Clark, Edwards Count on the South

Buoyed by their first primary wins, retired Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark and Sen. John Edwards swept through this Southern city Wednesday, each striving to portray himself as the legitimate alternative to Democratic front-runner Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts.

A reinvigorated Clark, who barely won Oklahoma’s primary Tuesday to keep his flickering White House hopes alive, launched his most pointed attacks to date on his rivals for the Democratic nomination. He accused them of flip-flopping on issues like education and the war in Iraq.

Edwards, a South Carolina native son who captured that state’s primary, appealed for the blue-collar union vote in blaming President Bush for jobs being exported abroad.

It seemed a day of political reshuffling after Kerry swept to victory in five of seven contests Tuesday, a juncture which that saw Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut exit the race and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean plummet deeper into the pack.

While Kerry took a day off in Boston, the always-feisty Dean -- who finished no better than third in any race Tuesday -- vowed to continue his fight into the next round of contests.

But Clark’s campaign showed signs of experiencing money woes Wednesday as some paid staffers at the camp’s Little Rock, Ark., headquarters voted to forgo a week’s salary, totaling $250,000, to keep ads running in Tennessee and other states which hold upcoming contests.

Campaign aides insisted the decision was a vote of confidence in the long-term prospects of the campaign. But not all 250 people who were to go unpaid got to weigh in on the matter. One learned of his status as volunteer from reporters traveling with Clark in western Tennessee.

Clark, who had previously criticized a rival by name only once, with a swipe last week at Kerry, fixed his sights early in the day on both Kerry and Edwards. And he kept jabbing at them at stops across the state on a bus tour that began in Memphis and ended in Nashville.

Standing on a countertop in downtown Memphis’ historic Arcade Restaurant, Clark accused Kerry and Edwards of changing positions for political reasons.

“They’re criticizing No Child Left Behind,” he said, referring to the president’s legislation to improve academic test scores. “They voted for it. They’re criticizing the tax cuts. They voted for them. They’re criticizing the war in Iraq. They voted for it. They’re criticizing the Patriot Act. They voted for it.”

Clark, a former NATO commander and former investment banker from Arkansas, has increasingly cast himself as a Washington outsider -- a moniker claimed by erstwhile front-runner Dean.

Speaking before a small crowd at Murphy Tractor Co. in Jackson, Tenn., he said: “I don’t understand how John Kerry and John Edwards can criticize George W. Bush when they voted with him 70% of the time. Now that’s what I’m talking about -- Washington politicians.”

Kerry opposed both of the Bush tax cuts. And the Edwards camp later released a statement to rebut Clark.

“The fact is, Senator Edwards voted against Bush’s tax cuts and has proposed rolling back his tax cuts for the wealthy, he has a plan to fix and fund No Child Left Behind, and has been a strong advocate for more international involvement in military action and reconstruction in Iraq,” the statement said.

Edwards also spent part of the day in Memphis, addressing about 120 people at the famous Orpheum Theater, leveling his sights at administration policies at home and abroad. He decried what he called excessive levels of poverty, an unfair tax structure and trade policies that have made it easier for companies to shift jobs overseas.

“It’s time for us to export American products, not American jobs,” he said, citing the corrosive effect on communities hit by high job losses. “This is not just about a paycheck. This is about self-respect and dignity for men and women who have supported their families and worked hard all of their lives.”

Edwards left Memphis for Virginia, where he spoke to about 350 students at predominantly African American Norfolk State University. He then flew to New York for an appearance on “The Late Show With David Letterman,” where he was scheduled to read the comedian’s infamous top 10 list. (He is the third candidate to read the list in this campaign, behind Rep. Dick Gephardt and Dean.)

Edwards was scheduled to return to the South today to embark on what aides called a “Strengthening American Jobs” tour through Tennessee and Virginia on advance of primaries in those states on Tuesday.

On Saturday, Michigan and Washington state hold their caucuses.

Speaking to reporters, Edwards said he believed the primary results from Tuesday had narrowed the race to “two or three candidates” -- himself and Kerry. He added that Clark could make his own argument about whether he could be considered the third.

Both Edwards and Clark are emphasizing their Southern roots, stressing the fact that no Democrat in modern history has won the presidency without winning votes in the relatively conservative South.

While acknowledging that Edwards won handily in South Carolina, where he was born, Clark senior strategist Chris Lehane said the campaign believed it could better employ Clark’s status as a Southerner in Tennessee.

“I think Tennessee is more sort of neutral ground,” he said. “People will be looking at how Clark and Edwards do against each other in the state.”

Speaking at the oldest restaurant in this city known for its smoky Beale Street blues bars, Clark intensified up his criticisms of the Bush administration, saying even top military leaders were against going to war in Iraq.

“This war is very personal to me,” he said. “The generals in the Pentagon did not want to fight it, I know that. They were ordered to do it, against their better judgment. They wouldn’t have done it. I wouldn’t have done it.”

A day after suffering losses in seven states, Dean urged supporters to turn things around when they caucus Saturday.

“Washington state has an extraordinary opportunity,” the ever-defiant candidate told a few hundred supporters at an early morning rally at a downtown Seattle hotel. “We can do this differently in this country.”

At a news conference with reporters, Dean acknowledged the hurdles he faces. “Sen. Kerry has a great deal of momentum,” he said, “and we’re struggling to get ours back.”

Glionna reported from San Francisco and Slater from Memphis. Times staff writers Matea Gold and Scott Martelle contributed to this report.