FALLS CHURCH, Va. -- A group of supporters for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean bemoaned another primary loss last night.
Dean won only 7 percent of the vote in the open Virginia Democratic primary yesterday, placing fourth behind third-place finisher Gen. Wesley Clark.
"It was a first-class effort there," Dean national campaign chair Roy Neel told the Virginia Dean supporters via speakerphone. "You all are champions."
While Neel added that the campaign is not yet throwing in the towel -- vowing to fight in Wisconsin -- he did hint that Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry likely will become the Democratic nominee.
"If Kerry wins the nomination, he is going to be a better candidate simply because of what you have done," Neel said.
Pam Mueller, Dean's press secretary in Virginia, said a sense of invincibility pervaded the effort in Virginia after Dean fever intensified with the opening of the Virginia Dean headquarters in Falls Church.
Over the past two weeks, however, campaign workers resigned themselves to the fact that other states were more favorable battlegrounds for Dean, Mueller said.
Dean was slated to speak at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner last weekend, but decided instead to campaign in Wisconsin, largely ignoring Virginia.
"The results were sort of set when the national campaign elected not to come," said Virginia Rep. Bob Scott, D-Newport News, who endorsed Dean. "Without the candidate, there is not much you can do."
The Dean campaign did have some substantial Virginia connections. Rep. Jim Moran, D-Alexandria, also endorsed Dean, and former Lt. Gov. Don Beyer is the national treasurer for the campaign.
"We need to do very well in Wisconsin to stay credible and viable," Beyer said as results were being announced.
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