Al Gore John Kerry From January 14 to June 8, 2004, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 2004 United States presidential election.

However, Kerry won the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, which gave him enough momentum to carry the majority of the rest of the states.

Eventual nominee John Kerry, much like other Democrats adopted policy stances of tax-cuts for the middle class, increased spending for Social Security, and assisting small businesses.

Runner up John Edwards ran a position of support for the middle class as well as budget caps and enforcement.

Howard Dean, despite taking many of the same positions of his rivals including Edwards and Kerry, had a starkly different approach on the issue of Social Security and tax cuts.

[6] After the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration argued that the need to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq had now become urgent.

Only Dean and Kucinich firmly questioned the aims and tactics of the administration, setting themselves apart in the eyes of war protesters.

On May 1, George W. Bush landed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in a Lockheed S-3 Viking, where he gave a speech announcing the end of major combat in the Iraq war.

Kerry's experience as a decorated Vietnam veteran generated some excitement among Democrats tired of being on the defensive about their candidates' suitability in the role of "commander in chief".

Additionally, many other candidates announced their intention to form committees (a formality usually indicating an official run): U.S. Sen. John R. Edwards of North Carolina, U.S. Rep. Richard A.

During that time, he formally announced his run for president, filing to form a presidential election campaign with the FEC.

Later that month, liberal advocacy website MoveOn held the first ever online Democratic "primary", which lasted just over 48 hours.

His campaign's innovative use of the Internet helped to build a strongly supportive grassroots constituency, much of which remained intensely loyal to him long after the end of his candidacy.

Generally regarded as a pragmatic centrist during his time as governor, Dean emerged during his presidential campaign as something of a populist, denouncing the policies of the Bush administration (especially the 2003 invasion of Iraq) as well as fellow Democrats, who, in his view, failed to strongly oppose them.

Many critics on the left, who supported fellow Democrat Dennis Kucinich or independent Ralph Nader, charged that, at heart, Dean was a "Rockefeller Republican"—socially liberal, while fiscally conservative.

[12] Over the summer of 2003, several organized groups began a nationwide campaign to "draft" retired four-star general Wesley Clark for the Democratic Party's nomination for the 2004 presidential election.

They were drawn by his military background, and saw such foreign policy credentials as a valuable asset in challenging George W. Bush post-September 11.

His supporters argued that his perceived indecision was due to lack of experience with the media and their insistence on short "sound bite" answers.

Throughout the early campaigning season, the Iowa caucuses appeared to be a two-way contest between former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and Missouri Representative Richard Gephardt.

A poll released by the Des Moines Register days before the caucus was held showed Dean and Gephardt had lost all of their lead in Iowa.

[18] Nominating contests: 10 Pledged delegates at stake: 1,164[19] Key results Edwards's late stage momentum, as well as his departure from the negative campaigning which characterized other leading candidates,[20] carried him into a surprising second-place finish in Iowa with the support of 32% of caucus delegates, behind only John Kerry's 38% and ahead of former front-runner Howard Dean at 18%.

He finished with 12% in the New Hampshire primary one week later, essentially tied for third-place position with retired general Wesley Clark.

Remarking on an unexpectedly strong finish in Wisconsin on February 17, Edwards humorously cautioned Kerry: "Objects in your mirror may be closer than they appear."

In Super Tuesday, March 2, Kerry won decisive victories in the California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio and Rhode Island primaries and the Minnesota caucuses.

On March 11, after meetings with Democratic superdelegates in Washington, D.C., and former primary election opponents, Kerry accumulated the 2,162 delegates required to clinch the nomination.

Kerry and Edwards faced incumbents George W. Bush and Dick Cheney of the Republican Party in the 2004 presidential election.

This was the first time in recent political history that a candidate failed to receive a substantial boost in post-convention poll numbers.

There were 4,353 total delegates to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, of which 802 were superdelegates: party leaders, even including some of the candidates, who were not bound by any state's primary or caucus votes and could change their support at any time.