Dean: State a good fit for campaign He takes on Kerry, Bush in phone conference By Ray Barrington News-Chronicle It isn't quite an "all-in" poker move, but Howard Dean is putting most of his chips on a victory in Wisconsin's Feb. 17 Democratic presidential primary. Dean has eased back from campaigning in the seven states holding primaries today and is concentrating his efforts here in an attempt to derail front-runner Sen. John Kerry. Dean told state reporters in a conference call Monday that Wisconsin's status as the only primary on that date made it important. "It's a little like New Hampshire and Iowa," he said. "Everyone has to compete if they're serious. I feel I can win and want to put some really strong resources behind that." Dean is campaigning in the states holding primaries today but clearly is focusing on Wisconsin as polls show him trailing in today's voting. "I'm in this until somebody locks up the nomination," he said. "I was the front runner for four weeks. Polls don't elect candidates, people do." He's also focusing on Kerry, spending as much time going after the Massachusetts senator as he did going after President Bush. "John Kerry introduced 11 bills on health care, and not one of them passed," Dean said in answer to one question. "I've done something about that." He also suggested Kerry had too many ties to special-interest groups. "He owes as much to special interests as the president does," Dean said. Dean did go after Bush on the president's budget, released Monday, calling it "a disgrace." "The right-wing Republicans can't be trusted with the economy; they're all borrow-and-spend," Dean said. "We've got to have a different kind of president." He said the president's tax cuts had to be reversed as they did not help the middle class, only big business. "We need to have taxes like when Bill Clinton was president; then we'll have an economy like when Clinton was president," Dean said. He expects his message to play well in Wisconsin, he said, bringing up the name of state political icon "Fighting Bob" La Follette. "I admire La Follette tremendously," he said. "La Follette stood up for ordinary Americans." He emphasized his desire for better trade agreements, combining them with another shot at Kerry. "I think the issues for Wisconsin are jobs, changes in trade laws and health insurance," he said. "Kerry lambasted (Rep. Dick) Gephardt on trade, and now he's a convert. "It'll mean you pay a little more at Wal-Mart, but those jobs won't be shipped overseas." And he said if that message clicked in Wisconsin, it could click in other states as well. "What Wisconsin's going through, a lot of states are going through," he said. "We need somebody who will be a tough fiscal manager but progressive on social services."