Edwards Gets 2nd Look In N.H

[surfermaw]

GEPHARDT, 4TH PLACE, EXPECTED TO DROP OUT
Kerry, Edwards roll into into N.H.
Iowa result cools Dean's momentum
Associated Press




John Edwards




DES MOINES, Iowa - Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts won Iowa's presidential precinct caucuses Monday night, a surprising come-from-behind victory that dramatically shook up the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination in the first time voters got to speak.



Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina took second place, another come-from-behind finish from a man who had been lagging in the back in the pack until recent days.



The two candidates who had led the polls in Iowa for months, former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont and Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt, faded as Iowa Democrats cast the first real votes of the nominating season. Dean came in a distant third. Gephardt finished a disappointing fourth in the state where he won his only victory seeking the nomination in 1988.



His voice hoarse from nonstop campaigning, an ebullient Kerry likened himself to Bill Clinton, who called himself the "comeback kid" when he overcame political challenges in his 1992 primary campaign.



"Thank you, Iowa, for making me the comeback Kerry," Kerry told supporters. "Not so long ago this campaign was written off. … You listened. You stood the ground."



Looking ahead to next week's primary in New Hampshire, where he trails Dean and retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark of Arkansas in polls, Kerry promised a newly energized campaign.



"I have only just begun to fight," he said.



The results were particularly crushing to Gephardt, who was expected to drop out of the campaign Tuesday, according to campaign aides who declined to be identified. Gephardt canceled plans to fly to New Hampshire late Monday and instead arranged to go to his hometown of St. Louis, where he was to hold a news conference Tuesday morning.

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