 |
|
The Morning Grind / DayAhead |
Go Pats!
By John Mercurio
CNN Political Unit
 |
Game break: John Kerry arrives Sunday to watch the Super Bowl at Playmaker's sports bar in Fargo, North Dakota.
Story Tools
| ON CNN TV | 
Stay with CNN-USA for frequent updates and comprehensive live coverage in the run-up to Tuesday's seven-state contest in the Democratic presidential primaries.
|
VIDEO
|
CNN's Joe Johns on Al Sharpton and South Carolina's African-American vote.
CNN's Frank Buckley on John Edwards use of his Southern credentials.
CNN's Kelly Wallace on John Kerry's efforts to fend off criticism of his fund raising.
|
| UPCOMING PRIMARIES |
• Tuesday, February 3: Missouri, Oklahoma, Arizona, Delaware, South Carolina primaries; North Dakota and New Mexico caucuses • Saturday, February 7: Michigan and Washington caucuses • Sunday, February 8: Maine caucuses • Tuesday, February 10: Tennessee primary and Virginia primaries When is your primary? For more key dates in the 2004 election season, see our special America Votes 2004 Election Calendar |
SPECIAL REPORT
|
|
|
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- John Kerry's Pats beat John Edwards' Panthers last night, but don't read too much into it. Bill Bradley's Rams beat Al Gore's Titans four years ago, just days before the New Hampshire primary. And we all know how that turned out.
But enough sports analogies.
There's a candidate forum in Phoenix and get-out-the-vote rallies from Santa Fe to St. Louis. Ads are flickering across TV screens in as many as 10 states. Kerry feels Edwards and Howard Dean breathing down his neck -- figuratively, if not according to actual polling data.
But somehow, you know, it just doesn't feel like Election Eve. (Interactive: A look at Tuesday's contests)
Maybe it's because we're distracted by the Super Bowl (Go Pats!) or still suffering from post-Iowa depression (will anything ever be as exciting as January 19, ever again?). Maybe it's because we think at least one '04 Dem will quit the race within 48 hours, and we'll be sorry to see him (and his campaign staff) go away.
Or maybe it's because the '04 campaign, now spread thinly across seven states, has lost its small-town sense of community. Call us elitists, or pathetically nostalgic, but it's nice to know you can walk into Richard's Bistro and see everyone from Joe Trippi to Teresa Heinz Kerry to Ron Reagan Jr. to, well, Richard.
But enough about us.
Kerry starts yet another week in an enviable position, indicated by polls to be holding solid leads in five of the seven February 3 states (Missouri, North Dakota, Arizona, Delaware and New Mexico). Edwards leads in one (South Carolina) while Kerry and Wesley Clark were tied among poll respondents in Oklahoma.
The odd man out, of course, is Joe Lieberman, who sources say is being strongly advised to quit the race Wednesday if he does not win Delaware. The First State, Lieberman's last hope, appears likely to disappoint him as well, much as New Hampshire did and Oklahoma will. The latest poll, conducted by Dick Bennett on January 28 and 29, showed him trailing Kerry by 11 points and locked in a statistical dead heat with Dean.
Perhaps just as important for him, Kerry spent the weekend securing big-name endorsements that will serve him well coming out of Tuesday night. Beat this: The Democratic governors of both Michigan and Washington state. Who's next, Mark Warner of Virginia? Stay tuned.
Still, it remains to be seen whether the Newsweek story on Johnny Chung has legs. Camp Kerry says no, noting that the claims have already been thoroughly vetted. But if they're wrong, and this story walks, get ready to welcome a new front-runner to the race. (Kerry fends off attacks over fund raising)
In July 1996, Chung introduced Kerry to Liu Chaoying, a Hong Kong businesswoman who wanted help getting one of her companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, according to Newsweek.
Kerry's aides then faxed a latter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Liu and Chung had a private briefing with a senior SEC official the next day, the magazine reported. Less than two months after the meeting, Chung held a fund-raiser for Kerry in Beverly Hills that raised $10,000.
Federal investigators later found that Liu was an officer in the Chinese army and vice president of an aerospace firmed owned by the Chinese government, the magazine reported.
A senior Kerry campaign adviser said Sunday that "this stuff has been so public before" and has been "investigated" and "thoroughly looked at." The adviser also said that Kerry, now a Democratic presidential contender, had returned all of the money Chung raised.
In the money
Finally today, we're including a buzzy nugget about the '04 Dems and their fund raising in February 3 states. We usually do our own reporting/research, but conveniently the Center for Public Integrity took care of that for us this time.
Candidates have raised more than $10.4 million so far this election from these seven states through 13,594 contributions, with Edwards receiving more than $1 million. His donations from these seven states ranks the highest among the Democratic candidates, according to a supplement to "the Buying of the President 2004," a book by the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity detailing the financial interests behind each candidate for the White House.
Following Edwards is Dean with $788,000; Clark with $381,000; and Lieberman with $350,000. Rounding out the list are Kerry with $207,000, Dennis Kucinich with $92,000; and Al Sharpton with $21,000.
President George Bush raised $7.5 million from these seven states toward his re-election campaign.
South Carolina leads all seven states holding primaries or caucuses Tuesday in donations with almost $3 million in contributions; followed by Arizona with $2.7 million; Missouri with $2.2 million; and Oklahoma with almost $1.2 million. Concluding the others are New Mexico with $794,000; Delaware with $483,000; and North Dakota with $59,000, according to the center.
