Washington Wrap

Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Beth Lester, Clothilde Ewing and Sean Sharifi of the CBS News Political Unit have the latest from the nation's capital.

Friday's Headlines

* Poll Watch: Can you Spell B-O-U-N-C-E?
* Insiders Flip Over Kerry

* Dean Ready For a Fight, But Not On Feb. 3

* Democrats Court the Sooners

Poll Watch: Can you Spell B-O-U-N-C-E? Although it would be hard to call the Democratic nomination a done deal, new polls out today in a variety of Feb. 3 states suggest that John Kerry's wins in Iowa and New Hampshire have given his campaign a huge, massive boost.

Polls from Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby (conducted Jan. 27-29; margin of error 4.1 percent) show Kerry in the lead in Missouri and Arizona and in second place in Oklahoma and South Carolina. In delegate-rich Missouri, Kerry has a 34-point lead over his nearest rival, and in Arizona he is up by 15. As pollster John Zogby puts it, "Tell me that Iowa and N.H. don't matter. Kerry's double victories have clearly propelled him into front-runner status."

While Clark leads Kerry by 8 points in Zogby's Oklahoma poll, a survey from the Daily Oklahoman (conducted Jan. 28; margin of error 5.6 percent) shows Kerry with a slim lead over Clark. Clark had spent $1.4 million on TV ads in the state before Kerry went up for the first time on Okla. television this week. Pollster Chris Wilson concludes, "That's the power of momentum." And the good news doesn't stop: although North Dakota is not a Democratic strong-hold, it does vote on Feb. 3 and, according to a Fargo Forum-WDAY poll (conducted Jan. 26 and Jan. 28, margin of error 4 percent), Kerry is the only candidate with any traction, up 16 points from his nearest rival. Why? It appears to be electibility: "more than two-thirds of North Dakota Democrats -- 68 percent -- view Kerry as the most likely candidate to beat President Bush," far more than any other candidate.

In Delaware, a state that Joe Lieberman has targeted, a new American Research Group poll (condcuted Jan. 28-29; margin of error 4 percent) shows Kerry leading the Connecticut senator by 11 points. With Feb. 3 just four days away, the polls suggest that Kerry may be pulling away from his rivals.

Zogby - South Carolina 1/27-29 (600 interviews)
Edwards 25
Kerry 24
Dean 9
Clark 8
Lieberman 5
Sharpton 5
Undecided 22

Zogby - Missouri 1/27-29 (600 interviews)
Kerry 45
Edwards 11
Dean 9
Lieberman 4
Clark 3
Undecided 20

Zogby - Oklahoma 1/27-29 (600 interviews)
Clark 27
Kerry 19
Edwards 17
Dean 9
Lieberman 5
Undecided 23

Zogby - Arizona 1/27-29 (600 interviews)
Kerry 38
Clark 17
Dean 12
Edwards 6
Lieberman 6
Undecided 18

Daily Oklahoman 1/28 (300 interviews)
Kerry 20
Clark 18
Edwards 13
Undecided "more than a third"

North Dakota-Fargo Forum-WDAY 1/26, 128 (640 interviews)
Undecided 40
Kerry 31
Clark 15
Edwards 6
Dean 5

ARG-Delaware 1/28-29 (600 interviews)
Kerry 27
Lieberman 16
Dean 14
Edwards 9
Clark 8
Undecided 24

Insiders Flip Over One of their Own: Just two weeks after he led National Journal's Insiders Poll with 40 of the first place nods, Howard Dean's support from the Insiders has collapsed. In this week's poll, John Kerry has 46 of the first place nods and Dean slips to third behind Kerry and John Edwards. Dean now only has two first place rankings. As one Insider explains, "In one brief, shining moment, he revealed to most Democrats that he truly is what they feared: unpresidential and, therefore, unelectable." Wesley Clark also slips, with one Insider noting, "This is his last pass." National Journal's Barnes and Mahtesian quip, "Two weeks ago, a doctor and a general occupied the two top spots in the poll. Now senators hold those positions."

