Lincoln
02-05-2004, 09:20 AM
Feb 5, 8:40 AM (ET)
By Patricia Wilson
FLINT, Mich. (Reuters) - Democrat Howard Dean said on Thursday his once high-flying U.S. presidential bid would be over if he did not win the Wisconsin primary on Feb. 17, declaring "the entire race has come down to this."
"We must win Wisconsin," the former Vermont governor said in a memo to supporters. "A win there will carry us to the big states on March 2 -- and narrow the field to two candidates. Anything else will put us out of the race."
In a fund-raising plea, Dean, who spent $40 million on a gamble that he could wrap up the Democratic presidential nomination with early victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, asked supporters for $50 contributions so he could raise $700,000 by Sunday to pay for advertising in Wisconsin.
"We must launch our new television advertisement on Monday in the major markets in Wisconsin," he said. "To do that I need your help."
Dean, the fallen front-runner, has not won any of the nine contests held so far to choose the Democratic challenger to Republican President Bush in November. In Iowa and New Hampshire, he finished far behind U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and on Tuesday he did not have a top two result in any of the seven states that held contests.
Voters in South Carolina, New Mexico, Arizona, Delaware, North Dakota, Missouri and Oklahoma rejected Dean and his anti-war, anti-Washington message in favor of Kerry, retired Gen. Wesley Clark or Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.
After opening the year with all the money and all the momentum, Dean now finds himself in desperate straits, politically and financially. His campaign suspended staff pay briefly and has laid off workers. A new campaign chief, former Washington lobbyist and White House aide Roy Neel, was brought in to right the ship.
DO-OR-DIE IN WISCONSIN
His original strategy in tatters, Dean is making Wisconsin a do-or-die contest.
Between now and then, he hopes to wage a war of political attrition, taking hits in places like Tennessee and Virginia, but chalking up enough delegates to outlast other underdog candidates until Wisconsin votes on Feb. 17.
"We will get a boost this weekend in Washington (state), Michigan and Maine," Dean said. "But the true test will be the Wisconsin primary."
A candidate needs 2,162 delegates to win the nomination. After his string of losses, Dean has focused on amassing delegates and had hoped to hold out until big states like New York and California vote on March 2. In recent days, he vowed to stay in the race "for the long haul."
Dean has admitted to making mistakes. The biggest, he said recently, was responding to Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt's attacks in Iowa. As they fought over whether or not Dean had advocated cutting Medicare, the federal health program for the elderly, rivals Kerry and Edwards gained in the polls.
Another surprise to the newcomer to presidential politics was the level of scrutiny he received as front-runner. Dean variously blamed his opponents for "walloping" him and the media for piling on. He also complained that his rivals had co-opted his issues.
"It was me that started the backbone transplant for the Democratic Party," he told reporters on his campaign trail. "Now we see the other candidates adopting the message."
link (http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/377343|top|02-05-2004::08:46|reuters.html)
Time is running out for Dean.
By Patricia Wilson
FLINT, Mich. (Reuters) - Democrat Howard Dean said on Thursday his once high-flying U.S. presidential bid would be over if he did not win the Wisconsin primary on Feb. 17, declaring "the entire race has come down to this."
"We must win Wisconsin," the former Vermont governor said in a memo to supporters. "A win there will carry us to the big states on March 2 -- and narrow the field to two candidates. Anything else will put us out of the race."
In a fund-raising plea, Dean, who spent $40 million on a gamble that he could wrap up the Democratic presidential nomination with early victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, asked supporters for $50 contributions so he could raise $700,000 by Sunday to pay for advertising in Wisconsin.
"We must launch our new television advertisement on Monday in the major markets in Wisconsin," he said. "To do that I need your help."
Dean, the fallen front-runner, has not won any of the nine contests held so far to choose the Democratic challenger to Republican President Bush in November. In Iowa and New Hampshire, he finished far behind U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and on Tuesday he did not have a top two result in any of the seven states that held contests.
Voters in South Carolina, New Mexico, Arizona, Delaware, North Dakota, Missouri and Oklahoma rejected Dean and his anti-war, anti-Washington message in favor of Kerry, retired Gen. Wesley Clark or Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.
After opening the year with all the money and all the momentum, Dean now finds himself in desperate straits, politically and financially. His campaign suspended staff pay briefly and has laid off workers. A new campaign chief, former Washington lobbyist and White House aide Roy Neel, was brought in to right the ship.
DO-OR-DIE IN WISCONSIN
His original strategy in tatters, Dean is making Wisconsin a do-or-die contest.
Between now and then, he hopes to wage a war of political attrition, taking hits in places like Tennessee and Virginia, but chalking up enough delegates to outlast other underdog candidates until Wisconsin votes on Feb. 17.
"We will get a boost this weekend in Washington (state), Michigan and Maine," Dean said. "But the true test will be the Wisconsin primary."
A candidate needs 2,162 delegates to win the nomination. After his string of losses, Dean has focused on amassing delegates and had hoped to hold out until big states like New York and California vote on March 2. In recent days, he vowed to stay in the race "for the long haul."
Dean has admitted to making mistakes. The biggest, he said recently, was responding to Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt's attacks in Iowa. As they fought over whether or not Dean had advocated cutting Medicare, the federal health program for the elderly, rivals Kerry and Edwards gained in the polls.
Another surprise to the newcomer to presidential politics was the level of scrutiny he received as front-runner. Dean variously blamed his opponents for "walloping" him and the media for piling on. He also complained that his rivals had co-opted his issues.
"It was me that started the backbone transplant for the Democratic Party," he told reporters on his campaign trail. "Now we see the other candidates adopting the message."
link (http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/377343|top|02-05-2004::08:46|reuters.html)
Time is running out for Dean.