Posted 12:08pm February 7
by Aaron Huertas
U-WIRE Washington Bureau
Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts was the top vote getter in five of seven states holding primaries or caucuses Tuesday in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination, winning in Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, Missouri and Delaware. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina won the primary in his birth-state of South Carolina, while former General Wesley Clark narrowly edged him out in Oklahoma.
“We will take nothing for granted; we will compete everywhere — and in November, with your help, we will defeat George Bush,” Kerry said to supporters.
While Kerry is the front-runner for the nomination at this point, Edwards, Clark and Dean each hope to become an alternative to primary voters. Kerry has been able to run a nationwide campaign thanks to additional fundraising brought about by his campaign’s momentum following victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, while his opponents have been forced to allocate their resources in states where they have the best chance of winning.
Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut withdrew from the race after failing to win any states, including Delaware, which he had focused his campaign on after disappointing showings in Iowa and New Hampshire.
“After looking at the returns and speaking with my family and my campaign team, I have decided tonight to end my quest for the presidency,” Lieberman told a crowd of supporters.
He expressed his support for the eventual nominee and his hope that George W. Bush will be defeated in the general election. Edwards said that if he did not win South Carolina, he would drop out of the race. He defeated Kerry with 45 percent of the vote to Kerry’s 30 percent there.
“Today, we said clearly to the American people that in our country, in our America, everything is possible,” Edwards told supporters in South Carolina.
Clark and Edwards were the top vote getters in Oklahoma. Clark currently has 90, 500 votes while Edwards received 89,300. Oklahoma officials have not certified the results of the contest yet, but it is likely that Clark will remain ahead. Clark hopes the victory will give his campaign the momentum it needs to compete in other upcoming states.
“I leave Oklahoma even more full of hope and even more committed to building an even better America,” Clark told supporter before leaving to campaign in Tennessee.
Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean did not actively compete in the Tuesday primaries. He finished third or lower in all seven states. His campaign stopped ads in all the February third states and briefly suspended staff salaries to marshal resources for the next few weeks.
After poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, Dean has said his campaign is focusing on later contests such as the Wisconsin primary on Feb. 17 and the ten contests on “Super Tuesday”, March second. Dean said the campaign is not about winning states, but rather about amassing delegates for the convention in July.
“We’re going to pick up some delegates tonight, and this is all about who gets the most delegates in Boston in July. And it’s going to be us,” Dean told a group of supporters in Seattle.
While the media and candidates usually place much more emphasis on who the top vote getter was in a given primary state, delegates are assigned proportionally in Democratic contests. Therefore, even if a candidate comes in second or third, their percentage of the vote can yield them delegates to the national convention.
Michigan (128 delegates) and Washington (76) state will be holding caucuses on Feb. 7, and Tennessee (69) and Virginia (98) will be holding primaries on Feb. 10. So far, only 10 percent of all delegates to the convention have been chosen in primaries and caucuses. Several delegates are unpledged, meaning they are delegates because of elected or party positions they hold and can vote for candidates regardless of how their state primary or party caucus turns out.
Two thousand one hundred sixty-one delegates constitute a majority of those who will be present at the convention. However, primary contests are usually over because candidate drop out due to lack of funds and support before the convention happens and voters show overwhelming support for one candidate.
Including unpledged delegates who have expressed their support for individual candidates, the delegate count is Kerry — 244; Dean — 121; Edwards — 102; Clark — 79; Sharpton — 5; Kucinich — 2. Lieberman had the support of 25 unpledged delegates who may shift their support to other candidates in the following weeks.
