Dean sets sights on comeback in N.H.
DURHAM, N.H. -- Howard Dean closed out his New Hampshire primary campaign yesterday with an appeal to voters, a jab at front-running Senator John F. Kerry, and vague allegations of "dirty tricks" being waged on his candidacy.
The former Vermont governor, anxious to avoid back-to-back losses in the first two presidential contests, told crowds in the vote-rich triangle from Manchester to Nashua and across to Durham that his campaign had recovered from its Iowa caucus loss -- and his boisterous concession speech -- and was on the cusp of victory in the Granite State.
Dean crammed his day with local and national interviews. His wife joined him after canceling a day's worth of appointments at her medical practice. In addition, he deployed surrogate campaigners such as Martin Sheen -- who plays President Josiah Bartlet on NBC's "West Wing" -- to appear with him and to campaign where he could not. At one point, his campaign bus drove down Elm Street in Manchester as one rival, retired Army general Wesley K. Clark, walked in the opposite direction and a van blaring pro-Kerry commentary over a loudspeaker rolled past. Taking aim at another rival, Dean questioned Kerry's vote against the 1991 Persian Gulf War -- at a time when Iraq had invaded Kuwait -- and in favor of invading Iraq last spring -- which the president said was a preemptive strike against its use of weapons of mass destruction.
"I question Senator Kerry's judgment," Dean said.
Dean also told an audience in Nashua that rivals were employing "dirty tricks" against his campaign. He did not elaborate.
Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com. 