Rivals desperate to derail Kerry as Democrat race heats up

The US Democratic presidential contenders are chasing frontrunner John Kerry across five states, with Howard Dean vowing to make a stand in Wisconsin, Wesley Clark attacking Kerry's "hypocrisy" and John Edwards drawing a distinction on their trade policies.

With five Democratic nominating contests scheduled over the next five days, the contenders frantically raised money and searched for a strategy to derail Kerry before the Massachusetts senator runs away with the nomination to face President George W. Bush in November.

One-time frontrunner Dean looked beyond the next five contests and drew the line at the February 17 primary in Wisconsin, telling supporters in an online fund-raising appeal that his fading campaign must win there or he would be finished.

"The entire race has come down to this: we must win Wisconsin," said the former Vermont Governor, who has squandered a huge lead in the polls and a US$40 million ($58 million) bank account.

"A win there will carry us to the big states on March 2 and narrow the field to two candidates. Anything else will put us out of the race."

Clark, the retired general and former Nato commander, renewed his criticism of Kerry and Edwards, a North Carolina senator, for "hypocrisy", accusing them of attacking Bush on the stump but backing him in the Senate.

"They've spent months on the campaign trail criticising George W. Bush and his reckless policies, when, in the 107th Congress, both men voted with the President almost 70 per cent of the time," Clark said in Lebanon, Tennessee.

"I don't think you can stand with Bush one day and then go against him once you decide to run for president," he said.

Edwards, campaigning in Tennessee, promised to change the free-trade policies that he said had led to the state's loss of 96,000 jobs, and pointedly made reference to those, like Bush and Kerry, who supported the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"What George W. Bush and the people who support these trade policies don't understand is that when you shut down the factory, when you shut down the mill, you shut down the town," said Edwards, who has said trade is one of his prime policy differences with Kerry.

Kerry seized command of the race with wins in seven of the first nine contests. The focus now shifts to Michigan, Washington, Maine, Virginia and Tennessee.

Back on the campaign trail after a day off, Kerry largely ignored his rivals during a rally in Portland, Maine, and aimed his criticism at Bush.

"I'm here to mark with you the beginning of the end of the Bush Administration," he told supporters as he won the endorsement of Maine Governor John Baldacci.

He later headed to New York for a fundraiser as all of the candidates focused on raising enough money to get them through the next few weeks.

Kerry's campaign said it had raised US$4.5 million ($6.6 million) since his come-from-behind win in Iowa on January 19.

The Edwards campaign said it had raised about US$200,000 ($291,000) online in the first 24 hours after his win in South Carolina, and Dean's aides said they had raised about US$400,000 ($584,000) on Thursday after his dramatic email plea for help in Wisconsin.

After making Wisconsin his prime target, Dean dropped plans to campaign in Detroit and headed to Milwaukee.

Edwards and Clark already have decided to focus on Virginia and Tennessee and bypass the Michigan contest, which was expected to be a battleground until Kerry's surge put it out of reach.

A new Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby poll found Kerry well ahead in Michigan with 47 per cent, followed by Dean with 10 per cent. No other candidate managed double digits in the state with 128 delegates at stake, the largest haul in the race so far.

- REUTERS