Washington Wrap
Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Beth Lester, Clothilde Ewing, Sean Sharifi and Jamie English of the CBS News Political Unit have the latest from the nation's capital.
Tuesday's Headlines
* Super Tuesday State By State
* Georgia on Voters' Mind
* Cheney Out of the Bunker and Onto the Airwaves
* Looking Ahead to March 9: Will Edwards Soldier On?
* Hull Already Playing Defense
Super Tuesday Watch: State-By-State Guide
California (370 delegates)
Polls Open/Close Time: 7am to 8pm (PST), 10am to 11pm (EST)
Who can vote: Registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters may participate
Money raised in the state: Kerry $3.9 million, Edwards $2.4 million
Television ads: Kucinich is on air in the Los Angeles market
Visits in the last week: Kerry – 2, Edwards – 2, Kucinich – 4, Sharpton – 1
Field Poll 2/18-22 (958 interviews)
Kerry 60
Edwards 19
Kucinich 3
Sharpton 2
Los Angeles Times 2/18-22 (560 interviews)
Kerry 56
Edwards 24
Sharpton 4
Kucinich 1
Connecticut (49 delegates)
Polls Open/Close Time: 6am to 8pm (EST)
Who can vote: Closed, only registered Democrats can vote
Money raised in the state: Kerry $417,104, Edwards $243,150
Television ads: None
Visits in the last week: None
No public polls
Georgia (86 delegates)
Polls Open/Close Time: 7am to 7pm (EST)
Who can vote: Open, any voter can participate
Money raised in the state: Kerry $282,400, Edwards $569,527
Television ads: Both Kerry (spending $166,000 from Feb. 21 through 27) and Edwards ($226,000 in that period) have run ads "statewide"
Visits in the last week: Kerry – 1, Edwards – 3, Sharpton – 1
Journal-Constitution/Zogby 2/28- 3/1 (602 interviews)
Kerry 50.9
Edwards 37
Sharpton 5
Kucinich 1
Undecided 3.9
ARG – GA 2/27-28 (600 interviews)
Kerry 48
Edwards 38
Sharpton 4
Kucinich 1
Undecided 7
Maryland (69 delegates)
Polls Open/Close Time: 7am to 8pm (EST)
Who can vote: Closed, only registered Democrats can vote
Money raised in the state: Kerry $460,050, Edwards $ 196,500
Television ads: None
Visits in the last week: Kerry – 1, Edwards – 1
ARG – MD 2/27-28 (600 interviews)
Kerry 46
Edwards 35
Sharpton 3
Kucinich 1
Undecided 11
Mason-Dixon 2/23-25 (625 interviews)
Kerry 62
Edwards 20
Sharpton 3
Kucinich 1
Undecided 13
Massachusetts (93 delegates)
Polls Open/Close Time: 7am to 8pm (EST)
Who can vote: Registered Democrats, unaffiliated voters
Money raised in the state: Kerry $3.8 million, Edwards - $191,800
Television ads: None since the New Hampshire primary, when both the Kerry and Edwards campaigns advertised heavily on Boston television, which reaches NH
Visits in the last week: Kucinich – 1. Kerry none, voted absentee.
