Campaign notes

Braun to drop out

Former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, whose Democratic presidential campaign never got off the ground, will drop out of the race and endorse front-runner Howard Dean, campaign officials said Wednesday.

Officials close to Dean’s campaign confirmed that they expected Braun to officially endorse the former Vermont governor today in Carroll, Iowa. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

Dean’s campaign spokeswoman declined to comment when asked about the report.

The officials said Braun approached Dean after a recent debate and told him she was considering leaving the race and backing him.

Braun never broke out of single digits in national surveys, didn’t qualify for several state ballots and ran up thousand of dollars in campaign debt. Even her own campaign manager, Patricia Ireland, had said publicly there was no way Braun could win the nomination.

Kerry bites the hands that fund him

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who surged in an overnight Iowa tracking poll to a second-place tie with Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt, attacked Washington lobbyists and special interests. Speaking at St. Ambrose’s University in Davenport, Iowa, he said, “Join this fight — not just to defeat George Bush, but to drive the forces of greed and privilege from the precincts of power.”

Kerry refuses to accept money from political action committees, “even from my friends,” he’s fond of saying. Still, the top donors to his campaign are lawyers and lobbyists. According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Kerry raised $3.3 million from lobbyists and lawyers by the end of the third quarter.

Only North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, a trial lawyer, had raised more from lawyers and lobbyists.

Dean drops in N.H.

Dean’s lead in New Hampshire has dropped from 17 percentage points last weekend to 10 percentage points by midweek, according to an American Research Group Inc. tracking poll (margin of error: 4 percentage points).

The Jan. 11-13 poll showed Dean at 32 percent, retired Gen. Wesley Clark at 22 percent, Kerry at 13 percent, and Sen. Joseph Lieberman at 9 percent.

The Jan. 9-11 poll had Dean at 36 percent, Clark at 19 percent, and Kerry and Lieberman tied at 10 percent. New Hampshire Democrats vote Jan. 27.

No joke: Comedy shows asset for candidates

Former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun was scheduled to mix it up with Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show” Wednesday night.

Why have Clark, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Edwards and Gephardt all appeared with Stewart? According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, 21 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds say they regularly get campaign news from comedy TV shows (margin of error: 3 percentage points).

With the pivotal Iowa caucus just five days away, appearances on “Fear Factor” might be more appropriate.

Gephardt uses ‘P’ word

Gephardt made the ultimate insult — for a Democrat — to Dean: He compared Dean to President Bush. Speaking in Nevada, Iowa, Gephardt cited a long list of Dean gaffes and policy switches, then concluded: “And we thought George W. Bush was unprepared to be president.”

The speech came the day after the Dean campaign launched a TV ad in Iowa criticizing Gephardt, Kerry and Sen. John Edwards for supporting the war in Iraq.

Lieberman trip to N.H. is downright cold

Lieberman toured New Hampshire’s north country — north as in 20 below zero. He got a frosty reception from one man at a senior center in Hanover.

The man told Lieberman “you were the worst” of the nine candidates in the Democratic field when it came to criticizing his Democratic peers and President Bush. Lieberman’s response: “That’s ridiculous.”