Kerry Takes Virginia

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry is the projected winner of tonight's Democratic primary in Virginia, according to CBS News exit polls. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., is running a distant second.

Polls remain open in Tuesday's other primary contest in Tennessee.

Kerry has now won 11 of 13 primaries and caucuses to date. He had hoped to show strength tonight against two Southern-bred rivals – Edwards and retired Gen Wesley Clark of Arkansas – following defeats in South Carolina and Oklahoma last week.

Kerry's decisive victory in Virginia was driven by a broad coalition of support from traditional Democratic groups – women, African-Americans, liberal and moderate voters and union members.

Kerry won roughly 60 percent of the vote among blacks and union members, and well over half of women. He also performed well among the party's moderate and liberal wings, in contrast to Edwards, whose second-place showing came from a base of conservative voters.

These groups appear to be coalescing around Kerry as the best man to take the fight to President Bush in November. Voters again chose beating President George W. Bush as their top candidate quality, and when asked about the two top candidates' prospects in November, should each become the nominee, Kerry was rated by nearly 9 out of 10 voters as likely to beat Mr. Bush, while Edwards was rated likely to win by a much lower six in ten.

The CBS News exit poll was conducted by Edison / Mitofsky for the National Election Pool. The poll contains 1,256 voters, for a margin of error of + 4 percentage points.

Tuesday's primaries offered 151 delegates and a chance for Kerry to extend his lead. He had 462 delegates in the latest CBS News count, Dean had 219, Edwards 136 and Clark 96. Rev. Al Sharpton had 12 and Dennis Kucinich 2. It takes 2,162 to win the nomination.

Kerry campaigned in Memphis, Tenn., Tuesday morning, but was already focusing on a potential fall race against President Bush and the Republican Party.

"They believe it is good for our economy that over a million people have lost their jobs in America to the outsourcing that has taken place," Kerry said. "I will be a different kind of president,"

Aides to both Edwards of North Carolina and retired Gen. Wesley Clark of Arkansas said they expected their candidates to lose both tonight's races, even though they had earlier been optimistic about winning in their home region. Both were hoping strong showings would eliminate the other and turn the race into a two-man contest with Kerry.

"You've got a choice in this race. You've got a front-runner, you've got a good lawyer and you've got an underdog. I'm the underdog," Clark said Monday in Tennessee, eager to draw a contrast between himself and his Democratic rivals.

Edwards, a successful trial lawyer before entering politics, told reporters he intends to remain in the presidential race regardless of the outcome of the day's primaries.

"What we have been preparing for the entire time is a nomination process that's going to go on well into March," he said after a speech in Norfolk, Va.

The only other major candidate, Howard Dean, chose not to compete in tonight's states, instead taking his staggering campaign to Wisconsin, site of a Feb. 17 primary.

Dean did not compete in Virginia or Tennessee, reports CBS News Early Show National Correspondent Thalia Assuras, instead focusing on next week's contest in Wisconsin.

"The media claims this contest is over. They say your voice and your vote don't count. They expect you to rubber stamp the choice of others. But you don't have to listen to them," Dean told an audience of about 300 at a downtown Madison, Wis. hotel.

Dean began a two-day tour and an aggressive advertising campaign in Wisconsin, a state he told supporters last week he must win on Feb. 17 to keep his candidacy alive.

In a turnabout, Dean said he intends to stay in the race regardless of the outcome in Wisconsin. "I've just changed my mind," he said in an interview with Wisconsin television reporters.

But in another form of turnabout, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees officially reversed course and withdrew its support of Dean. The 1.5 million-member AFSCME, which had met with Dean on Saturday, said it was turning its efforts to the fall campaign and unifying the Democratic Party.

Another union that backed Dean, the Service Employees International, said it was still in his corner — at least until Wisconsin. Polls now show Kerry well ahead in that state.