Kerry takes primary

Sen. John Kerry won a narrow victory against Sen. John Edwards in Tuesday's tightly-contested Wisconsin primary. The Wisconsin primary has been the first election held by one state on a single day since the New Hampshire primary, allowing the democratic candidates an equal opportunity to concentrate campaigning efforts in one state. \nHoward Dean's campaign manager, Steven Grossman, stepped down Monday ahead of the primary. Prior to his resignation, Grossman had publicly announced he was willing to support and work for the Kerry campaign. \nPolitical Science Professor Marjorie Hershey said the move highlighted the growing pessimism surrounding the Dean campaign. \n"Grossman saw this was a sinking ship and he decided it was time to leave," Hershey said.\nJohn Edwards is the only candidate still running to have beat Kerry in the past 17 elections when he won in the South Carolina primary Feb. 3.\nEdwards is currently viewed as the second runner because of his South Carolina victory and narrow losses in Oklahoma and Wisconsin. \nPolitical Science Professor Edward Carmines said Edwards is hoping to turn the democratic presidential nominee bid into a race between Kerry and himself. \n"If he can get this to where it's a two-person race and Kerry happens to stumble along the way, then he would be the natural candidate to pick up any support that Kerry was to lose," Carmines said. "This is a real long shot but it's really the only chance that Edwards has to sustain his campaign."\nOnly five of the nine initial democratic nominee challengers are still in the race. Among them are Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich. Despite their dismal performance in all of the elections so far, they are still actively campaigning for their party's nomination. \n"They have nothing better else to do. In any other setting, they wouldn't have the audience and the media attention that they do in this situation," Carmines said. "By being treated as a viable legitimate candidate, it enhances the point of view and perspective they want to communicate. It's some ego gratification and also some they want to annunciate a point of view and enhance their standing as a national political leader."\nDean had initially indicated he would drop out of the race if he did not win the Wisconsin primary, but retracted his statement after early state polls predicted he would fare well there. All of the current candidates are expected to continue campaigning to the next crucial round of elections which will occur March 2. A mix of one caucus and nine primaries will be held in 10 States on what is known as "Super Tuesday." \nIU Students for Dean President Cody Williams said Dean's campaign decided against dropping out of the race because of the encouragement of its supporters. Williams said he believes Dean can continue to compete against Edwards and Kerry. \n"We have had less than 20 percent of the delegates selected, but the media and John Kerry think it should be over right now," Williams said. "Dean is really strong in liberal states like California and New York."\n-- Contact staff writer Rami Chami at rchami@indiana.edu.