http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=481720John Kerry, the Massachusetts senator, has edged into the lead ahead of Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt in the contest to be the Democrats' presidential candidate. With four days to go, the race in Iowa has become a three-way tie with the trio of frontrunners separated by less than one percentage point, the latest polls showed.
But the difference between the three is so slight Mr Kerry is on 21.6 points with Mr Dean and Mr Gephardt both on 20.9 points that the margin of error built into the polls means they are, in effect, tied. This is the first time that Mr Dean has fallen behind.
What is more certain is that, as the contest has tightened and entered its final stages, the campaign has become increasingly barbed and that the sniping among the candidates has reached new levels of venom. Dick Gephardt, the Missouri Congressman and former Democratic House leader who experts say must win in Iowa if he is to have any chance of securing the Democratic nomination, has been particularly outspoken in his attacks on Mr Dean, until now considered the frontrunner in the state.
Little more than a week ago, Mr Dean was seeking to avoid such confrontation with rivals, claiming he intended to remain above such negative attacks. But, having seen his former narrow lead in Iowa slip away in recent days, Mr Dean has gone on the offensive. In an interview broadcast on Iowa public television on Wednesday evening he dismissed the attacks from his rival. "I think it's sort of a sad commentary on Dick Gephardt," he said.
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