Democratic horse race taks on Southwest flavor
Pushing ahead, Dean keeps eye on primary win
SANTE FE -- Howard Dean, who once expected to virtually wrap up the presidential nomination with a string of victories today, instead is hoping for political salvation with a single win in New Mexico after back-to-back losses in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Even those diminished expectations were put in doubt by a poll published in the Albuquerque Journal yesterday.
The former Vermont governor, who led the Democratic field with 18 percent of the vote in the middle of January, fell to second with 15 percent, while Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts vaulted into the lead with 31 percent of the vote. Undecided participants in the caucuses, who represented 34 percent of those surveyed in mid-January, remained a relatively high 27 percent. The latest poll has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.
"This is the state we can win tomorrow," Dean nonetheless told a crowd of about 200 gathered in a ballroom at the La Fonda hotel. The state has 26 delegates at stake.
Dean added: "This is really critical. You know, a lot of the pollsters and the pundits are saying, `Well, you know, Howard didn't succeed, the Internet organization, all that, it didn't work.' I think it does work. This is not about Howard Dean going to the White House; this is about us going to the White House."
Before departing Sante Fe, Dean spent three hours taping 21 local television interviews for broadcast in seven states with upcoming elections. Beyond New Mexico, he is focusing on the caucuses Saturday in Michigan and Washington state, as well as on the Feb. 17 primary in Wisconsin.
Dean told WKBT-TV in La Crosse that a win in Wisconsin would "change the whole dynamic of the race." He also said he would "probably" live in the state for a week before the primary.
Dean delighted the La Fonda hotel crowd with a quick retort after an audience member yelled, "Washington needs a doctor."
A physician by training, as is his wife, he quipped: "Washington's going to get two doctors for the price of one."
Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com.
