The battle for the White House narrowed dramatically on Wednesday as the exit of Rudolph Giuliani and John Edwards left Republican and Democratic front-runners in a pair of two-horse races.
In a surprise early withdrawal, former senator Edwards dropped out of the Democratic contest to transform the campaign into a historic fight between bitter rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
"It's time for me to step aside so that history ... can blaze its path," Edwards told a rally in New Orleans, Louisiana in a decision which came after he failed to win a single contest.
On the Republican side, former New York mayor Giuliani pulled out and endorsed long-time pal John McCain after a high-risk campaign that ended with a whimper in Tuesday's Florida primary defeat.
"Today I'm officially announcing my withdrawal as a candidate for president of the United States," Giuliani said. "John McCain is the most qualified candidate to be the next commander-in-chief of the United States."
With Edwards officially suspending his bid, the Democratic race is now set for a head-to-head clash between Clinton, aiming to be the first woman in the White House, and Obama, bidding to be America's first black president.
Edwards said both the leading Democratic hopefuls had pledged to him that they would take up his cause of championing the middle-class and ending poverty in the United States. But he did not endorse either of his rivals.
Despite coming a respectable second to Obama in the very first vote in Iowa early this month, Edwards, 54, whose wife Elizabeth has incurable cancer, has failed to shine since, limping in third in all the other primaries so far.
He even admitted to getting his "butt kicked" in Nevada, where Clinton triumphed adding to her victories in New Hampshire and Michigan.
A hefty defeat in Florida late Tuesday proved to be the final blow for the former senator, who also lost his 2004 tilt at the White House.
Clinton coasted to a symbolic victory in Florida with 50 percent, in a boost to her campaign ahead of next week's Super Tuesday when 22 states will vote for their party candidates.
Clinton and Obama both paid tribute to Edwards.
Obama said Edwards "has spent a lifetime fighting to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the struggling, even when it wasn't popular to do or covered in the news."
For her part, Clinton said Edwards "ran with compassion and conviction and lifted this campaign with his deep concern for the daily lives of the American people."
Clinton, 60, and Obama, 46, who have fought a bitter battle for voters, will again square off in a Democratic debate scheduled for Thursday in California.
Republican front-runners McCain and Mitt Romney faced off in a debate at the Reagan Library outside Los Angeles Wednesday, with Giuliani's notable absence.
Arizona Senator McCain, who was once given up for lost after almost running out of money in mid-2007, was celebrating after winning in Florida late Tuesday, to become the clear Republican pace-setter.
McCain, 71, beat former Massachusetts governor Romney to take 36 percent of the vote, over 29 percent for Romney. Giuliani came in third with 15 percent, and ordained Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee won 13 percent.
There was potentially more good news for McCain Wednesday after a CNN report that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was considering an endorsement.
Although Schwarzenegger later appeared to rule out offering his backing until after next week's California primary, CNN cited two Republican sources as saying that discussions were ongoing.
Meanwhile, in a move which could cause shockwaves in the Democratic camp, veteran political activist Ralph Nader said he was mulling a White House bid.
Nader, widely blamed by Democrats for defeat in the 2000 elections, told AFP he wanted to fight "the injustices, deprivations and insolutions that the candidates are ignoring" such as failing to address the need for a living wage, health care for all and the "enormous, bloated, wasteful military budget."
White House races narrow as Giuliani, Edwards exit
Edwards keeps on running in presidential race
John Edwards just keeps on running. He hasn't won a single contest in the Democratic race for the U.S. presidential nomination but the millionaire lawyer with the movie star smile still hopes to be a player in the November election.
Edwards suffered a blow to his struggling White House bid with a disappointing third-place finish in Saturday's primary election in his native South Carolina -- the only state he had managed to win in his failed 2004 presidential bid.
But the former trial attorney and 2004 vice presidential nominee, who had hoped to win over voters by focusing on his humble roots and a pledge to combat U.S. poverty, will not quit before "Super Tuesday" early next month, when 22 states vote.
"Now the three of us move on to February 5 where millions of Americans will cast their vote and help shape the future of this party and help shape the future of America," Edwards said.
"We will be with you every single step of the way."
Edwards' advisers say the race is far from over, with their candidate slowly amassing delegates that could turn him into a powerful player at the Democratic convention in August.
Usually the party's nominee is clear long before the convention, after the first states have held their contests and one candidate amasses enough of the 2,025 delegates to win the nomination.
CLOSE RACE
But this race is close, with Democratic front-runners Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton splitting key early primaries. Edwards nevertheless continues to pull in delegates -- preventing either of his opponents from grabbing an early majority.
Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, a senior Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, said he expected the nominating contest to be decided at the convention.
"I do feel that way and I think it would be very, very good if that were to occur," Clyburn said on CNN. "We've got three candidates now, no one of them is particularly dominant. All three of them are going to leave South Carolina with a ticket all the way to the convention."
Edwards' advisers agree.
"This is a marathon, not a sprint," said campaign manager David Bonior. "This is just beginning. I know everyone wants to put it away with these two."
Senior campaign adviser Joe Trippi suggested that if Edwards did not win the nomination he would head into the convention with potentially hundreds of delegates and bargaining power.
"We're going for the nomination," said Trippi. "But in the worst case we could go to the convention as a peacemaker."
Asked if Edwards would relish the role as a possible kingmaker, Bonior said: "He's not doing it for the sake of being a kingmaker."
Edwards has raised $3 million on the Internet since a contentious Democratic debate this week in which he styled himself as the "adult" on stage in a brawl between Clinton and Obama.
"We're feeling good," Trippi said.
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama (born August 4, 1961) is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election.[2][3] He is the fifth African American Senator in U.S. history, and the only African American currently serving in the U.S. Senate.
Born in Honolulu to a Kenyan father and an American mother, Obama grew up in culturally diverse surroundings.
In DES MOINES, Iowa, Obama won with a strong 38 percent of the votes, compared to 30 percent for John Edwards and only 29 percent for Clinton.
An average of New Hampshire polls by RealClearPolitics had Clinton with 34 percent to Obama's 27 percent and Edwards' 18. It has McCain at 31.3 percent on average, Romney at 28.8 percent, Giuliani at 10 and Huckabee at 9.5.
Barack Obama became the front-runner tonight for the Democratic nomination, scoring a decisive victory over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards that will give him the momentum heading into the New Hampshire primary
