POLITICAL ROUNDUP
Kerry-Edwards 2004?
Will it be a John Kerry/John Edwards ticket? Some are speculating, including the Kerry campaign, which has strategically leaked that Edwards is on Kerry's short list: ["Kerry and Edwards are possible ticket"]. But Edwards says "no": ["Edwards rules out vice-president role"].
Oh how the paradigm shifts. It was just a month ago when Kerry's campaign was sputtering and Dean had the nomination locked up without one vote being cast. Kerry was even challenging Dean to a one-on-one debate on "Meet the Press." Dean balked. Now, it is Kerry acting all cocky, talking about the short list, even though less than 10 percent of the delegates have been chosen - and Dean agrees to a challenge on "Meet the Press."
But back to Edwards as vice president.
Riley Yates over at the Union Leader had a really good overview on the VP story yesterday, noting that over 17,000 New Hampshire voters picked Edwards for the number 2 slot: ["NH Dems like Edwards for V.P."]. Unlike other states, New Hampshire allows voters to "write-in" the VP nominee. On the Republican ballot, two candidates openly ran for the position. The complete results are posted here: ["2004 Presidential Primary"]. Other names not compiled but mentioned in Yates' article included Jimmy Carter, Ross Perot, Jesse Ventura, Bill Bradley, Tom Brady, Clint Eastwood, Dick Clark, Jerry Springer, Michael Moore, Mickey Mouse and Homer Simpson.

Lieberman gets three more
Three more newspapers have endorsed Joe Lieberman: The State of Columbia, South Carolina, the Greenville News, and The Seattle Times of Washington.

Clark gets two
The Lawton Constitution and the Norman Transcript both of Oklahoma endorsed Wesley Clark.

Other states:
In Missouri, Gephardt's support gets split while others remain neutral: [" Kerry, Edwards split up Gephardt's base"].
So much for Kerry fighting the "special interests": ["Kerry no stranger to lobbyists' donations"].
Dean finally plays hardball with Kerry: ["Dean blasts Mass. pol"].
And Kerry punches back: ["Kerry Fires Back at Dean Charges of Cronyism"].

The primaries:
New Hampshire's very high turnout might secure its "First in the Nation" status. But others think not: ["High turnout boosted N.H.'s primary status, but critics push for change"]. The Union Leader wasn't happy with McAuliffe's threat: ["Blackmail NH?"]. And yet other people have their thinking caps on for the future: ["A modest proposal to reschedule the Democratic primaries"].

Polls say it's Kerry's to lose:
American Research Group has numbers from Feb. 3 states:
In Arizona, John Kerry is up to 32 percent, Wesley Clark remains steady at 21 percent, John Edwards slips down to 11 percent, Howard Dean remains level at 10 percent, Joe Lieberman comes in at 9 and Dennis Kucinich has 1 percent. 16 percent are undecided.
In Missouri, Kerry has 46 percent, Edwards has 15 percent, Dean is at 7 percent, Clark comes in with 6 percent, Lieberman has 3 percent, with Kucinich and Sharpton both have 1 percent.
In Delaware, Lieberman loses his lead: Kerry at 27 percent, Lieberman at 16 percent, Dean with 14 percent, Edwards at 9 percent, Clark at 8 percent, with Kucinich and Sharpton at 1 percent.
The Fargo Forum in North Dakota published a poll by the Minnesota State University showing Kerry with 31 percent, Clark with 15 percent, Edwards with 6 percent, Dean with 5 percent, Lieberman with 2 percent, and Kucinich with 1 percent. A staggering 40 percent said they were undecided.
In Oklahoma, Clark is still in the lead with 25, Kerry comes in at 23, Edwards has 18 percent, with Dean and Lieberman at 8, and Kucinich and Sharpton at 1 percent. 16 percent are undecided.
In South Carolina, Edwards has a solid lead with 30, Kerry 23, Clark 12, Sharpton down to 10, Dean at 9, Lieberman 3, and at Kucinich 1 percent. Undecided are 12 percent.
Survey USA also has two new polls:
In Oklahoma, Clark has 31 percent, Kerry 25, Edwards at 23 percent, Dean with 9, and the others with 9 percent. Undecided only make up 3 percent.
In Delaware, Kerry is smokin': Kerry at 42 percent, with Dean 12, Edwards 11, Lieberman 10, and Clark and Sharpton at 9 percent. Others make up 2 percent and 4 remain undecided.