Posted on 02/08/2004 6:11:11 AM PST by GailA
Next major stop: Tennessee Kerry Express wins Mich., Wash. Candidates continue to focus on Vol state in days before primary
By TOM HUMPHREY, tomhumphrey3@aol.com February 8, 2004
NASHVILLE — John Kerry on Saturday focused his presidential campaign briefly on Tennessee, where he has a shot at winning Tuesday's primary despite a far greater investment of time and money by two competitors from neighboring states.
That prospect was certainly not diminished when former Gov. Ned McWherter stood on stage during the Massachusetts senator's first visit to the state in 10 months, declaring in effect that he has deemed Kerry the most electable candidate in the field.
"I believe he is the Democrat who can stand toe-to-toe with George W. Bush and win the presidency," said McWherter. "That's why I'm here. I love Tennessee, and I believe he's the person for Tennessee and Tennesseans."
Former U.S. Sen. Harlan Mathews, also on hand to back Kerry, said he believes the time has come for Democrats to unite behind a single candidate. Barbs flew between the candidate camps last week in Tennessee campaigning, perhaps because of the state's importance to front-runner Kerry's foes.
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For him, Tennessee is a matter of keeping up front-runner momentum. For the others, it may be a matter of survival.
Stakes are heavy For Wesley Clark, a loss in Tennessee could mean the end of his campaign, though the retired Army general gamely avoided a direct answer when repeatedly asked about that possibility as he traversed the state.
His stock reply after investing well over $1 million and much time in the state while striking the most aggressive stance against his opponents: "We intend to win in Tennessee."
Clark did have one endorsement coup Saturday. His campaign began airing a radio ad in which country music star George Jones declares, "Wes Clark is a plain-talking leader, who comes from humble roots and shares the same values that we share here in Tennessee."
For John Edwards, who has invested far more time in Tennessee than Kerry but less money than Clark, the stakes may not be quite so high. His pollster, Harrison Hickman, told reporters last week that the goal is to finish at least second to Kerry in Tennessee and Virginia on Tuesday - a win in one or the other would, of course, be preferable - and establish himself as the single alternative to Kerry.
"This is very much for me a long-term process. It's a war of attrition," Edwards told reporters while campaigning at the University of Memphis on Saturday.
On the other hand, Hickman acknowledged, "I think that would be a problem" when asked about the possibility of Edwards finishing behind Clark in both Southern states that vote on Tuesday.
Clark's Tennessee theme last week was escalating attacks on Kerry and Edwards as Washington insiders who, as senators, had voted for Bush proposals they now criticize. The opposing candidate camps contended Clark was twisting the facts and showing desperation.
Clark and Edwards, along with Al Sharpton, planned to attend a candidate forum hosted by the state Democratic party in Nashville tonight. But Kerry, barring a last-minute change in plans, will not attend, aides said. All three candidates planned to attend a similar function in Virginia Saturday night.
"That doesn't mean he's taking Tennessee for granted," said Stephen Lindsey, Kerry's state campaign director. "It's just a scheduling conflict. You can only be in so many places at one time."
Kerry does plan a last-minute campaign visit to Memphis on Monday, said U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., a longtime Kerry backer who says the candidate has spread himself thin over many states while his competition has focused on their target states, including Tennessee.
Absence disappointing
The absence of the frontrunner from tonight's Democratic event may be a disappointment to the state Democratic party leadership, but the party-pushed effort to move the date of Tennessee's presidential primary date to Feb. 10 is being widely hailed as a success. In the past, Tennessee's primary was held in March when the presidential nominees had, as a practical matter, already been decided.
"Whoever wins the nomination, Tennessee is a winner because of its prestige on the national political stage and the attention it has received from candidates," said Randy Button, state Democratic chairman.
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Randy Rinks, who sponsored the bill moving the election from March to Feb. 10, said it has also meant "a lot of money being spent in Tennessee."
All three top contenders have run statewide advertising campaigns, though Kerry and Edwards did not begin until last week. The three, collectively, have also brought hundreds of workers into Tennessee.
