1/28/2004

Kerry takes N.H. primary; Dean finishes in second

Ron Fournier
Associated Press

MANCHESTER, N.H. — John Kerry easily won New Hampshire’s primary yesterday, overpowering Howard Dean and other Democratic rivals for a second-straight victory to establish the four-term senator as the party’s presidential front-runner.

“It’s an enormous victory, a huge turnaround,” Kerry told The Associated Press. “We were written off for months, and plugged on and showed people the determination we have to defeat President Bush.”

Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark were in a distant race for third as early returns trickled in from across the Granite State. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut was fifth, his candidacy in peril.

After trooping through coffee shops, country stores and livings rooms of Iowa and New Hampshire, the candidates now move to the cold realities of a national campaign — airport rallies and multimillion-dollar ad buys in seven state holding contests next Tuesday.

With 97 percent of the precincts reporting, Kerry had 39 percent, Dean had 26 percent, Edwards 12 percent, Clark 12 percent and Lieberman 9 percent.

Dean, former five-term governor of Vermont, hoped a solid finish would help him rebound from a disastrous third place in Iowa eight days ago.

Cleveland Rep. Dennis Kucinich and the Rev. Al Sharpton were not factors.

“It looks like we are going to finish a solid second,” Dean told supporters.

Edwards, who finished a surprise second in Iowa, predicted he would finish in the double digits, an improvement over his standing in polls before Iowa. He’s staking his candidacy on South Carolina, a centerpiece of next week’s contests. “Beyond South Carolina, I don’t want to make any predictions,” he said.

An AP analysis of the delegate count showed Kerry winning 14 delegates and Dean capturing eight, while Edwards and Clark appeared to finish below the 15 percent vote threshold needed to win any delegates.

His eye warily cast toward the fall, Bush planned a trip to New Hampshire to counter criticism heaped his way during the Democratic race. He used a similar tactic after Iowa’s caucuses, scheduling his State of the Union address one day after that contest.

It has been a topsy-turvy race, with Dean leading New Hampshire polls by 25 percentage points when the year began, Kerry seizing a similar lead after Iowa and Dean gaining a bit of ground after an 11th-hour political overhaul.

In a race that has been hard on front-runners, Kerry said he is ready for the role.

“I’ve been in public life for a long time, and I have been in tough races before and have been scrutinized,” he said. “I’m ready to lead our party to victory.”

But the front-runner’s mantle may prove as weighty as it was for Dean. Rivals were already sharpening their knives, Republicans calling him a Massachusetts liberal and Democrats accusing him of equivocating on the Iraq war and accomplishing little in the Senate.

About 200,000 voters participated in the Democratic primary, easily eclipsing the record 170,000 turnout in 1992 when Paul Tsongas defeated then Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton. Voters in the primary were evenly split between Democrats and independents. A third of the independents backed Kerry, a fourth backed Dean and the rest were split among Edwards, Clark and Lieberman.