No public polls
Minnesota (72 delegates)
Polls Open/Close Time: Caucus from 7pm to 8pm (CST), 8pm to 9pm (EST)Who can vote: Open, any voter can participate
Money raised in the state: Kerry $279,321, Edwards $48,500
Television ads: None
Visits in the last week: Kerry – 1, Edwards – 1
No public polls
New York (236 delegates)
Polls Open/Close Time: 6am to 9pm (EST)
Who can vote: Closed, only registered Democrats can participate
Money raised in the state: Kerry $2.9 million, Edwards $1.7 million
Television ads: Both Kerry and Edwards have run ads in Upstate New York
Visits in the last week: Kerry – 2, Edwards – 1, Sharpton – 3, Kucinich – 1
Marist College 2/25 (417 interviews)
Kerry 64
Edwards 22
Sharpton 5
Kucinich 2
Undecided 7
ARG – NY 2/22-24 (600 interviews)
Kerry 54
Edwards 21
Sharpton 8
Kucinich 2
Undecided 11
Ohio (140 delegates)
Polls Open/Close Time: 6:30am to 7:30pm (EST)
Who can vote: Open, any voter can participate
Money raised in the state: Kerry $112,625, Edwards $246,625
Television ads: Both Kerry (spending $306,000 from Feb. 21 through 27) and Edwards ($440,000 in that period) have run ads "statewide"
Visits in the last week: Kerry – 3, Edwards – 2, Kucinich – 2
ARG – OH 2/22-24 (600 interviews)
Kerry 47
Edwards 26
Kucinich 11
Sharpton 1
Undecided 12
Rhode Island (21 delegates)
Polls Open/Close Time: Open between 6am and 9am, must close by 9pm
Who can vote: Registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters may participate
Money raised in the state: Kerry $307,150, Edwards - $49,750
Television ads: None
Visits in the last week: None
Brown University 2/7-9 (285 interviews)
Kerry 70
Dean 11
Edwards 9
Clark 4
Undecided 4
Vermont (15 delegates)
John Edwards is not on the ballot in the state. Some supporters of former Gov. Howard Dean are hoping for an upset, although there is no organized effort by his campaign.
Polls Open/Close Time: 5am to 7pm (EST)
Who can vote: Open, any voter can participate
Money raised in the state: Kerry $19,750, Edwards $6,450
Television ads: None since the New Hampshire primary, when some television advertising reached into Vermont.
Visits in the last week: None
No public polls
Sources: CBS Election Briefing Book, the New York Times
Georgia Flag on Voters' Mind: In addition to voting for a Democratic presidential nominee, Georgians are also participating in a non-binding referendum to choose between the two most recent versions of the state flag. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that voters can select a flag proposed by former Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes or stick with the current flag that is being championed by Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Barnes' proposed flag has a blue background with a streamer of past state flags, including the 1956 state flag of the St. Andrew's cross, which is the Confederate battle emblem. The Perdue-backed current flag is modeled after the Confederate national banner, but does not bear the St. Andrew's cross.
Influential black Democrats including former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and State Rep. Tyrone Brooks are endorsing the current flag, arguing that voting for a new flag would reopen controversy that the current flag ended.
Secretary of State Cathy Cox estimates a voter turnout of 26 percent, which is in line with past primaries.
Cheney Emerges: Vice President Dick Cheney emerges from his security bunker on Tuesday, this time not for a Bush-Cheney fundraiser but rather for television interviews with the three all-news cable channels smack dab in the middle of Super Tuesday coverage.
The emergence of the media-averse Cheney comes at a time of shrinking poll numbers for the administration in general and the vice president in particular.
The political parlor game of whether President Bush will stick with Cheney this fall continues to captivate the chattering class. A new national poll showing just 24 percent of Americans want Mr. Bush to pick Cheney as his running mate again is sure to add fuel to the fire.
Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland conducted a poll and found that "Secretary of State Colin Powell emerged as the preferred running mate for President George W. Bush, well ahead of incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney.
"When given a choice among five Republicans, 32 percent of respondents chose Powell, followed by 24 percent for Cheney. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice were each named by 8 percent of respondents. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., was named by 1 percent. Nineteen percent said they didn't know whom they would like to see as the Republican nominee."
The same poll found 25 percent of respondents backing a John Kerry-John Edwards Democratic ticket. In second place in the Dem veepstakes game was Hillary Clinton with 14 percent. Twenty-seven percent said they weren't sure who Kerry should pick.
Soldiering on to Southern Tuesday?
