New endorsements for Kerry, Dean swaps campaign head

By JOHN WHITESIDES in Greenville

The Democratic presidential hopefuls fanned out across the country yesterday, with front-runner John Kerry picking up new endorsements, Howard Dean shaking up his staff and the other candidates hustling to score breakthrough wins next week.

Coming off his big win in New Hampshire, Kerry made the battleground of Missouri his first stop and launched television ads in all seven states holding contests next week.

Dean, who lost to Kerry by 13 points in New Hampshire after holding a double-digit lead a month ago, brought in an experienced Washington hand, Roy Neel, to run his campaign. Campaign manager Joe Trippi, who took Dean's shoestring operation in Vermont to fund-raising records last year, resigned.

The moves came as the presidential race changed from the face-to face politics of Iowa and New Hampshire to a wider national campaign driven by big-money television ads and a calculated game of counting delegates to this summer's nominating conventions.

The seven contests next Tuesday - in Missouri, South Carolina, Delaware, Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota and Oklahoma - offer an opportunity for a few of Kerry's rivals to score a victory and get back in the race. If they do not, pressure will build on them to drop out.

Despite winning the first two Democratic contests, Kerry said he expected a long fight in the campaign to find a Democratic challenger to President George W. Bush.

"I expect to compete with the same underdog mentality. I'm going to fight for every vote," Kerry said.

A Kansas City Star poll found Kerry leading in Missouri with 25 per cent of the vote and no other candidates rising out of single digits.

Gaining the endorsement of influential US Representative James Clyburn, South Carolina's only black congressman, was a significant coup for Kerry in a state where blacks are expected to make up more than 40 per cent of Democratic voters.

It also was a blow to North Carolina Senator John Edwards, who is counting on a win there on Tuesday to ignite his campaign.

Edwards flew straight to South Carolina from New Hampshire, where he finished fourth, just behind retired General Wesley Clark, and told a rally in Orangeburg that his Southern roots would give him an advantage in a contest against Bush. The last three Democrats elected to the White House were from the South.

Clark headed to Oklahoma from New Hampshire, with stops in Arizona and New Mexico later in the day.

Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman visited Oklahoma, where he touted his health care plan at a forum in Edmonds, saying it would cost less per person than the health care plans of any of his rivals.

Dean headed home to Burlington, Vermont, for meetings that led to his campaign shake-up.

Neel, who will take over the campaign, was a longtime aide to former Vice President Al Gore, who has endorsed Dean and will campaign for him in South Carolina.

- REUTERS