Dems Drumming Up Votes

The Democratic presidential contenders are targeting key states and swing voters in the closing hours before the biggest campaign test of the season, with front-running John Kerry pledging "a real conversation with America."

Seven states and 269 pledged delegates are up for grabs in votes held Tuesday. To win the Democratic party's nomination to challenge President Bush in November's presidential election, a candidate needs to claim 2,162 delegates.

Kerry holds comfortable leads in polls in five of the states - Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota - and is competitive in the other two - Oklahoma and South Carolina. His hope is a big win Tuesday night that likely would narrow the field.

In a CBS News poll conducted Saturday and Sunday in South Carolina, Sen. John Edwards is the choice of 28 percent of likely primary voters, while 24 percent choose Kerry. Al Sharpton and Wesley Clark are barely in double digits, with Howard Dean and Joe Lieberman even further back.

Compared to a poll taken Wednesday through Friday of last week, Kerry's popularity has grown. Sharpton has leapt from fifth place to third ahead of Clark and Dean. The poll was conducted from a sample 777 voters, 433 of whom are considered likely to vote in the primary. The margin of error is four points.

Dean, the former front-runner, continued to pound Kerry for his financial ties with special interests, saying those links cast doubt on the Massachusetts senator's claim to be the champion of the battle against those interests.

"He misrepresented himself, grossly misrepresented himself, as a candidate who would take on special interests in Washington," the former Vermont governor said.

"My record responds to that," Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, replied to reporters during a stop in Fargo, North Dakota, where he took in the Super Bowl before flying to New Mexico. "I have fought powerful special interests every step of the way."

Meanwhile, Kerry was continuing to pick up big-name endorsements, winning the backing of the United Farm Workers union and Washington Gov. Gary Locke. Aides said the union's backing would give Kerry crucial support among Hispanics who are a key constituency in New Mexico and Arizona.

Washington state holds caucuses Saturday, and Kerry plans to head there and await returns Tuesday night, shifting his focus to the next test.

Michigan's Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Lt. Gov. John Cherry and Rep. Sander Levin also said they backed Kerry, says CBS News Reporter Steve Chagarris.

But it wasn't all good news for the frontrunner: Newsweek resurrected the story of his 1996 meeting with Johnny Chung, the businessman who later plead guilty to making illegal donations to both Kerry and President Clinton. Kerry's office asked the SEC to expedite a regulatory decision for an associate of Chung's, and soon afterward Chung threw Kerry a fundraiser that netted $10,000.

"This is old news it's been fully vetted," Kerry explained. "It was investigated. And the moment we had learned anything about that contribution, we returned the entire contribution."

Clark focused on Oklahoma, where polls show he has the best shot at pulling off a badly needed win Tuesday night. He was joined by Mike McClintic, who as a 22-year-old private pulled Clark out of gunfire and protected him during a Vietnam firefight. "Mike, you saved my life," Clark said, shaking his hand at an Oklahoma rally.

Kerry held a similar reunion with Jim Rassmann, a Special Forces officer Kerry rescued in Vietnam.

Edwards was focused on South Carolina, where polls gave him the best chance of scoring a victory. He dismissed suggestions he could join Kerry as a running mate.

"I think you should ask Senator Kerry whether he's interested in being vice president," said Edwards, his voice growing hoarse. "You can see I've been talking too much," he added.

Lieberman touted the endorsements of newspapers in Seattle and South Carolina. "What this says is I have national support," he said.

Dean, the early front-runner, conceded he may not win any of the state's Tuesday night, and was focusing on Washington and Michigan, which also holds caucuses Saturday.

If Kerry sweeps on Tuesday, it would jeopardize the campaigns of Clark and Edwards, leaving Kerry free to focus on Dean.

Dean and Kerry both opted to skip public financing, meaning they are not subject to spending limits - but are not getting the federal matching money that is flowing to rival campaigns. Dean burned through much of the $41 million he raised hoping to score a knockout in early tests.

"We took an enormous gamble and it didn't work," he said Sunday.

Dean said he isn't ready to leave the race and was focused on winning delegates. He did say he had no plans to linger on if it becomes clear the nomination is out of reach.

Kerry for days has largely ignored his Democratic rivals and focused on President Bush.

In his latest assault, he accused the administration of an "incredible cave-in" to drug companies at taxpayers' expense, citing the dramatically higher cost estimate for the new Medicare overhaul.

The administration now puts the 10-year cost of the prescription drug benefit at $534 billion. That is one-third higher than the $395 billion figure from the Congressional Budget Office that administration officials and Republican congressional leaders cited as they pushed the legislation through Congress in November.