Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

January 18, 2004

Kerry, Edwards Surge Into Lead

"A late surge by Democratic presidential candidates John Kerry and John Edwards has pushed them slightly ahead of long-standing front-runners Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt in the race to win Monday's Iowa caucuses," a new Des Moines Register poll shows.

"It takes more than popularity to win the caucuses, however. Campaigns must get supporters to their meetings Monday and keep them on board while recruiting other candidates' supporters and undecided voters."

The Washington Post notes the "shifting attitudes of voters help explain how the battle here has been transformed from a two-person race between Dean and Gephardt into a wild four-person contest that now includes the surging candidacies of Kerry and Edwards."

The New York Times says the candidates "campaigned furiously as they approached the conclusion of a competitive and complicated fight."

The Los Angeles Times calls the race "feverish" and describes it this way: "Prodding and pleading, the candidates lent their hoarse voices to a contest unlike any Iowa has seen: a fight closer, nastier, more costly and more pervasive than previous caucus campaigns."

Update: Zogby also puts Kerry narrowly in front of the pack, though it's a "statistically insignificant advantage." On the eve of the caucus, "it remains a tight four-way race."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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