RICHMOND, VA. ? Democrats vying for the White House used Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to criticize President Bush’s record on civil rights and try to win support of black voters.

Democrats have always criticized the GOP stance on civil rights but have stepped up that criticism since December, when then-Republican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott appeared to praise Strom Thurmond’s pro-segregation 1948 presidential campaign. The controversy forced Lott to resign from his leadership post.

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry spoke in Richmond; North Carolina Sen. John Edwards spoke in the Carolinas; Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman celebrated the King holiday in Detroit; and Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt observed the day at a ceremony in Washington.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean issued a statement critical of President Bush on affirmative action from his home state while the Rev. Al Sharpton of New York spoke in South Carolina.

The black vote could be a critical factor in determining who wins the Democratic presidential nomination, especially in early primary states like South Carolina and Michigan that have a high percentage of blacks among Democratic voters.

Earlier this month, President Bush nominated Charles Pickering of Mississippi to a Court of Appeals, angering civil rights groups who questioned the judge’s race-relations record. Last week, Bush gave Democrats more ammunition in their fight to win black votes by arguing to the Supreme Court against policies that give minorities an admissions advantage at the University of Michigan.

“It’s not the words you need to focus on — it’s the actions,” Kerry told several thousand gathered at a King mass in Richmond. “We need to make clear that here at home, the battle for civil rights has not yet been won.”

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., speaks at a Habitat for Humanity event in Detroit. Lieberman on Monday thanked hundreds of volunteers at the rally for engaging in community service in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., whom he called a modern-day

Lieberman appeared in Detroit, where he talked of volunteering to register black voters in Mississippi and hearing King speak as a youth.

“To me, it sounded like the voice of Moses,” Lieberman said. “And in a way, it was. He was the modern-day Moses.”

The Democratic candidates are seeking endorsements from minority leaders to boost credibility among black voters.

All the declared presidential hopefuls except Dean have met with Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who said he will back a candidate with ideas for opening minority access to education and investment capital.

Kilpatrick said: “All the old ways of just coming into our churches and saying ‘we love you’ isn’t going to work anymore.”