TUCSON, Ariz. -- Trailing other candidates in public opinion polls, former Gov. Vermont Howard Dean used an open-air rally yesterday to return to the brash campaign trail language that set him apart from the field last summer.

Many in the energetic crowd of 1,500 appeared glad that Dean's foray into a kinder and gentler campaign style -- adopted after his Iowa meltdown -- had been shelved.

Calling front-runner John Kerry, a fourth-term senator from Massachusetts, "the special interest senator,'' Dean told the crowd in this swing region of Arizona that Democrats need a Washington outsider to win the November election.

"We are not going to beat George Bush by nominating somebody who was the handmaiden of special interests. We can do better than that in the Democratic Party,'' he said. Dean cited a report in yesterday's Washington Post that Kerry had "taken more special interest lobbyists money than any other senator in the last 15 years.''

"We are not going to beat George Bush with somebody who has his hands as deeply into the lobbyists' pockets as George W. Bush,'' Dean said. "We need somebody from outside Washington to clean up Washington.''

Dean, who had been near the lead just weeks ago, now finds himself fighting to stay competitive. The latest tracking poll from Zogby International of Utica, New York, shows Kerry leading the field here with 36 percent support, and retired Gen. Wesley Clark in second at 20 percent. Dean is in third place with 12 percent. Fifteen percent of Arizonans say they are undecided.

Arizona is one of seven states across the nation that hold primaries or caucuses Tuesday. It is the second-biggest state on the ballot, behind Missouri, with 55 pledged delegates up for grabs. To win the party's nomination, 2,162 delegates are needed.

The campaign stop came on the heels of an announcement by Dean campaign chief Roy Neel that Dean's strategy does not necessarily require a win Tuesday. If Dean can hold on through the Wisconsin primary next month, the Neel memo said, the race should be down to just Dean and Kerry. Given that choice, Neel believes Dean could prevail.

Under overcast skies, the outdoor rally at a city park amphitheater here attracted ardent supporters and curious onlookers alike. Homemade signs flapping in the morning breeze proclaimed "Dean is electable" and "I scream, you scream, we all scream for Howard Dean.''

Anthea Scouffas, a worker at the University of Arizona who has supported Dean for months, said she is a little discouraged with the poll numbers, but that she is sticking with her candidate.

"He got such a quick start this summer, the numbers were fantastic, so this was going to happen,'' she said of his fall in the polls. "But Kerry has bought his support with advertising. Ads are an easy answer. You can't buy this energy that I have for Howard Dean.''

If Dean doesn't win the nomination, she said she is torn about what to do. "I don't know. I really don't know. Kerry and the others aren't the answer for me.''

Jesse Ybarra, an employee of the Tucson public school district, said Dean will be fine if he can just hang on.

"Finishing second or third isn't too bad. He'll come out ahead in the end,'' Ybarra said, adding that he plans to go door-to-door on Dean's behalf every day until the election. "I believe in him. He's not like the others.''

Joanne Desky, a grant writer for a local non-profit organization that feeds and shelters the poor, said the event made her a confirmed Dean supporter.

"I was wavering," she said. "Whenever I heard Dean on TV, he was saying the same things that I had been saying to my family and friends. We were saying the same things. But I came here today to see what kind of a sense I would get from him, and I got a good sense.''

Congressman Raul Grijalva, a Democrat from Tucson, introduced Dean here, praising him for "putting the heart and soul back into our party. It has been wonderful to see the conversion of the other candidates. It is belated, but appreciated.''

Pima County, including Tucson, is a Democratic stronghold and is the area most responsible for Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano's surprise victory in 2002. She is the only Democrat holding statewide office in a once-progressive state that has been trending Republican for 40 years.

George Bush won the state by 5 percent in the 2000 election.

Friday night, Dennis Kucinich held a rally at a downtown theater, telling a crowd of 500 that he is "the only candidate who has a plan to end the Iraqi war. Get the U.N. in and the U.S. out.''

Clark was also in town yesterday, holding a morning rally across town from the Dean event.

Most of the candidates are expected at an important meeting of statewide Hispanic leaders in Phoenix tomorrow.