February 16, 2004
Top Dean Aide Discusses Plans to Back Kerry
By JODI WILGOREN

MILWAUKEE, Feb. 15 — The chairman of Howard Dean's presidential campaign said on Sunday that he would leave and shift his support to Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts if Dr. Dean lost the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday, an outcome he sees as all but inevitable.

"If Howard Dean does not win the Wisconsin primary, I will reach out to John Kerry unless he reaches out to me first," said the chairman, Steven Grossman, who was chairman of Mr. Kerry's 1996 Senate race. "I will make it clear that I will do anything and everything I can to help him become the next president, and I will do anything and everything I can to build bridges with the Dean organization."

The comments by Mr. Grossman, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee who has known Mr. Kerry for 34 years, came as Dr. Dean faced growing pressure from aides and outside backers to abandon his quest. But while many leading supporters and staff members expect him to either quit the campaign altogether or radically scale it back by the end of this week, the candidate remained steadfast Sunday that he would soldier on.

"We're not dropping out after Tuesday, period," Dr. Dean said in a television interview with the Fox affiliate here Sunday.

But in a debate here with the other four Democratic candidates Sunday evening, Dr. Dean skipped several opportunities to directly challenge Mr. Kerry.

Dr. Dean has no events scheduled beyond Tuesday night, when he plans to fly home to Burlington, Vt., to regroup. He has not won in any of the 16 states that have voted. His bank account is dwindling. Many of his aides are planning vacations or seeking jobs with other candidates.

While many in the Dean camp felt Mr. Grossman had spoken out of school, none disputed the essence of what he said: that the campaign would not last the week in its current incarnation.

Roy Neel, Dr. Dean's campaign manager, said "anything is possible" after Wisconsin. "I'm not going to contradict Steve," Mr. Neel said of Mr. Grossman. "Every possibility is still on the table. The governor's not made a decision.

"He believes it's premature to make up his mind because we don't have the results from Tuesday night yet. He's still planning to win the primary."

The most recent polls here show Mr. Kerry 40 points ahead of Dr. Dean, who also trailed Mr. Edwards.

Aides to Dr. Dean and Mr. Kerry have met to discuss Dr. Dean's future plans, a Democratic operative said Sunday night on condition on anonymity.

"None of us are doing a whole lot right now, because there's not a whole lot to do," one top Dean aide said Sunday, on the condition he not be named. "We've put one ad on the air in Wisconsin. We're not polling anymore. We're not going to have the money to run some full-fledged campaign for March 2."

By contrast, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina promised to compete in all 10 states with primaries and caucuses on March 2, though he said he might bypass Hawaii, Idaho and Utah, which vote Feb. 24.

"This is becoming a two-person race between John Edwards and John Kerry," Mr. Edwards told reporters after a rally at the University of Wisconsin campus in Waukesha, about 20 miles from here. Like Mr. Edwards, Dr. Dean had hoped to remain standing long enough to get a one-on-one face-off with Mr. Kerry, whom he has denounced as beholden to special interests and indistinguishable from Republicans.

After the debate Sunday, Dr. Dean told supporters at a local bar, Caffrey's, that he would keep campaigning, win or lose, saying he would go on to New York, California, Ohio and even Hawaii.

But having not won a single state, his prospects seem dimmer by the day, leaving Dr. Dean with the task of transforming his organization into a force for political change while keeping his dignity.

Many supporters believe his best option would be to turn his campaign into a political action group devoted to defeating President Bush.

"Right now there is nothing that he is doing that anyone I've spoken to believes is detrimental to the Democratic party," said Andrew L. Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, which plans to reassess its endorsement of Dr. Dean on Wednesday. "Some people may say if they were him they wouldn't do this because it may be detrimental to his reputation. I guess he's in charge of his own reputation."

Mr. Grossman, the campaign chairman, predicted that after a Dean loss here on Tuesday, "you will see a fundamental shift in rhetoric and in tone and perhaps in how the candidate uses his time."

He said Dr. Dean's name would remain on the ballot in remaining primaries, so he might still collect votes, but that he would cease criticism of Mr. Kerry.

"I think Howard is very clearly focused on making sure that we have a Democratic president in November and that this movement, hundreds of thousands of citizens or more, play an active participatory role in the fall election," Mr. Grossman said, adding that his comments reflected a lengthy recent conversation with the candidate.

Mr. Grossman said he believed Dr. Dean would work "to help the nominee, presumably John Kerry, become the president, defeat Bush, and he will work equally hard to ensure that this movement that he has led for the last year will grow."

After the news of Grossman's decision to leave the campaign became public Sunday night, Dr. Dean, through his spokesman, Jay Carson, said Mr. Grossman had "meant a lot to this campaign."

"We'll miss him and we wish him well," Dr. Dean said through his spokesman.

Randal C. Archibold contributed reporting for this article.




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