Tao of Pauly

Wednesday's Politico Roundup: Smooth Kerry Takes 5 Out of 7...

One week after New Hampshire and two week after the Dean Howling Incident... the candidates hit the road for the first multi-state primary. Early last week, there were rumors about Kerry's botox job and how those nasty wrinkles all of a sudden magically disappeared. I dunno if he was the first politician to get cosmetic surgery.... but his big wins almost narrowed down the field to four. And there were major changes in Dr. Dean's camp after he fired his campaign manager Joe Trippi.

Anyway, Kerry prevailed taking 5 out of the 7 states. Only John Edwards (who won South Carolina) and Wesley Clark (who narrowly won Oklahoma) edged out victories... and Howard Dean did not drum up much support in any of those states. Instead he had been concentrating on bigger states like Michigan and Wisconsin... both must win states for Dean if he wants to stay in the race. Poor Joe Lieberman had to bail out of the race and I wondered if anyone noticed?

The battleground the next week will be Virginia and Tennesse. Clark and Edwards are jockeying for position in those states, while Kerry looks ahead himself... as he focuses on Tennesse (which went to Bush in 2000 despite being Al Gore's home state) and Virginia.

Related articles:

1. Clarks Son Lashes Out at the Media... as he criticized the media's role in Presidential campaigns.

2. Edwards Southern Strategy is written by Terry Eastland from The Weekly Standard. He wonders if the liberal senator can sawy conservative votes from his section of the union.

3. Nearer, My Dean, to Thee is written by Jonathan V. Last, also from The Weekly Standard. He suggests that some Deaniacs jump ship, while others spin conspiracy theories... and still others see victory close at hand.

Alas, Kerry is still strong, but 70% of the delegates are elected after March 2nd... so he's still in this race... but needs monster wins in March if he wants to win the race. Will Edwards bow out? Will Clark finally give up? And will Kerry sway the "swing vote" and lure some of Bush's support to his side? Check back next week for some answers!!