Memphis, Tenn, ? Sen. John Kerry stumped for votes in Tennessee and Virginia Monday, hoping to build his growing lead for the Democratic presidential nomination today by defeating two Southern rivals near their home turf.

Polls showed the Massachusetts senator leading in both states over his chief opponents, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark of Arkansas. Kerry focused his fire Monday on President Bush, while Edwards talked about trade and Clark talked about his military credentials and said he’d leave it to states to regulate gay marriage.

While the three faced off in the South, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean campaigned for next week’s Wisconsin primary, and in an abrupt turnabout, Dean said he would continue his campaign even if he lost in Wisconsin on Feb. 17.

“We can’t just abandon all of those people we brought into the process,” Dean said.

Campaigning in Roanoke, Va., and Memphis, Tenn., Kerry looked for his first victories in the South. He lost last week to Edwards in South Carolina and to Clark in Oklahoma, but has won 10 of the 12 Democratic contests so far.

All but ignoring his Democratic foes, Kerry lambasted President Bush’s release Monday of an economic forecast that predicted the creation of 2.6 million new jobs this year.

“This report was prepared by the same people who brought us the intelligence on Iraq,” Kerry said. “This president has the worst jobs record of the last 11 presidents combined. I don’t think we need a new report about jobs in America. I think we need a new president who’s going to create jobs in America.”

Kerry, who swept Maine, Michigan and Washington state over the weekend, picked up endorsements Monday from Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and the Amalgamated Transit Union.

In Tennessee, Edwards blamed free trade for the decision by Carrier, the air-conditioning giant, to close a plant in McMinnville, Tenn., and move 1,300 jobs away.

Edwards was unmoved by the fact that only some of the jobs are being moved to Mexico; the rest are going to Texas and his home state of North Carolina.

Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. John Edwards addresses Carrier plant workers outside Prater's Bar-B-Que in Morrison, Tenn. The nearby air-conditioning plant is scheduled to close with a loss of 1,300 area jobs. Edwards is hoping for a strong showing in today's primary in Tennessee.

“Most of these jobs that are leaving this country aren’t going to Charlotte, North Carolina. They’re going outside our borders,” Edwards said. “We need to have a different trade policy in this country.”

James Mears, 49, one of those losing his job, walked out of a closed-door session in a barbecue restaurant with Edwards considering switching his vote from Kerry.

“I think I may vote for him,” Mears said. “It’s getting to be a ghost town here in Middle Tennessee. Bush doesn’t have any concern about the American worker.”

Clark spent a gray and rain-spattered Monday talking about his humble roots and his proposals to cut middle-class taxes as he campaigned through the economically depressed towns of Union City, Dyersburg and Ripley in west Tennessee.

“I spent my life rolling up my sleeves,” Clark said.

Responding to a question, he said he opposed gay marriage, but that “it’s a matter that the states have to decide.” He also compared his record with that of President Bush: “I’ve forgotten more about national security then George W. Bush has ever learned.”