With Missouri’s favorite son, Rep. Richard Gephardt, out of the running, the state’s political glitterati lined up Tuesday to place their endorsements in advance of next week’s suddenly contested primary.
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, who was a Gephardt backer, announced his support for Sen. John Kerry, while Lt. Gov. Joe Maxwell and former Kansas City Mayor Emanuel Cleaver endorsed Sen. John Edwards.
Gephardt has been quiet. Jason Norton, who ran Gephardt’s Missouri campaign, said he does not anticipate the St. Louis congressman endorsing anyone before the Feb. 3 primary.
Kerry, Edwards and Al Sharpton have scheduled campaign appearances Wednesday in Missouri, where 88 Democratic convention delegates are at stake.
–Tim Jones
GIVING UP THE COUCH FOR DEAN
There’s not much Tunky Summerall wouldn’t do for her favorite presidential candidate, Howard Dean. On Tuesday night, she sacrificed her sofa.
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Summerall opened her elegant home in Charleston, S.C., to more than a dozen Dean supporters–one of whom spilled a glass of red wine on her couch.
A big Dean backer since seeing him speak to a small group last April in Charleston, Summerall said, “I was completely taken with his humanity, his intelligence and his lack of ego.”
Summerall’s husband happens to be the grandson of Gen. Charles Pelot Summerall, who led the 1st Infantry Division–the Big Red One–in World War I and later became president of The Citadel for 22 years.
But Tuesday was a night for youth, not the ages. The Summeralls’ home was filled with twenty- and thirtysomethings. “I just get a huge kick out of all these young people,” she said.
Summerall and her guests watched their candidate end up second in New Hampshire. But with club soda and salt still working on the wine stain, it was unclear how well Summerall’s couch would finish the night.
–Flynn McRoberts
A SHOWER OF GOOD NEWS
File this under more information than we need to know: Teresa Heinz Kerry said Tuesday night that her husband, Sen. John Kerry, was in the shower when he learned he had won the New Hampshire primary.
“It took a couple seconds for it to dawn on him,” she said.
When he learned he had won the Iowa caucuses, he was shaving. “It seems to be a bathroom event,” she said.
–Jill Zuckman