Five of the democrats seeking their party’s presidential nomination are campaigning in Iowa this week. Front-runner Howard Dean is in eastern Iowa today, and he’s no longer saying he has a shot at winning Iowa’s Caucuses. Dean’s now saying he “must win” the contest. Dean says the Iowa Caucuses are “critical.” North Carolina Senator John Edwards will visit Howard County Sunday afternoon — the 99th Iowa county he’s visited this year. Edwards is running fourth in Iowa in most polls, but he’s counting on swinging some undecided voters his way. Edwards points to 1988, when eventually Iowa Caucus winner Dick Gephardt was in the back of the pack in most polls ’til just weeks before the Caucuses. Gephardt, the Missouri Congressman who some Iowa polls show in first place this time around, will make campaign stops in 17 Iowa counties on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Massachusetts Senator John Kerry is in Iowa this weekend, too, and on Monday he’ll launch a 24-hour-long campaign swing through the state with stops in nine cities. Kerry says he’s been “stunned” by the note-taking, questioning and homework Iowa Caucus-goers undertake as they make their decision about who to support.