Edwards enters Tuesday's contests as the decided underdog who has won only one primary so far, South Carolina, and is trailing in all public polls in states holding contests on Super Tuesday. Despite this, Edwards has vowed to soldier on. He is scheduled to make campaign appearances in all four Southern Tuesday states - Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida - which vote on March 9. Some staff members see those plans as tentative, according to CBS News sources and the Boston Globe.
Edwards rejects the claim that a long and drawn out race will hurt the Democrats' chances in November and asserts that he has the right to continue to campaign as long as he continues to collect delegates. But he doesn't appear to be completely delusional, telling CBS News Correspondent Jim Axelrod that "At some point, I've got to start getting more delegates or I'm not going to be the nominee."
Meanwhile, Kerry is also keeping his eye on the March 9 prizes and has planned visits to Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi in the next week.
Looking at the list of endorsements he's racked up so far, things are definitely looking good for the Massachusetts senator. According to Sen. Bob Graham's office, discussions between the two camps are still underway about whether the Florida Senator will endorse his colleague from Massachusetts, but no final agreement has been made because of scheduling issues.
Keep in mind, Kerry planned to attend an election night party in Tampa on Tuesday night, but because of votes he will be in Washington instead. Graham was supposed to attend that Tampa event, CBS News has learned. Both Kerry and Edwards came back to Washington to cast votes on gun liability legislation but while Kerry will spend election night at a party in D.C., Edwards will go to Atlanta as scheduled.
Kerry will go to Orlando on Wednesday and plans to attend a rally in Louisiana on Friday. Kerry has received endorsements from the Democratic biggies in Louisiana, including Sens. John Breaux and Mary Landrieu, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, Reps. Chris John and William Jefferson, Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu and Attorney General Charles Foti.
Kerry has also received endorsements from Rep. Bennie Thompson in Mississippi, Rep. Kendrick Meek Leads in Florida and Reps. Chris Bell, Charles Gonzalez, Ciro Rodriguez and Ruben Hinojosa have endorsed Kerry in Texas.
As for future ad strategy, the Kerry campaign hopes that if they do well on Super Tuesday, they won't need to spend money on paid ads in next week's states. If Edwards is still viable, those plans will be reconsidered.
Hull on the Defensive after Domestic Violence Accusations: Illinois Democratic Senate candidate Blair Hull is on the defensive again, answering questions about his 1998 divorce, reports the Chicago Tribune.
On Friday, unsealed divorce files show that Hull's ex-wife, Barbara Sexton, accused him of violent behavior as their second volatile marriage to each other ended in 1998. Sexton sought an order of protection, saying Hull threatened her life and struck her once. Authorities did not press charges as the incident was declared "mutual combat." "Hull struck Sexton's shin in retaliation after she allegedly kicked him," explains the Tribune.
Hull declined to answer questions Monday about the validity of accusations by Sexton. Hull did say, "This is not an issue of domestic violence, I guarantee you that."
But the Chicago chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) says Hull's explanation is insufficient. "We still haven't gotten the kind of emphatic rejection of domestic violence…that we've been looking for from him," Chicago NOW President Jennifer Koehler said. "We waited three days and still don't have answers, so we decided to step it up a little bit."
Hull believes the timing of Koehler's statement was politically motivated and fueled by his opponents as the March 16 primary approaches. "I think we expect to be attacked by our opponents," Hull said.
Koehler denied any political motivation and said the Chicago chapter of NOW is not endorsing any candidate and she herself has not yet chosen a candidate to support. Koehler is chief of staff for Cook County Commissioner Michael Quigley, who has endorsed Hull's opponent Dan Hynes.
"Both Koehler and officials with the Hynes campaign said it was insulting to suggest NOW's criticism was politically motivated, and Koehler said her role as Chicago NOW president has nothing to do with her job as Quigley's chief of staff," the Tribune reports.
Quote of the Day: "Oh, boy, wait till they see the fire in my belly. I didn't win 18 out of 20 caucuses and primaries so far because I don't have the fire in the belly."
-- John Kerry on the CBS News Early Show