"This entire race has come down to this: We must win Wisconsin," Dean said, pleading for contributions of $50 to raise $700,000 by Sunday to pay for advertising in Wisconsin's media markets.
"A win there will carry us to the big states of March 2--and narrow the field to two candidates," Dean wrote. "Anything less will put us out of this race."
Dean's statement was reminiscent of comments made before this week's South Carolina primary by Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, who said he would drop out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination if he did not win there. Edwards did win the primary Tuesday.
Dean's plea came as polls Thursday showed him trailing Sen. John Kerry in Michigan, where Democrats will vote Saturday in a statewide caucus.
<snip>
Asked in Milwaukee about his e-mail plea, Dean said: "The e-mail stands by itself. I wasn't smart enough to think about the e-mail, though it was a brilliant ploy. I certainly stand by it."
Earlier, in a twist that underscored a sense of disorganization in the Dean campaign, Roy Neel, the campaign's chief executive officer, began to back off the do-or-die nature of the e-mail several hours later, arguing the message was intended only to convey a sense of urgency.
"The e-mail said that, you know, if we did poorly in Wisconsin, we may be out of the race. But the fact of the matter is, the e-mail did not say, `I'm withdrawing from the race,'" Neel told reporters.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0402060248feb06,1,6250918.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Apparently there was some confusion as to whether or not this was a ploy to get more money from his supporters.
I hope Dean's own words will settle the matter.
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