Rivals Eye Kerry; Kerry Eyes Bush

While Democratic front-runner John Kerry focuses on defeating John Edwards and Howard Dean in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary, his advisers are looking down the road to another rival: George W. Bush.

Meanwhile, Kerry was set to pick up the endorsement of retired Gen. Wesley Clark, according to Democratic officials. Clark, who abandoned his bid for the White House on Wednesday, was expected to formally endorse Kerry on Friday in Madison, Wis., said officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

With the nomination within reach, Kerry's campaign team is discussing strategies for sharpening his message, spending his money, airing TV ads and collecting a winner's share of the 538 electoral votes in November's general election.

"In a cycle that has been this unpredictable, the Kerry campaign is wise to stay focused on the task at hand. But engaging the administration serves a dual purpose for Senator Kerry," said Democratic strategist Michael Feldman.

"Going toe-to-toe with President Bush is also the best way to secure the Democratic nomination," Feldman said. His former boss, Al Gore, polished off the 2000 Democratic nominating struggle while at the same time eying Mr. Bush.

With each of his 12 primary season victories, Kerry has stepped up his criticism of the president. He calls White House foreign policy feckless, Iraq policy reckless, domestic policy ruthless and distortions of his own record baseless.

"George Bush and the Republican smear machine has begun trotting out the same old tired lines of attack," Kerry said recently, adding that he has news for Republicans: "I am not going to back down."

Thus, he's already begun to build up his general election campaign.

It starts, as with much in American politics, with money.

Kerry plans to tap $15 million in the Democratic National Committee coffers to respond to a multimillion-dollar TV ad campaign Mr. Bush is poised to unleash once Democrats select a nominee.

In addition, Democratic interest groups are raising tens of millions of dollars that can be spent to criticize the president, though not in coordination with Kerry.

Campaign aides are just beginning to develop a budget for the period between when the nomination is settled — as early as March 2 — and the nominee officially accepts it in early August. The aides say they're acting out of caution, not overconfidence, because there won't be much time to prepare for Mr. Bush's onslaught if Kerry finishes off Dean and Edwards.

Several officials involved in the process said an early estimate is that Kerry could raise $40 million. He did not accept public financing in the primary races, freeing him from federal spending caps.

That won't match the president's $200 million pace, but aides said he and his allies can close the gap enough to compete.

But Kerry's remaining Democratic rivals aren't giving up without a fight. As Kerry rested at his Washington, D.C., home, nursing a cough, Dean and Edwards continued their travels around Wisconsin leading up to Tuesday's primary.

Despite disappointing finishes in the Tennessee and Virginia primaries on Tuesday, Edwards said he would forge ahead.

"It's clear that the race is now narrowing to myself and Senator Kerry," Edwards said in an interview with CBS News Correspondent Melissa McDermott. "We still have over 75 percent of the delegates to choose. We still have a lot of work to do."

Dean turned up his criticism of Kerry, seizing on a fresh report about the financing of critical ads, He assailed Kerry on Wednesday for being part of "the corrupt political culture in Washington."

Struggling to right his winless campaign, Dean focused on the disclosure that former Sen. Bob Torricelli, who now raises money for Kerry, donated $50,000 to an independent group that ran controversial ads in three early voting states.

One commercial showed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden as the group sought to raise doubts about Dean's national security credentials. Other spots focused on Dean's record on NAFTA, his past comments on Medicare and his stand on gun rights.

"The link is unassailable," Dean said, describing Torricelli as "ethically challenged." Amid an ethics scandal, Torricelli quit his 2002 re-election bid five weeks before Election Day.