Looking toward the top, Kerry seems to have persuaded many of Insiders. One explains, "Dean has the passion. Clark has the four stars. Edwards has the message. But Kerry may have enough of each to get the job done." And Kerry's rise even has one of the Insiders calling it game over, saying "Kerry will be the nominee. It's only a question of how messy the cleanup will be." And for Edwards, while the Insiders are doubtful about his ability to secure the nomination, they rank him second-strongest against President Bush. This is a major improvement from his November 2003 strength ranking when he tied for fourth.

Ready For A Fight But Not On February 3: Howard Dean brushed aside talk of problems in his campaign on Thursday and rebuffed the notion that he must win one of the Feb. 3 states to stay in the race reports the New York Times.

Instead, Dean says he is concentrating on a longer-term, delegate-collecting strategy, evidenced by the fact that he will travel to Arizona, Washington State, Wisconsin and Michigan over the next two days. Arizona is the only Feb. 3 state on the schedule.

Meanwhile, Dean and new campaign manager Roy Neel tried to reassure 100 of the campaign's largest donors that they planned to reduce costs by, among other things, cutting staff numbers (which currently number approximately 500). According to the campaign blog, the two might also want to reassure some of their smaller donors who are also nervous about the money situation.

"Is anyone else concerned about where our $40 million went? I have to admit that i am reluctant to spend more myself, even though i want to and want Dean to win," one concerned blogger wrote. Another blogger questioned why people haven't given up saying, "Why are people giving money? have you read how much the campaign wasted in Iowa and new Hampshire. Let us get a grip on reality here people. Governor Dean and Trippi and McMahon screwed us over. The 'greatest grassroots movement' in the history of democracy was driven off the road and into a ravine by these three people…I guess it is too late to ask for my $130.00 back that I have given over the course of the last 8 months? How did this go wrong? Sure, sure, partly the corporate media, but the 3 at the top are the ones that took any chance away of winning this."

According to Neel, the campaign has at least $3 million, with some bills to pay, but he insisted that money was still rolling in through the Internet.

In other blogging news, supporters were by and large sad to hear about Joe Trippi leaving the campaign. "I'm really concerned with this. Joe Trippi was the reason this campaign ever got off the ground floor," one blogger said. And from another blogger who is upset enough to withdraw support "I am no longer supporting Dean. Its a slap in the face to the guy who created Dean I am sorry to say that. Goodbye."

But in an interview with Deborah Norville on Thursday, an emotional Trippi said he told Dean that he really did inspire him in Iowa a year ago and that he will continue to support him.

Sooners On a National Stage: With a front-loaded primary lineup this political season, states such as Oklahoma, which holds its primary on Feb. 3, are enjoying attention from Democratic candidates that they haven't seen in years, reports The Washington Post.

With 40 delegates up for grabs, Oklahoma has also enjoyed increased attention because it is viewed as fairly conservative, giving candidates an opportunity to show their appeal to both sides of the Democratic base. Joe Lieberman, who likes to remind voters of his centrist views; Wesley Clark, who often relies on his military background and religious background; and John Edwards, who likes to remind voters he is a son of the South, have all spent a lot of time in the state. All three are on the air in the Sooner state and campaigned there this week.

Meanwhile, John Kerry, who is actually leading in one poll and running second in another, will make his first campaign visit to the state on Saturday. Dennis J. Kucinich also visited Oklahoma this week. The odd man out, Howard Dean, who made a small ad buy there ($120,000) before his troubles, is not on the air and won't be going into the sate before next Tuesday.

Quote of the Day: "Good job. Good job. Call me." --Sen. John Edwards, making a bee line over to Howard Dean following the South Carolina debate where Dean took on John Kerry. A source in the Edwards campaign told CBS News that Dean had been trying to meet with Edwards before Thursday's debate but that Edwards didn't want to play.