Kerry in command as Wisconsin votes in primary

10.00am

MILWAUKEE - Voters headed to the polls in Wisconsin on Tuesday, with Democratic front-runner John Kerry looking for a win that could cement his grip on the nomination to challenge President Bush in November.

Kerry, a four-term senator from Massachusetts, has a commanding lead in the race for the Democratic nomination after winning 14 of the first 16 presidential contests. He has already begun looking ahead to a November matchup with Bush.

But rivals Howard Dean and John Edwards were taking a final stab in Wisconsin at slowing Kerry's surge before a March 2 "Super Tuesday" round of 10 contests in states like New York and California that could put him over the top.

The primary could amount to a final stand for Dean, the one-time front-runner who soared to the top of the polls and broke party fund-raising records in 2003 before crashing in January as Kerry surged.

The former Vermont governor promised Wisconsin would be a make-or-break state in his fight against Kerry, but backed off that pledge in recent days while sending a flurry of conflicting signals.

"Our campaign is not in turmoil at all. We are moving forward and we are going to go to Super Tuesday and on beyond that," Dean said on NBC's "Today Show."

But Dean says he will return to Vermont to re-evaluate his candidacy if he loses amid signs that he could pull the plug. Campaign Chairman Steve Grossman already bailed out, declaring that if Dean lost Wisconsin "the race would be effectively over."

Edwards, the senator from North Carolina who administered one of the two losses suffered by Kerry, has promised to push on to March 2 and beyond in hopes he will pick up momentum in a one-on-one matchup with Kerry.

All three candidates hustled for support as voters headed to the polls. Kerry campaigned with former rival Richard Gephardt, the congressman from Missouri who dropped out of the presidential race after a poor showing in the first contest in Iowa.

'CREED OF GREED'

Kerry blasted Bush's record on jobs at a rally with leaders and members of the 19 unions that backed Gephardt but have now crossed over to support him, lamenting the administration's "creed of greed."

Kerry said Bush had failed to live up to his commitment to firefighters, police officers, emergency medical personnel and other union members who sacrificed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

"I'm tired of these politicians who show up when the bagpipes are wailing and the flags are at half-staff and they talk about heroes in America," he said. "And then when they go back to Washington, the flags are at full-staff again and the bagpipes have stopped playing, they forget."

Edwards made a morning stop at a diner in Milwaukee, shaking hands, urging voters to get to the polls and stopping to autograph a waitress's check pad.

He made a quick trip to Madison, the state capital, to drum up support before returning to Milwaukee to watch the returns. He says he has the money to compete into March and will focus on states like Ohio, Georgia and New York that have suffered serious job losses.

The campaign is looking even farther toward a March 9 round of Southern contests in Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi and Texas. "We expect to win states on March 2nd, and on March 9th we expect to dominate," spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said.

Dean appeared on three national morning news shows to try to dispel doubts about the future of his campaign, promising to press ahead no matter what the outcome in Wisconsin.

Polls show Kerry with a commanding lead heading into the voting. A Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby poll put Kerry's lead at 23 points over Dean.

Kerry, whose campaign was given up for dead six weeks ago, already has racked up more than one-quarter of the 2,162 delegates needed to win the nomination in July and has more than his remaining rivals combined.

- REUTERS