The Hindu : Primaries enter crucial phase

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 18, 2004

International

International

Primaries enter crucial phase

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, FEB. 17. A crucial vote has started taking place in Wisconsin, and in many ways, could determine if the Democratic nomination race is heading for several more weeks of competition or folding up by the time returns are in this evening.

Most opinion polls show that the front-runner, Senator John Kerry, is expected to win easily and by a wide margin; and hence the attention in the last few days has shifted to the future of the two other contenders for the `prize' — the former Governor of Vermont, Howard Dean, and Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. Between the two, there is more immediate interest in the fortunes of Mr. Dean.

Heading into the vote in Wisconsin, the Dean campaign had bad news coming its way with the one time front-runner having to announce that Steve Grossman is no longer the chairman of his campaign. Mr. Grossman, who at one time was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, had told many media outlets over the weekend that he was going to throw his weight behind Mr. Kerry if Mr. Dean did not make it in Wisconsin.

Mr. Edwards, perceived as the only Democratic contender who has had a positive outlook and a positive agenda, is now being seen as the one who can continue at least until March 2, the Super Tuesday when major States such as California, New York, Ohio and Maryland have their contests. The Senator from North Carolina has maintained that he will continue the race beyond Wisconsin and that he will start pointing to the differences between him and Mr. Kerry, especially on economic issues.

If some hoped that charges of Mr. Kerry's alleged affair with a young woman was going to play a major role heading up to Wisconsin and beyond, that turned out to be a damp squib. The lady in question flatly denied ever having had a relationship with the Massachusetts lawmaker. "I have never had a relationship with Senator Kerry and the rumours in the press are completely false", said Alexandra Polier, who is visiting her fiancé and his family in Kenya. The parents of Ms Polier too issued a statement calling the allegations against their daughter as completely false and unsubstantiated. "These unfounded rumours are hurtful to our entire family. We appreciate the way Senator Kerry has handled the situation, and intend on voting for him for President of the United States", Terry and Donna Polier said.

The allegations surfaced last Thursday when the well-known Internet gossip-meister, Matt Drudge, talked of a two-year affair between Senator Kerry and the 24-year-old Ms Polier. Much of the mainstream media in America did not pick up the Drudge report but a few conservative talk show hosts did. On Friday morning itself, Senator Kerry debunked the report. But if there was a continued buzz in the Internet on the `Kerry affair', some of it had to do with the fact that it was Matt Drudge who first broke the story on Monica Lewinsky having had an affair with the then President, Bill Clinton, a scandal that nearly brought the Presidency down.

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