The Hindu : Kerry tipped to win Super Tuesday

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 03, 2004

International

International

Kerry tipped to win Super Tuesday

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, MARCH 2. Voting has started in the primaries of Super Tuesday that will see 10 States almost sealing the fate of the Democratic candidates.

All indications are that the present front-runner, Senator John Kerry, is set to win handsomely — perhaps even all of the States in the fray today — and deal a knockout punch to his colleague from North Carolina, John Edwards.

Super Tuesday will see 50 million registered voters and 1,151 delegates. The single biggest day in the nomination process during which States such as California, New York, Ohio and Maryland have their contests, is virtually assured of putting finishing touches to the process, which will come this summer at the party convention in Boston.

If Mr. Kerry makes a sweep today, that will bring him in the range of 1,500 delegates or more, short of the 2,162 delegates needed to get the party nomination, but within striking distance. And for his only serious opponent, Mr. Edwards, it is a critical day as well.

With just over 200 delegates to his credit and a win in only South Carolina thus far, he has to show something `big' in places such as Georgia, Ohio and perhaps even Maryland and Minnesota. A full-fledged defeat for Mr. Edwards would mean that he could be packing his bags even if he has for the record said that he is in this race till finish.

In the last several days, the Edwards' campaign has been taking on a strident tone pointing out the differences between the candidate and that of Mr. Kerry. Part of the stepped-up campaigning has to do with an impression that Mr. Edwards is going `soft' on Mr. Kerry to ensure that he gets the Vice-Presidential ticket. Political pundits have started talking about the strengths and disadvantages of a Kerry-Edwards ticket.

But for Super Tuesday, much of the attention is how Mr. Edwards is going to fare in Ohio and Georgia and to some extent, in upstate New York. The argument is that if he loses Ohio that would seriously question the economic populism of the candidate and how his policies are different from that of Mr. Kerry.

The excitement of Super Tuesday is also raising larger questions about the primaries process in that many are asking if the "front loading" of the contests has done Democrats any good. States vied with one another to have an impact on the primaries and caucuses, which normally spread out till June. Now the question is whether a candidate can be projected this early in the election season without having exhausted the routine examinations process.

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