Kerry Snares 3 More Primaries

Sen. John F. Kerry secured three more primary election victories Tuesday, winning in Oregon, Arkansas and Kentucky to pad his insurmountable lead in the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Oregon primary drew particular interest from some election analysts, who were looking for signals about how Kerry might fare in the battleground state in a Nov. 2 general election showdown with President Bush.

Late returns showed Kerry leading Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio)-- who campaigned and ran television ads in the state for several weeks -- by 83% to 15%. The balance of the votes were going to Lyndon LaRouche.

Kerry’s victories came a day before he was to meet with independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader. Kerry and Nader plan to discuss policy issues today when they meet at Kerry’s campaign headquarters in Washington, D.C. Some Democrats have worried that Nader’s presence in the race could draw votes away from Kerry in November.

Going into Tuesday’s voting, the Massachusetts senator had 2,665 delegates, more than enough to be awarded his party’s nomination when the Democrats convene in Boston in late July. Trailing far behind was Kucinich, who had just 31 delegates.

Although Kucinich had been expected to lose, he campaigned hard in Oregon in hopes of pushing a more liberal agenda on Kerry, who essentially sewed up the Democratic presidential nomination in early March.

Kucinich has advocated universal healthcare, gay marriage, more federal money for education and, above all, the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Kerry is opposed to gay marriage, supports more federal money for education and has proposed a less ambitious healthcare plan. On Iraq, Kerry has said U.S. troops should remain until the country is stabilized.

Kucinich needed to win 5% of the Oregon vote to earn any of the state’s 58 Democratic delegates. His best finishes came in March’s Hawaii and Alaska caucuses, in which he won roughly 26%.

One veteran Oregon pollster said Democrats were too focused on Bush to be distracted by Kucinich or, later, Nader.

“They might not love Kerry, but Democrats will stomach a lot to get rid of George Bush this year,” said Tim Hibbitts, whose polling firm works for both political parties. “Nader will be lucky to make the ballot and get half of the 5% he got four years ago.”