opens the nominating season with the Jan. 19 caucuses, considered too close to call.
Iowa's largest newspaper endorsed North Carolina Sen. John Edwards for the Democratic presidential nomination while three other Iowa newspapers went for Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry in weekend editions.
Eight of the nine Democrats have agreed to participate in Sunday's debate, with only retired Gen. Wesley Clark staying on the sidelines. Clark is not competing in Iowa.
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, Kerry, Edwards, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, former Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton have agreed to attend the two-hour debate, where the format will allow for more and vibrant exchanges among the contenders.
The Iowa Brown and Black Presidential Forum — broadcast by MSNBC and hosted by the network's Lester Holt and Maria Celeste Arraras, of the Spanish-language network Telemundo — is sponsored by black and Hispanic groups to get the candidates' views on minority issues before voters make their decisions next week. Jan. 19, caucus day, also is the federal holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
With endorsements last week from former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley and Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, Dean heads into the debate with momentum, but under continued fire from rivals, some of whom took their cases against him to the Sunday television talk shows.
Dean, who attended Sunday services at a Baptist church near Waterloo, Iowa, is also trying to shift his focus, spending more time talking about his differences with President Bush than about his rivals. He told voters at a pancake breakfast that Bush has been dishonest about the Iraq war.
"On January 19 I need your help," Dean said. "I need your help to become the next commander in chief of the United States military."
In a taped interview broadcast Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Dean said he would propose a cut in the payroll tax to help the middle class. Dean's proposal comes after he has been hammered for advocating the repeal of all of Bush's tax cuts, including those targeted to the middle class.
The former Vermont governor said did not have a cost estimate for the payroll tax cut because he wants to balance the budget first.
Dean and Gephardt were battling for the lead in the state, according to a Zogby tracking poll of Iowa Democrats out Sunday. Dean was at 25 percent and Gephardt at 23 percent. Kerry, at 15 percent, was competing for third place with Edwards, who was at 14 percent. All others were in single digits, according to the poll conducted for MSNBC-Reuters.
The survey of 500 Democrats who said they are likely to vote at the caucuses was taken Thursday through Saturday and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
Dean had a slight lead over Gephardt in Iowa in a Los Angeles Times poll out Saturday, and Kerry led Edwards in the fight for third.
Kerry claimed momentum, too, with endorsements Sunday from three Iowa newspapers. In a reference to Dean, Kerry said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that it will be difficult in a post-Sept. 11 world for someone with no foreign policy, military or national security experience to "stand up against a wartime president and convince America that that person has the ability to make our country safe."
Edwards was riding a late boost of his own after winning the endorsement of The Des Moines Register, the state's largest newspaper. "This campaign is about gaining energy and support from Iowans every day," he said.
Lieberman, who also criticized Dean, hesitated when asked whether he would join a "stop Dean" movement if his own campaign were to fizzle out.
"I really haven't thought about that," Lieberman said on "Fox News Sunday." But the 2000 vice presidential nominee said "no thanks" to running for the position again in November.
"I had great honor and opportunity in 2000. I've done it. I have no interest in running for vice president again," Lieberman said.
| Rank | Location | Receipts | Donors/Avg | Freepers/Avg | Monthlies | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | New York | 1,167.00 |
35 |
33.34 |
669 |
1.74 |
308.00 |
19 |
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Presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., arrives at a campaign rally in Dubuque, Iowa on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2004. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
Right after the Packers win their game. Should be fun!
Democratic Presidential hopefuls Wesley Clark and Joe Lieberman each announced this weekend that they would not compete in the January 19th Iowa Caucuses. Instead, each plans to focus on other early contest primary states. "We have made the decision that we don't have the time or the money to compete there," said Clark's spokesperson. Clark believes that Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt are too well organized for Clark to be competitive against them in the state. "After much consultation, we decided to focus our resources on where they will prove most effective," said Lieberman's campaign manager.
Supporters of Rep. Dick Gephardt (news - web sites) of Missouri wait for their candidate to arrive at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa January 11, 2004. Gephardt is in a near tie with Howard Dean (news - web sites) in polling for the January 19 Iowa caucuses. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)
Democratic presidential candidate and former Vermont governor Howard Dean (news - web sites) speaks to voters at the Linn County Democrats Hall of Fame dinner in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jan. 10, 2004. A Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby poll released Sunday shows Dean holds a two-point lead over Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt in Iowa barely one week before the state's caucuses. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)
Info bump...
What? And miss the Eagles/Packers game to witness the battle of the a$$e$?
That game should be over by then. Rats fighting during a panderfest? I'm there...
I'll be there after the game...it'll be like a buncha cats in a burlap sack....the fur will fly...all those "fighters for the working man", could be amusing..
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