Dean's defeat in Iowa doesn't erase the considerable assets he has here, both in long-committed support, organization and money, all of which makes it premature to be talking about his campaign in the past tense. But the media story that has moved rapidly from "Dean Can't Lose" to "Dean Is Dead" can have a self-fulfilling effect: Just as the first story line helped Dean raise funds and attract volunteers, the second could just as easily drive them away.

Whatever happens with Kerry and Dean, a number of the other candidates could have a huge impact on the race without actually winning here.

Clark has quietly built up considerable support while his opponents were in Iowa, although his nonparticipation in the caucuses left him often overshadowed by the events there. His campaign has held that a strong showing in the primary here would position him to do very well in the seven contests to be held on Feb. 3, including South Carolina, Arizona and Missouri, states in which he is strong in the polls.

Edwards, who has effectively cast himself as the race's most positive campaigner, is hoping to repeat his Iowa performance and translate a good result here into big wins on Feb. 3. He has already seen his fundraising spike dramatically in the last couple of days.

And Joe Lieberman, who also skipped Iowa, hopes to resurrect his candidacy by being the sleeper candidate this time around, and then moving on to win in Arizona or another of the more conservative-leaning states voting that day.

Interestingly, the only one of those candidates with significant funds who hasn't spent money on ads in any of those Feb. 3 states is Kerry, who is depending on a second win here to make him a force in the contests to come. To achieve that, he'll have to continue to do what he did over his last weeks in Iowa, where his urgent performances on the stump and effective outreach to veterans fueled his victory.

Kerry's Iowa win has already translated into hundreds of thousands of dollars raised, according to the campaign. And he'll attempt to press home his electability with a new ad that says he is the candidate who is "ready for the presidency."

But Kerry is no longer in a position to sneak up on the field as he did on Monday night. His great victory in Iowa will earn him front-runner treatment in New Hampshire, which means ceaseless attacks from his opponents, and greater scrutiny from the media. His challenge will be to avoid the complacency trap he fell into early last year, when his status as early media favorite -- based on fundraising and establishment support -- was completely eclipsed by the more innovative and exciting Dean campaign.

"Kerry went through a political near-death experience," said Robert Zimmerman, a Democratic fundraiser who threw his support to Kerry in December. "I think he knows that he can't afford to think of himself as a front-runner, or to allow his campaign to be characterized that way."

At Daniel Webster College on Thursday, Kerry proposed reducing healthcare costs by allowing the importation of drugs and by using the federal government's buying power to negotiate lower prices. He also reacted to Bush's State of the Union speech last night, saying it showed that the president "just doesn't get it."

But the speech was mostly an amalgam of what one reporter called Kerry's "greatest hits," the recitation of his accomplishments as a soldier and a politician punctuated by applause-inducing condemnations of the White House.

The audience reviews were mixed. Mary Willis, Milton's wife, thought Kerry did "wonderfully," and that she would likely vote for him. Tom Callahan, a registered Independent, said he was in the process of making up his mind between Kerry, Edwards and Clark. But Kerry's performance did little to move him, offering criticism that echoed what many Democrats said about him a year ago: "I like him," he said, "but I think maybe he needs a new speechwriter."

Recent Stories