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Super Tuesday Push

Mon Mar 1, 5:29 PM ET


By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry and rival John Edwards made their final pitches for support on Monday on the eve of a potentially decisive coast-to-coast Super Tuesday showdown in 10 states.

Kerry, hoping to deal a final blow to Edwards' candidacy on Tuesday during the campaign's biggest single day of voting, hopscotched across Maryland, Ohio and Georgia and turned up his attacks on President Bush ahead of their likely November match-up.

Edwards hunted for votes in Ohio and Georgia, two of his best shots at upset victories that could keep his underdog White House bid alive.

Up for grabs on Tuesday are big states like New York, California and Ohio with a total of 1,151 delegates to July's nominating convention -- more than half of the 2,152 delegates needed to win the nomination and the campaign's biggest one-day haul.

Kerry, the Massachusetts senator who has won 18 of the first 20 contests, stepped up his criticism of Bush over the war in Iraq and promised to directly confront the president for his handling of the economy and national security.

If you will trust me with this nomination, I will go right at George W. Bush," Kerry told a packed rally at Ohio State University. "This isn't going to be some kind of ... wishy-washy, mealy-mouthed, you can't tell the difference deal."

Earlier, at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, Kerry said, "There is a better way to make America safe than this president has chosen. This president has, in fact, created terrorists where they did not exist."

Edwards, who has put his plans to create more opportunities for American workers and stem the flow of U.S. jobs to foreign countries at the centerpiece of his campaign, held three rallies in Ohio before finishing the day in Georgia, two of the states he has targeted on Tuesday along with Minnesota.

In Toledo, Ohio, the senator from North Carolina laid out his job-creation message and plans to lift millions of Americans out of poverty, telling voters "you give me a chance at George Bush and I'll get you back the White House."

Kerry is hoping another in his long string of dominating performances will knock Edwards out of the race. While a coast-to-coast sweep would not give Kerry enough delegates to clinch the nomination, it could eliminate the last flickers of hope for Edwards.


NOT TAKING VICTORY FOR GRANTED


But Kerry said he would not take victory for granted.

"This is a contested race, so I'm fighting in every state and I'm campaigning hard and after Super Tuesday, we'll see where we are," he said.

Edwards has turned his attention elsewhere after early campaign appearances in New York and California as he hunts for fertile ground against Kerry. He has focused on Ohio because of the state's heavy job losses under Bush and Georgia because of his Southern roots.

He shrugged off repeated questions about the future of his campaign.

"I think we'll do well tomorrow," he said. "We have always been going up and surging at the end. We'll have to wait and see what happens."

"At some point I've got to get more delegates or I'm not going to be the nominee," conceded Edwards, who trails Kerry by more than 3-to-1 in the current delegate count. The bottom line, he said, was to "compete well" and win "substantial delegates."

Edwards said he expects to do well in places where he has had time to campaign and meet people.

"My responsibility is to get this message through to voters," he told reporters. "There's no question that national momentum has an impact on these races. But as long as people hear this message of hope and optimism and real change from outside Washington, it works."

Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, won the endorsement of the Baltimore Sun newspaper in Maryland and the Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio, which said his "obvious understanding of the world's complexities and their effects on America," made him the best candidate to face Bush.