Two days before a seven-state electoral showdown, polls showed Kerry leading or contending as he aimed for a giant step forward in the race for the Democratic nomination to challenge President Bush in November.

Dean, the one-time front-runner whose campaign stalled after dismal finishes in the first two contests, said on NBC?s Meet the Press that he spent much of the more than $40 million he raised last year aiming for an early knockout punch. ?We spent a lot of money in Iowa and New Hampshire trying to win. We were trying to do what, essentially, John Kerry is now doing,? Dean said. ?We took an enormous gamble and it didn?t work.?

Dean is struggling to pay his bills and is not advertising in the states with contests today, when he does not expect to do well. He is aiming ahead to February 7 contests in Michigan and Washington and a February 17 primary in Wisconsin, when he hopes the race will come down to a one-on-one battle with Kerry.

North Carolina Senator, John Edwards, campaigned in South Carolina and retired General Wesley Clark campaigned in Oklahoma, where they are hunting for breakthrough wins that would put them back in the race with Kerry.

A Reuters/MSNBC /Zogby poll showed Edwards with a narrow one-point lead on Kerry in South Carolina, a state Edwards has admitted he must win, and Clark narrowly trailing Kerry in Oklahoma.

Kerry, riding a wave of momentum from his back-to-back wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, has moved out to big leads in Missouri and Arizona, two other states voting today on the biggest day of the campaign so far. North Dakota, Delaware and New Mexico are the other contests.

Dean renewed his attacks on Kerry, who he called a ?handmaiden? of special interests after a study found Kerry accepted more special interest lobbying money than any other senator in the last 15 years. ?John Kerry has been running around Iowa and New Hampshire and telling all these Americans he?s going to get the special interests, and who was on the take with the special interests?? he said.

Dean, the former Vermont governor, refused Kerry?s demand that he apologize for saying the Massachusetts senator had the financing habits of a Republican.

?Of course I?m not going to apologize,? Dean said. ?John Kerry gets his money the same way George Bush does.? Kerry has said his donors, which included lobbyists for the telecommunications and financial services industries that had business before committees he served on, ?haven?t gotten anything? for the donations.

Edwards attended services at a predominantly black church in Columbia, South Carolina, telling parishioners ?this government does not belong to that crowd of insiders in Washington, it belongs to you.?

Clark received a rousing reception from an audience of about 300 in Lawton, Oklahoma, a town with a high number of military retirees thanks to nearby Fort Sills.

He was accompanied to the event by a soldier who saved Clark?s life in Vietnam when the two were under attack 34 years ago.

Clark and Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, have been locked in a battle for the support of veterans, a sizable voting bloc in several states today, most notably South Carolina and Arizona. ?It starts here in Oklahoma,? Clark told the crowd. He travelled to Arizona to watch the Super Bowl at an American Legion Post in Flagstaff.

Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman picked up the endorsement of two of South Carolina?s largest newspapers ? The State of Columbia and the Greenville News ? and said other candidates in the race were participating in ?class warfare? by emphasizing a populist, anti-business approach.

?Some of the other candidates I think are heading down a path that has always been a losing path for Democrats, and that?s the path of class warfare,? Lieberman said on CNN. ?Class warfare never works. It doesn?t reflect the values and desires of America?s middle class.?

John Whitesides

?Some of the candidates are heading down a path that has always been a losing path for Democrats, and that?s the path of class warfare.?