Kerry Answers Latest Attacks

Democratic presidential candidates pounded on doors, pumped hands in diners and elbowed one another in televised interviews Sunday as the New Hampshire race barreled toward its finish.

From his new position as pack leader after winning in Iowa, Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts responded to an assault by Howard Dean on his voting record. On Saturday, the former Vermont governor had criticized Kerry’s votes against the 1991 Persian Gulf War and for the 2002 congressional resolution that authorized the Iraq war.

“I wonder when he’s going to stop running the negative campaign he said he was going to stop running,” Kerry said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Kerry also struck back at another rival in a separate interview, addressing Wesley K. Clark’s recent remark that as a retired Army general, he outranked Kerry, a Navy lieutenant in Vietnam.

“That’s the first time I have heard a general be so dismissive of lieutenants, who bleed a lot in wars,” Kerry told CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

Dean, who fell from the lead in New Hampshire after his third-place finish last week in the Iowa caucuses, reiterated skeptical remarks he has made about the war in Iraq and its aftermath. Answering a question after a forum in a suburb of Manchester, he said that the fall of Saddam Hussein had not necessarily bettered the lot of the Iraqi people.

“Their living standard is a whole lot worse now than it was then,” he said. “Now, I would not defend Saddam Hussein; he was a horrible person. I’m delighted he’s gone.”

The White House declined to respond to the remarks by Dean, whose rise in the Democratic race last year was fueled by his fervent opposition to the Iraq war. He sparked a stir -- and caused some rivals to question his judgment -- when he said Hussein’s capture last month had not made the U.S. any safer.

With campaign blitzes across this frosty state and the spate of network TV appearances, the candidates neared a likely turning point in the nominating battle. After Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, the seven-man field may dwindle and the politicking will turn from small-state intimacy to multistate imagery.

On Feb. 3, seven states conduct caucuses or primaries; South Carolina, Missouri and Arizona are viewed as the key contests among them.

The latest polls of likely voters in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary showed Kerry with a strong lead. Some of the surveys found Dean solidly in second place, while others showed him in a close battle for that spot with Clark and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.

A poll released Sunday by Newsweek magazine showed Kerry with apparent momentum nationwide. Kerry led President Bush, 49% to 46%, though that advantage was within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

New Hampshire’s electorate is known for its unpredictability, so the potential for surprises loomed -- especially since independents can vote in the Democratic primary. Dean said tracking polls showed him within striking distance of Kerry. And Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut was making an all-out push to crack into the top tier Tuesday.

“No one knows how this is going to come out,” Clark said. “A lot of people are talking about the polls, but you know, I don’t watch polls.”

Kerry and Lieberman braved New Hampshire’s frigid air to canvass precincts. Edwards dropped into a coffee shop in Claremont, and longshot Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio stopped by a soda shop in Laconia.

Of the major contenders, Dean alone declined to appear on network TV interview shows. Instead, he held town hall meetings and thanked volunteers in his turnout effort.

For the second time in eight days, Dean was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Judy. During most of her husband’s campaign, she has remained in Burlington, Vt., where she has a medical practice.

At a “Women for Dean” gathering in the Manchester area, she introduced her husband, reading her brief speech from a laptop computer.

“I wanted to share my personal appreciation for all your sacrifices,” she told the crowd. “Whether for career, raising our children or being there for the ones we love, we all struggle and juggle to do it all. And I’m here to tell you all that Howard gets it!”

As women in the crowd roared their approval, Dean leaned toward his wife, who planted a kiss on his cheek. The Dean campaign has sought to show a softer side of the candidate after his red-faced, growling concession speech in Iowa.

Kerry appeared in rallies with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and other prominent backers. But he also spent an hour in the late morning walking door to door on Craig Drive, in suburban Merrimack. He stopped at seven houses and was invited into five. He left campaign literature at two houses where no one answered.

As he left one home, he declared: “I’m making progress. I’ve already gotten three votes.”

Later, Kerry was cheered by a boisterous crowd of about 2,500 in the gymnasium of Nashua High School South. Many waved signs of support: “Utility Workers for Kerry.” “Plumbers Union Local 2 Boston Supports John Kerry.” “Nurses for Kerry.” “Firefighters for Kerry.”

“Let’s go get the job done,” Kerry said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do -- 48 hours. Let’s go.”

Edwards attracted an overflow crowd during an afternoon appearance at the Hullabaloo coffee shop in Claremont. About 150 people crowded into the small restaurant. More than 100 others lined up in a first-floor hallway of a commercial building a half-block down the street, where Edwards’ talk was piped in over a speaker.

Jim Allen, a 34-year-old librarian from Claremont, was among those in the hallway.

“I’m not really much closer to deciding,” Allen said, “but it looks like I’m going to go with John Kerry -- he’s got more experience.”

On CNN’s “Late Edition,” Edwards delivered what was for him a rare swipe at a rival. Asked about the competition he faces from Clark in the South, the North Carolina senator said: “There are differences between the two of us.... I grew up in the South. I have lived there almost my entire life.”

Clark was raised in Arkansas but lived throughout the world during his military career.

As part of their strategies for winning the nomination, Edwards and Clark each hope to carry South Carolina on Feb. 3. Both plan to fly to the state Tuesday night as the New Hampshire results are being tabulated.

Edwards, during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” brushed aside suggestions that he would make a good vice presidential candidate on a ticket headed by Kerry. “I intend to beat John Kerry for this nomination, and I will fight with everything I’ve got,” he said.

Clark, on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” continued to face questions about filmmaker Michael Moore’s description of Bush as a “deserter,” a comment Moore made at a recent rally for the retired general.

“I wouldn’t have used that term, and I don’t see the issues that way,” Clark said.

But he declined repeatedly to rebuke Moore for using the phrase in association with Bush’s home-front service as a jet pilot in the National Guard during the Vietnam War. Questions have been raised about time Bush spent campaigning for a Republican candidate while he was on National Guard duty.

Lieberman did not hesitate to pounce on Moore’s comment.

“I thought Michael Moore’s statement was over the edge,” the Connecticut senator told CNN. “The Lord knows I’ve said a lot of critical things about George W. Bush.... But to call him a deserter is just wrong.”

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Rainey reported from Manchester and Anderson from Washington. Times staff writers Maria L. La Ganga, Scott Martelle, Eric Slater and John Glionna contributed to this report.