Democrats in four Southern states, including the November battleground of Florida, cast ballots on Tuesday in contests that will put John Kerry close to formally clinching the party's nomination to face President George W. Bush.
The Massachusetts senator, preparing for the match-up with Bush, wrapped up a campaign swing through Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi on Tuesday as he tried to build support in a region that has not been friendly to Democrats in recent presidential elections.
Kerry stopped in West Tampa, Florida, where he mingled with a group of 5-year-olds playing on a swing set. Kristen Hamlin wasn't too impressed.
"I saw the president of the United States on TV and he's our president," she told Kerry.
In Florida, scene of the recount battle in the disputed 2000 election, Kerry accused Bush on Monday of "bad, rushed decisions" in Iraq that had cost American lives and said he was ready for Republican efforts to tear him down.
Bush accused Kerry of being "deeply irresponsible" for proposing cuts in the intelligence budget in 1995, before the September 11, 2001, attacks, and said "that is no way to lead our nation in a time of war."
The exchanges came as Kerry, who effectively won the right to face Bush last week by driving his last major rival from the race, moved closer to making it official on Tuesday in the four Southern states.
At stake were 435 delegates to July's Democratic convention, enough to put Kerry less than 100 delegates away from the 2,162 needed to mathematically wrap up the nomination.
Kerry hopes to improve in November on the Southern showing by Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore in 2000, who was shut out in the region by Bush despite hailing from Tennessee.
The last three Democrats elected president - Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton - were from the South, and Kerry's road to the White House would be much smoother with a strong Southern showing in that region.
Kerry won Democratic primaries in Tennessee and Virginia last month, but lost in South Carolina and Oklahoma and barely won in Georgia over final rival John Edwards, a senator from North Carolina.
Kerry said earlier in the year he could capture the White House without winning a Southern state, but has since said he will mount a challenge against Bush there.
Bush, the former governor of Texas, already has challenged Kerry on social and security issues, which could play well in the more conservative region. But Kerry said he will not change his campaign message to appeal to the South.
"I'm going to run the same campaign in every part of the country. I believe people in the South care deeply about jobs, about health care," Kerry said on Sunday in Jackson, Mississippi.
Florida is certain to be a key battleground once again in November, and a recent poll showed Kerry with a slight lead over Bush in the state. Bush's brother Jeb is the governor of Florida.
Democratic strategists also have suggested Kerry could challenge Bush in Louisiana, where Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu won re-election in 2002 while other Democrats were losing in the region.
The state has a race for an open Senate seat this year with the retirement of Democratic Senator John Breaux, and a competitive Kerry would help the party there and in four other Southern states with races for open seats caused by retiring Democrats.