Can't beat 'em? Skip 'em

National | POLITICS: Conceding first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses to frontrunner Howard Dean, two upper-tier Democrats—Clark and Lieberman—hope to break with history and generate late momentum | Bob Jones

Who would want to spend January in cold, snowy Iowa? Not Wesley Clark and Joseph Lieberman, evidently. The two Democratic presidential contenders announced they would forgo the state's first-in-the-nation party caucuses on Jan. 19, saving their time and money for later contests they might have a chance of winning.

The two announcements, made separately over the weekend, could have far-reaching implications for the entire Democratic field. Despite their national standing, neither Gen. Clark nor Sen. Lieberman had made much of a dent in Iowa, where time-consuming precinct caucuses reward grassroots organization over mere name recognition.

With two prominent figures out of the way, Iowa now looks like a battle between the party's rising star, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, and the boy next door, Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt. Eight days later, in the New Hampshire primary, Gov. Dean will be slugging it out with another regional heavyweight, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.