U.S. Democratic Party presidential nomination, 2004

The 2004 U.S. Democratic Party presidential nomination was won by U.S. Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts, who selected John Edwards from North Carolina as his running mate. The nomination process was a series of primaries and caucuses culminating in the Democratic National Convention. By this process, Kerry and Edwards were chosen to represent the Democrats in the 2004 election for President and Vice President of the United States.

Iowa and New Hampshire

Leading up to the Iowa caucuses, Howard Dean was a strong front-runner, fueled by an official endorsement from Al Gore in December 2003, and bolstered by other key endorsements, such as Bill Bradley and Tom Harkin. Even opponent Carol Moseley Braun endorsed Dean after she dropped out of the race, having been soundly defeated by Dean in the Washington, D.C., primary. Jimmy Carter vowed not to endorse any candidate in the 2004 race, but gave an implicit endorsement after a Sunday church service that Carter and Dean attended together in Plains, Georgia, on the weekend before the Iowa caucuses.

Related Topics:
Iowa caucuses - Al Gore - Bill Bradley - Tom Harkin - Carol Moseley Braun - Washington, D.C. - Jimmy Carter - Plains, Georgia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On January 19, 2004, the Iowa caucuses yielded unexpectedly strong results for Democratic candidates John Kerry, who earned 38% of the state's delegates, and John Edwards, who took 32%. Former front-runner Howard Dean slipped to 18% and third place, and Richard Gephardt finished fourth (11%). Dean had been a strong contender for weeks in advance in that state, battling with Dick Gephardt for first place in the polls, so both campaigns were very surprised and disappointed with the result. Most analysts blamed intense negative campaigning between Dean and Gephardt as the reason for their losses. Following his disappointing showing in Iowa, Gephardt dropped out of the race.

Related Topics:
January 19 - Iowa - Democratic - John Kerry - John Edwards - Howard Dean - Richard Gephardt - Dick Gephardt

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Dean campaign suffered a further blow when television coverage of Dean's speech at a rally after the Iowa caucuses set off a media firestorm. Forced to shout over the cheers of his enthusiastic audience, Dean did not realize the crowd noise was being filtered out by his unidirectional microphone, leaving only his full-throated exhortations audible to the television viewers. Pundits and comedians alike had a field day with a speech that, on television, seemed loud, peculiar, and unpresidential. http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=deantv21&date=20040121 Dubbed by many as "Dean's Scream" or simply "The Scream", even the over coverage of Dean's speech in the media became a story of its own. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/26/politics/main596021.shtml

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On January 27 Kerry triumphed again, earning first place in the New Hampshire primary. As late as one week before the first votes were cast in Iowa's caucuses, Dean had enjoyed a 30% lead in New Hampshire opinion polls; accordingly, this loss represented another major setback to Dean's campaign. Clark took third place in New Hampshire, behind New Englanders Kerry and Dean.

Related Topics:
January 27 - New Hampshire primary - New Hampshire - Opinion polls

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~