DEMOCRAT PRIMARIES: Gen Wesley Clark, once favoured by the Clintons to become Democratic presidential nominee, was said to be considering an early exit from the primary contests, following his failure to dominate either of yesterday's two primary elections in Tennessee and Virginia.
Meanwhile, the former governor, Mr Howard Dean, has reversed his decision to leave the race if he does not win the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday, saying supporters urged him not to quit.
His decision came as the frontrunner, Senator John Kerry, coasted to victory in Tennessee and Virginia and took a commanding lead in opinion polls in Wisconsin, the only significant primary between now and March 2nd, Super Tuesday.
The Massachusetts senator has the support of 45 per cent of Democratic voters in Wisconsin, followed by Clark at 13 per cent, Dean at 12 per cent and Senator John Edwards at 9 per cent, according to a poll in yesterday's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
Senator Edwards arrived in Wisconsin last night to whip up support, but the "Clark for President" website showed no further campaign events scheduled after last night's post-primary party in Memphis, Tennessee.
Gen Clark conceded yesterday that he was trailing badly. "You've got a front-runner, you've got a good lawyer and you've got an underdog," he said, referring to Senators Kerry and Edwards. "I'm the underdog."
The chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party, Mr Randall Button, said Gen Clark and Senator Edwards, both southerners, should drop out if they could not beat Mr Kerry on their home ground of Tennessee and Virginia.
Gen Clark has only won one state, Oklahoma, by a slim margin. Mr Edwards said he would press on to March 2nd when 10 states, including New York, vote for 1,408 of the 2,162 delegates needed for the nomination.
Last week Mr Dean said: "The entire race has come down to this: we must win Wisconsin. Anything less will put us out of this race."
Asked about his decision to continue whatever the result, the former Vermont governor said: "I've just changed my mind. The media claim this contest is over but you don't have to listen to them."
Campaigning in Tennessee yesterday, Mr Kerry sought to strengthen his claim to the Democratic nomination by focusing on President George Bush rather than on his opponents. "This President has the worst jobs record of the last 11 presidents combined," he said, claiming that three million jobs had been lost since 2000.
Gen Clark had earlier criticised President Bush in unusually sharp terms, saying: "He cannot get away with taking this country to a war we didn't have to fight. That's like one of the greatest crimes you could ever, or greatest mistakes you could ever, make."
Yesterday, responding to Democratic charges that he did not fulfil his National Guard service during the Vietnam War, Mr Bush released military pay records from the time.
Questions about Mr Bush's military record were revived by the Democratic National Committee chairman, Mr Terry McAuliffe, who accused him of going AWOL during part of his service.