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Dean runs the risk of falling off the political map with seven defeats Tuesday, the officials acknowledged. Dean is gambling that he can pick up delegates with second- and third-place finishes while rivals John Edwards and Wesley Clark spend themselves out of the race. Officials hope that Dean emerges later in February as an alternative to front-runner John Kerry and engages in guerrilla warfare until he wins the nomination or is mathematically eliminated.
He replaced his campaign manager with a former Washington lobbyist and one-time top aide to Al Gore and asked his staff to defer their paychecks for two weeks to recover from costly losses in Iowa and New Hampshire. I think you are going to see a leaner, meaner organization, Dean told reporters Wednesday night. We had geared up for what we thought would be a front-runners campaign. Dean scheduled a rally Thursday at Michigan State University, choosing to re-emerge after his New Hampshire loss in a state that doesnt even vote on Tuesday. But Michigan plays prominently in his strategy of focusing on states by delegate count, rather than calendar. Were going to try everywhere, but what we are really looking at is the delegate count, Dean said after announcing that former Gore adviser Roy Neel would take over as chief executive officer of his campaign. In a conference call with members of Congress who have endorsed him, he was told bluntly that finishing second wasnt good enough - that he had to show he could win a primary. Deans campaign chairman Steve Grossman also said Wednesday that the candidate must win a presidential primary in the next two weeks to keep even his most loyal donor base - those giving modest amounts over the Web - contributing enough to make him financially competitive. Dean had hoped he could ride victories in Iowa and New Hampshire to wins in other states, perhaps effectively wrapping up the nomination by Feb.
You can spend all your money in seven states or you can go to one, McMahon said. Or you can wait for other states that are even more delegate rich than Michigan. The state is allowing caucus-goers to cast their ballots on the Internet, an option tailor-made for Deans web-based organization. But after Deans loss in Iowa, Kerry opened a double-digit lead in the Michigan polls and Gov. The Massachusetts senator also has several other leading Michigan Democrats on his side. Deans schedule through the weekend shows that he also plans to visit Seattle and Milwaukee.
Hell also visit South Carolina, Missouri, New Mexico and Arizona, all of which have primaries or caucuses on Tuesday. The departure of campaign manager Joe Trippi sent shock waves through the campaign, where he was a popular boss and something of an icon to the thousands of Internet-savvy supporters across the country. Trippi, who helped fashion Deans antiestablishment message, was replaced by the ultimate Washington insider just as the candidate sought to reaffirm his outsiders mantle. Neel, Gores former senatorial chief of staff, served as chief executive of the United States Telecom Association in Washington before working on Gores 2000 presidential campaign. Neel was named to head Gores transition team in anticipation of the former vice president winning the White House. Trippi is widely credited with helping Dean build the campaign that transformed him from an asterisk in the polls to front-runner by the end of 2003.
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