Primary Day: Kerry Vs. Everyone

John Edwards and Wesley Clark hoped to prevent front-runner John Kerry from sweeping the seven states with delegate elections Tuesday while Howard Dean looked ahead to another day to rejuvenate his faltering campaign for president.

Each of the leading candidates claims to be the only one capable of defeating President Bush in November. The states with primaries or caucuses — Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Carolina — likely will narrow the field or, at the least, shake up the strategies of those who fail to win delegates.

With Kerry leading in polls in five states and virtually tied with Clark in Oklahoma, Edwards was counting on a victory in South Carolina's first-in-the-South primary to keep his own campaign alive and raise questions about Kerry's strength.

Edwards told CBS News Early Show Co-Host Rene Syler "I'm going to be the nominee, and I will perform well in South Carolina."

Clark was relying on respectable showings in Arizona and New Mexico to propel his campaign into the next round of contests. For the former general, Tuesday's must-win might be Oklahoma, reports CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassman.

Dean's campaign, which has severely cut back on spending, laid off more staff as Dean trailed everywhere in the first day of multistate primaries and caucuses.

The major candidates were scattered around the country: Edwards, his voice hoarse and battling a head cold, awaited returns in Columbia. Kerry and Dean were in Washington state, site of caucuses on Saturday. Lieberman planned last-minute campaigning in Delaware before going to Washington, D.C. Clark was in Oklahoma.

In what might be the key state for any Democrats hoping to derail Kerry, the latest CBS News poll of South Carolina voters showed Edwards in the lead with 28 percent, followed by Kerry at 24. The Rev. Al Sharpton was in third place with 13 percent and Clark was next at 10 percent; Dean and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut were in single digits.

Edwards, who has promised to run a positive campaign, criticized Kerry's acceptance of contributions from lobbyists and free-trade policies that Edwards claimed cost American jobs, particularly in trade-devastated South Carolina.

"I think we want real change in Washington. We need somebody who hasn't been there for 15, 20 years to bring about that change," he said. "I don't take contributions from lobbyists, and he obviously does."

But, truth be told, Edwards takes special interest money too. A multi-millionaire trial lawyer himself, he has pulled in millions from attorneys, reports CBS News Correspondent Byron Pitts.

Edwards accepted one donation in 2002 directly from a lobbying firm and collected more than $80,000 from people who aren't formally registered as lobbyists but nonetheless work for some of Washington's powerhouse firms. He also has accepted more than $150,000 worth of flights aboard the corporate jets of special interests.

Republican Party chairman Ed Gillespie, visiting Edwards' home state, said the senator "gets 40 percent of his campaign contributions from trial lawyers at the same time he is blocking tort reform and medical liability reform legislation."

For his part, Kerry questioned the North Carolina senator's credentials and electability.

Said Kerry on Monday: "Edwards says he's the only one who can win states in the South. He can't win his own state." A Kerry aide later said the remark was in response to public polling suggesting Mr. Bush would win North Carolina in the November election.

Edwards responded: "I am the only Democratic presidential candidate in the field who has a proven record of being able to win the type of tough states Democrats will need to win in the general election and I will do it again tomorrow."

"This is not the time for on-the-job training," Kerry told South Carolina reporters Monday via satellite from Albuquerque, N.M. In a speech, the four-term Massachusetts senator looked confidently beyond the nomination fight to a potential race against President Bush.

"Like father like son. One term only," Kerry said. "Bush is going to be done."

Though they would agree with that point, Kerry's chief rivals said he is not the candidate best suited to stand up to Mr. Bush.

"It's going to take one tough hombre," Wesley Clark said while courting Hispanic voters in New Mexico. "And I'm one tough hombre."

So nobody would miss the point, Clark spoke a bit of Spanish and told voters about his 5-week-old grandson — Wesley Pablo Oviedo Clark — whose mother, the wife of Clark's only son, is Colombian.

Dean, who just three weeks ago was considered the race's front-runner, has not been advertising in the seven states voting Tuesday. He also decided against advertising in Michigan, a delegate-rich state holding caucuses Saturday. He likely will to forgo advertising in Washington state, Maine, Tennessee and Virginia.

Dean is saving his money for an ad blitz in Wisconsin, site of a Feb. 17 primary.

Aides said Dean is raising about $200,000 a day, enough for Neel to lift a payroll freeze. Still, Dean's most powerful backers were getting nervous.

A fresh spate of endorsements added weight to Kerry's argument that Democrats leaders are rallying behind his front-running candidacy. Two unions announced their endorsements, as well as Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, Reps. Mark Udall of Colorado and Ruben Hinojosa of Texas and New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Lieberman contended Tuesday he was not considering any decision on the future of his campaign should he not win a single contest.

"Today's the voter's day and I put my trust in them as I always have, and I'm ready to be respectful of their decision," Lieberman told CNN.