Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Gore boosts Arizona primary's clout
By C.J. Karamargin
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
If you thought Arizona mattered before, just wait.
Former Vice President Al Gore's endorsement of Howard Dean on Tuesday instantly transformed Arizona into a make-or-break battleground for at least two other Democratic presidential candidates.
Now more than ever, party insiders say, Joe Lieberman and Wesley Clark need a strong showing in Arizona to keep their campaigns alive.
"If they don't do well here they're out of it," said Judy Nagle, a longtime Tucson activist.
Jim Pederson, the state party chairman, isn't willing to go that far - yet. But there's no question things are looking good for Dean, a former governor of Vermont widely dismissed as an ultra-liberal fringe candidate only a few months ago.
"Right now, as of today, he has the momentum," said Pederson. "He is going to have to sustain that."
Democrats in Arizona and six other states go to the polls on Feb. 3, a week after the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary and two weeks after the Iowa caucuses.
Polls show Dean ahead in both states and Arizona as well. He also has raised more money than his eight rivals and won the support of two significant blocs of voters, the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
The nod from Gore, supporters say, bolsters Dean's position as the front-runner in the race to take on President Bush in November.
"It will help us tremendously in Arizona," said Rep. Raúl Grijalva, a former Pima County supervisor who was among Dean's earliest champions in Congress.
Clark, a retired Army general and former NATO commander, began running television ads last week here and in South Carolina and Oklahoma, which also vote on Feb. 3. He visited Tucson on Nov. 10.
Clark spokesman Reggie Johnson downplayed Gore's endorsement of Dean. "This campaign is not about endorsements," he said. "Our nation faces critical decisions of national security and its economy. The American people will ultimately support the candidate that has put forth the strongest vision for moving our country forward and that candidate is Gen. Clark."
Lieberman, a three-term senator from Connecticut who was Gore's running mate in 2000, has made numerous visits to Arizona and was among the first candidates to open a campaign office and hire a staff here. In Tucson on Nov. 25, Lieberman announced he had won the endorsement of former Sen. Dennis DeConcini. Noting that he served with Gore in the Senate, DeConcini called Gore's decision to back Dean "a big disappointment."
"It makes me more strident for Lieberman because of the disloyalty of what Al Gore had the audacity to do," said DeConcini, a one-time Pima County attorney. "But that's the way that Al Gore operates."
* Contact reporter C.J. Karamargin at 573-4243 or cjkarama@azstarnet.com.