Kerry rally
In his Nashville rally, Kerry on Saturday drew a crowd of around 500 - more than Clark or Edwards have managed at Nashville events - to an auditorium at Baptist-affiliated Belmont University. He was introduced by Ford, who disparaged "some who suggest that because this tall guy here is from another part of the country, that somehow or other he doesn't understand."
"I can tell you that someone who hunts, who has three purple hearts and earned a silver and a bronze star - he understands the needs of the South better than the president in Washington today," said Ford. "I have the utmost confidence in him. I don't care what part of the country he's from."
Kerry included some regional joshing in his remarks, starting with a mention of the snow flurries swirling outside and the declaration that, "You didn't have to make it snow to make me feel at home."
But for the most part, Kerry focused on Bush, jokingly and otherwise.
Kerry said he had composed a country music song "about a guy losing his friends, losing his job" titled "The Ballard of George W. Bush" and a poem: "Like father, like son; one term and you're done."
He said the Bush presidency has meant "mission accomplished" for lobbyists and special interest groups, criticizing the president's policies in areas ranging from tax cuts for the wealthy and "Benedict Arnold companies and CEOs" who move jobs out of the country to health care and the environment.
Edwards campaigned in Memphis, Wisconsin and Virginia on Saturday and has an event in Jackson today.
Clark spent most of Saturday in Virginia, but returns to Tennessee today and has a full schedule of West Tennessee campaigning on Monday. Sharpton has an event in Nashville today, and Dennis Kucinich, another candidate with little visible support or organization in Tennessee, planned a trip to Nashville on Tuesday, election day.
Delegate count
Commitments for 69 of the 85 delegates Tennessee will send to the Democratic National Convention will be decided by Tuesday's voting. The remaining 16 are delegates given their status by virtue of party position and are officially uncommitted, said Bobbie Caldwell, vice chairman of the state party.
The setup for delegate allocation makes it likely that all three leading candidates will get some delegates from Tennessee, though bragging rights go, of course, to the one with the highest statewide vote total.
Some delegates are allocated on the basis of statewide vote totals to each candidate getting more than 15 percent, and others are allocated on the basis of voting in each of the state's nine congressional districts, with 15 percent within the district as the threshold.
Republicans have only one candidate, Bush, on the presidential primary ballot Tuesday, though they have the option of voting instead for "uncommitted." Republicans will also be voting on which of 20 candidates gets 12 statewide delegate slots for the Republican National Convention.
State GOP Chairman Beth Harwell issued a statement Friday saying Democrats have all "been relentless with their attacks on our president, his policies and even his character.
"From Kerry to Clark to Edwards, each day there seems to be a new, inaccurate accusation lobbed at our president while they frantically crisscross the country (and Tennessee, this past week) trying to win the votes of liberal Democrats," Harwell said.
She predicted that Tennessee will again vote for Bush this fall, as it did in 2000 when former Vice President Al Gore Jr. was the Democratic nominee.
Gore, who has endorsed former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, is to be honored along with McWherter and former Sen. Jim Sasser at tonight's statewide Democratic rally. Dean has virtually no campaign presence in Tennessee other than a corps of volunteers.
Despite Dean's poor showing in Tuesday's primaries, a handful of supporters gathered at the coffee shop at Books-A-Million on Wednesday to write letters and postcards to Democrats in states that haven't had primaries.
"We're trying to get these letters out and say, 'It ain't over yet,' " said Knox County resident and local coordinator Ron Brassfield, 47.
He estimated that the group would write about 50 letters and postcards to try to persuade Democrats in Virginia, which has its primary on Tuesday, and Wisconsin, which holds its primary on Feb. 17, to vote for Dean.
On Tuesday, Dean won only the District of Columbia, one of nine primaries held that day.
"It's a blow, and there's no denying it's a blow," Brassfield said, but "if we were discouraged, I don't think we'd get out on a cold night like this."
He said, however, that the group was expecting 15 people and Dean's results might have been a deterrent. He mentioned the possibility of more supporters at Barley's Taproom & Pizzeria in the Old City.
Tom Humphrey may be reached at 615-242-7782. Matt Whittaker contributed to this report.
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