Primary Dolor: Kucinich Comes in Second Edition (Way to Go, Little Guy!)

 
 • Kerryhas majority victories in Idaho, Utah, and Hawaii primaries (yes! there were primaries!);Kucinichcomes in second in Hawaii with 26 percent. Turnout is strong in all states.Current delegate count: Kerry 663, John Edwards 199, Howard Dean 198.2,162 delegates needed to win. [ WP and AP/Yahoo ]

•Bush"had to act" on the marriage amendment and enter the culture war, saysGary Bauer. Democrats, however, don't see this as necessarily a winning issue for Bush: "The cultural war gets you to even, but it doesn't get you to a Bush-Dukakis election, because the country is more diverse and more tolerant." [ WP and NYT ]

•Americans evenly split 46-45 on marriage amendment, according to fresh WP-ABC News poll. "If the White House thought this was a clear win, they would have been out earlier, louder," says an administration insider. [ WP and LAT ]

•Republicans uncertain marriage amendment can pass Congress, where it faces opposition from both liberal Democrats who stand on the other side of the issue and conservatives who don't want to meddle with the Constitution;Senator Kennedy: "By endorsing this shameful proposal, President Bush will go down in history asthe first president to try to write bias back into the Constitution." [ WP ]

•Kerry pretends his current opponent is George Bush.Kerry: "There are more broken promises in the trail of this administration than any administration I've ever served with, and the president is trying to change the topic."Edwards: "Today I have a message for someone in Washington: Not so fast,George Bush. You don't get to decide who our nominee is.You don't get to decide what this election is about." [ WP ]

•Governors predict a very close race centered on the economy, not the culture war. The governor of West Virginia points out that Kerry " can legitimately say, 'I carried an assault weapon,' and I hunt. That could go a long way toward offsetting the gun issue." [ WP and NYT ]

•KerrysaysBushlives in a fantasy: "It's a prosperity, perhaps, for the stock market. It's a prosperity, perhaps, for the wealthiest Americans. But it's not the prosperity for the 270,000 people who have lost their jobs in Ohio." [ LAT ]

•KerryblamesBushfor Haiti's unrest: "I think the administration has missed a lot of opportunities, in fact hasexacerbated the situation over the last few years with its cutoff of humanitarian assistanceand its attitude towards the Aristide administration. So they sort of created the environment within which the insurgency could grow, take root. And now they're trying to manage it, I think." [ NYT ]

•Edwardsfocuses on southerners, union workers, andDeansupporters: "We've got to startchanging the momentum." [ NYT and NYT ]

•Deanemails supporters, "I Need Your Help" to pay down $400,000 debt. [ LAT ]

•John F. KerrywantsTeresato beJacqueline Kennedy. [ LAT ]

•Kerry, Edwardsplay nice while vying for votes in New York. [ WP ]