Kerry takes lead in race for Democrat nomination

John 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.

John Edwards, the fourth-placed candidate whose support has been surging in recent days, is still closing the gap and is on 17.1 points. Experts say that behind these numbers is an increasingly fluid situation on the ground and that the race for Iowa, the outcome of which is notoriously hard to predict, remains open, with any of the four candidates standing a chance of coming first. 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.

On Wednesday, Mr Gephardt questioned Mr Dean's convictions and accused him of misleading Democratic voters. "Democrats must be clear about where we stand and be truthful to the American people," he said. "There is no room for the cynical politics of manufactured anger and false conviction." He accused Mr Dean of having "great contempt" for the voters of Iowa and of being a "fairweather friend" of workers he claims to represent.

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.

Yesterday, Mr Dean received a boost of sorts with the withdrawal from the race of Carol Moseley Braun, the former Illinois senator and only female candidate. She went on to endorse him at a joint appearance in the state. The backing of Ms Moseley Braun who, in 1992, became the first black woman to win a US Senate seat, is unlikely to make much difference in Iowa, where she was polling 1 per cent or less.

But it could be a factor in later primaries, enhancing the credibility of Mr Dean, former governor of virtually all-white Vermont, in southern states where black voters form a large part of the Democratic vote.

The latest surveys suggest it is Mr Kerry who has benefited most in the past week of campaigning in Iowa. The Massachusetts senator's campaign for months lacked message and passion, but has suddenly gained momentum and appeal, making clear headway among undecided voters.

Already Mr Dean has had to confront a growing challenge from the retired general Wesley Clark. A Kerry resurgence would only add to Mr Dean's problems and further dent the aura of inevitability that surrounded his candidacy.