Utahns gear up for Demo primary
One-third plan to vote; Kerry, Edwards focusing elsewhere
But neither Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts nor Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina is investing a lot in what might as well be "Forgotten Tuesday." That's frustrating Utah Democrats who were hoping that their primary election would have national impact.
"I've got to admit I'm a little discouraged," said Salt Lake County Councilman Joe Hatch, who's the spokesman for the Kerry campaign here. "What I'm hearing in the national press is that Utah, Idaho and Hawaii don't exist."
About one-third of the Utahns surveyed for a new Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll said they plan to vote in Tuesday's primary. Of those questioned on Feb. 19 by Dan Jones & Associates, 49 percent back Kerry. Only 23 percent said they're likely to vote for Edwards.
Kerry said he's taking Utah's primary election on Tuesday "very seriously" even if he isn't going to make a campaign stop here.
The Massachusetts senator spoke to reporters in Utah by telephone Sunday from Atlanta. Georgia Democrats go to the polls on March 2, the so-called "Super Tuesday."
Anderson had endorsed Dean earlier this month, along with legislators Scott Daniels and Jackie Biskupski, Salt Lake County Councilman Jim Bradley and party official Nichole Adams. All now back Kerry, along with nearly three dozen other Utah Democratic leaders.
"I have the strongest organization on the ground in Utah," Kerry said in a raspy, tired-sounding voice. "I've been running a national campaign. I'm doing the best I can to get to as many places as I can. There are other states I'm also not going to be able to get to."
The candidate said he's offering "a plain, common-sense, mainstream American values approach to the choices we have in this country" and that there "there is nothing conservative or mainstream Republican" about the Bush administration fiscal policies.
"I don't think there are many people in Utah who wouldn't exchange today's economy for the economy we had during those eight years we had under Bill Clinton," Kerry said. "That's exactly what I'm going back to."
While Utah Democrats are holding a statewide election Tuesday, party members in Idaho and Hawaii will caucus that day to choose delegates to the national convention this summer. Altogether, though, the three states have only 61 delegates, including Utah's 29.
That means, of course, the national focus is on the "Super Tuesday" contests in New York, California and eight other states on March 2 that will choose 1,151 delegates — nearly one-third of the total available nationwide.
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