Kerry wins Ohio, Dean takes Vermont

1.45pm


WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry, looking to land a knockout punch on rival John Edwards in their 10-state showdown, scored a key early victory in Ohio on Tuesday.

But former Democratic contender Howard Dean, who dropped out of the race two weeks ago without a single win, triumphed in his home state of Vermont, where he was still on the ballot. Dean was governor of the state for 11 years.

Georgia, where polls were closed but the race was too close to call, and Ohio were two of the states Edwards had targeted in his bid to slow Kerry's march to the nomination.

Georgia, Vermont and Ohio were the first states to close their polls, with seven more states still wrapping up "Super Tuesday" voting on the biggest single night of the Democratic campaign.

Kerry, who now has 19 wins in the first 22 contests, is hoping another dominating performance will knock out Edwards, a North Carolina senator who is his last major rival, and clear the field for him to concentrate on his November match-up with President Bush.

At stake were big states like New York, California, Ohio and Georgia with a total of 1,151 delegates to July's nominating convention -- more than half of the 2,162 delegates needed to win and the campaign's biggest one-day haul.

Kerry, who flew back to Washington for votes on a gun control bill, said he was taking nothing for granted.

"Don't ever raise that expectation," he said when asked by reporters if he was expecting a clean sweep. "We're going to do the best we can state by state."

Edwards, who also returned to Washington for the gun votes but then went on to Atlanta to watch the returns, began his day greeting voters in Georgia but declined to answer reporters' questions.

Even while battling Edwards, Kerry has been keeping his eyes on a November match-up with Bush and focusing his attacks on the president's economic and foreign policy.

Bush is set to return fire on Thursday, formally engaging Kerry with the launch of his first television ads in 17 key battleground states -- a move that could boost pressure on Edwards to drop out of the race and allow Kerry to prepare for a one-on-one showdown with Bush.

FIGHT TO THE END

Edwards had targeted Ohio, Georgia and Minnesota for possible victories and shrugged off questions about whether he would get out of the race if he is swamped on Tuesday.

"I plan to be in this until I'm nominated," he said on Monday. "We have always been going up and surging at the end. We'll have to wait and see what happens."

A dominating performance would not give Kerry, the four-term Massachusetts senator and decorated Vietnam War veteran, enough delegates to clinch the nomination, but it would leave Edwards with little incentive or money to push on.

Some Democrats in Washington asked whether it was time for Edwards to pack it in.

"I strongly believe enough is enough," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California. "If it does look as if Kerry has the required number of delegates, the helpful thing to do would be to begin to plan for the fall."

Edwards, a first-term senator from North Carolina, has put his plans to create more opportunities for American workers and stem the flow of US jobs to foreign countries at the centre of his campaign.

But he conceded on Monday he was running out of time to turn around the race against Kerry, who holds a 3-to-1 edge in delegates, unless he racks up some wins quickly.

"At some point I've got to get more delegates or I'm not going to be the nominee," he said.

- REUTERS