Kerry Locks Up the Nomination

Vowing to fight back against GOP attacks, Sen. John F. Kerry said, "My campaign is about replacing doubt with hope, and replacing fear with security." (Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)

Bush said he looked forward to a spirited race, and Kerry thanked him for the call, Devenish said. Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter described it as "a very nice congratulatory call," with Kerry saying "he looked forward to having a debate on the issues."

That may be as friendly as things get, as Kerry's victory statement showed. Although Bush's first round of ads will be positive, emphasizing the president's record and accomplishments, the attacks from both sides have already begun. Kerry has pounded on Bush for months, and in the past few weeks the Republicans have begun to fire back, portraying the presumptive Democratic nominee as soft on defense, wrong in his opposition to the 1991 Persian Gulf War, a flip-flopper who straddles tough issues and a Washington insider.

Kerry romped in the nation's two biggest states, New York and California, where Edwards put up little competition, but his most important victories came in Ohio and Georgia, where Edwards had counted on his southern roots and populist economic message to carry him to victory.

Instead, Kerry eked out a win in Georgia, powered by a huge margin in the African American community, destroying Edwards's hopes for survival. In Ohio, Kerry's victory was even more impressive as he dispatched his rival by more than 15 percentage points after Edwards had invested heavily in the state.

Kerry overwhelmed Edwards in Maryland, rolling up impressive margins among both white and black voters and Democratic voters. Edwards narrowly won among independents. In New England, other than the loss to Dean in Vermont, Kerry cruised to victory in his home state of Massachusetts and won Rhode Island by better than 3 to 1 and Connecticut by more than 2 to 1.

The two long-shot candidates still in the race, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio) and Al Sharpton, finished far back in all states, and both were embarrassed in their home states. Kucinich was running in single digits in Ohio, while Sharpton was in single digits in New York.

Electability once again proved to be Kerry's best friend yesterday. In Ohio and Georgia, Edwards proved more popular among voters who said they based their decision on who cared more about people like themselves and on how they perceived the candidates on honesty and trust.

But more than one-third of the voters in each of those states said they based their vote on who they thought could defeat Bush, and Kerry was the overwhelming choice of those voters, as he has been in previous contests.

Edwards had hoped his focus on jobs and his tough talk about international trade would play well in Ohio, which has lost more than 250,000 manufacturing jobs since Bush took office.

But it was Kerry who found a receptive audience in a state that both Republicans and Democrats say will be one of the two or three most contested battlegrounds in November. He won easily among voters who see trade as costing the state jobs -- and also among those who see trade as a net positive.

Edwards sounded a more protectionist theme while campaigning in Ohio, but Kerry, who enjoyed the endorsement of the AFL-CIO, won the union vote there by a wide margin.

Two weeks ago in Wisconsin, Edwards beat Kerry among voters who said the economy was the top issue on their agenda. Yesterday, Kerry captured those voters in two of the most contested battlegrounds -- narrowly in Georgia and comfortably in Ohio.

Kerry also gained his victories with strong support among African American voters, In Georgia, Edwards rolled up a sizable margin among white voters, but Kerry had an even larger margin among African Americans, who made up more than 40 percent of the electorate. In Ohio, Kerry won both the white and black vote, but among African Americans he won by better than 3 to 1.

Edwards proved again that it is difficult to win Democratic contests by losing among Democrats. In Georgia, Edwards had a big lead over Kerry among independents and Republicans who participated in the open primary, but Kerry beat him among Democrats by a wide margin. In Ohio, the two candidates split independents but Edwards trailed badly among Democrats.

Assistant polling director Claudia Deane contributed to this report.