Last rankings: 1) Dean, 2) Gephardt, 3) Clark, 4) Edwards, 5) Kerry, and 6) Lieberman.
1. Howard Dean
The Confederate Flag "flap" had the potential to stall some momentum, but Dean more than made up for it with the (expected) SEIU endorsement and the (unexpected) AFSCME endorsement. Opted out of public financing giving him more spending flexibility in the early primary states.
2. Wesley Clark
Clark inches back up into second not because of any surge, but because of Gep's slide. The campaign still has no campaign manager, but Clark is still holding firm in the polls -- neck and neck in the national polls and a handful of early states.
Still, losing the AFSCME endorsement after such clumsy handling of the situation not only lost him the chance for ready-made organization and boots on the ground, but also made his chief opponent stronger. Clark would've been far better off had AFSCME gone to Gephardt.
3. Dick Gephardt
He continues to lead in Iowa, and has the second-best campaign organization in the race. Losing AFSCME, however, hurt. It would'be been better for Gep had AFSCME's flirtations with him hadn't become public. It wasn't supposed to be his union anyway.
Gep's not going anywhere in Iowa, but AFSCME directly boosts his arch-enemy. And even if Gep pulls off Iowa, losing AFSCME will hurt in several other important states.
4. John Edwards
Has spent something like $500K in NH and has nothing to show for it. If he's going to make a move, the time is nigh.
He did get in a few zingers on Dean on the flag thing and got more than a day of press for it. Yeah, he may have overplayed the hand, but he needs all the press attention he can muster.
5. Joe Lieberman
Has stemmed most losses in his poll numbers. Not that he's going anywhere or anything, but poll numbers alone give him the edge on the disintegrating Kerry.
6. John Kerry
His campaign is in shambles, as are his poll numbers everywhere. Can Kennedy's people rescue him from the abyss? Stay tuned...
7. The others
Sharpton has blown a fuse over Jesse Jr's endorsement of Dean, but otherwise the bottom feeders are still static.