With John Kerry a step closer to being the new Democratic presidential candidate in November's election, Indiana's primary on May 4 will not have a significant effect on the Democratic presidential nomination, a political science professor said Tuesday.
"Indiana's primary is too late for it to really matter," said Joseph Losco, chairman of the political science department. "Kerry is well on his way."
Indiana's primary is one of many state primaries that have been scheduled through early June. Losco said while the primaries will still give more U.S. citizens the opportunity to vote for other Democratic presidential nominees, Kerry already has too many supporters for the incoming votes to affect his nomination.
In fact, during the Democratic Convention, which will be held in Boston in late July, Kerry will be officially declared the Democratic candidate in this year's presidential election, he said. The convention will allow Kerry to both present the platform for his campaign and to possibly announce his vice presidential candidate, he said.
"By the time the convention is held, Kerry will already have enough delegates supporting him," Losco said. "Other candidates such as Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton will probably even stop campaigning."
Kerry already had 18 out of 20 victories before winning the majority vote in six states during Super Tuesday's primary. North Carolina Senator John Edwards, who entered Tuesday's primary with only one victory -- in his native state of North Carolina -- announced Tuesday night that he would drop out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Ralph Baker, professor of political science, said he was confident Kerry would be named the new Democratic presidential nominee during Tuesday's primary because of his success in this year's past primary elections. Baker said he attended Kerry's first Iowa Caucus in January, where he helped to campaign for Kerry.
"The momentum he built up in Iowa was critical for him," Baker said. "He really has no competition now. "
Baker said as state primaries continue throughout the next few weeks, many people know the primaries will not have any bearing on the Democratic presidential nomination.
"We already know what the outcome will be," Baker said. "So (states) like Indiana really won't have a voice."
Losco said while Indiana won't have a significant influence in the Democratic presidential nomination, it will still play a role in November's presidential election. Because the state usually votes Republican, it will be likely to continue its trend in the upcoming election, though it might have several reasons to vote Democrat this year, he said.
"If the economy continues to be a problem and if there is strong support for the Democratic Party in the state's gubernatorial election in November, the state just might vote Democrat," Losco said. "But overall, it is still likely that (Indiana) will vote Republican."
Baker said this year's presidential nomination process was one of the nation's most outstanding in that very few candidates dominate the presidential nomination as Kerry did this year.
When Kerry is officially declared the Democratic presidential nominee in July, his three month-long presidential race against Bush will be interesting he said.
"Democrats are determined to beat George Bush, and Republicans are just as determined to keep him there," he said.
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