US: Howard Dean, once the rampant front-runner in the race for the Democratic nomination, is on the verge of calling it quits as he faces the prospect of yet another primary defeat in Wisconsin today, writes Conor O'Clery, North America Editor, in New York
As if conceding that Senator John Kerry, winner of 14 out of 16 contests, has the nomination wrapped up, Mr Dean declined to aim his usual barbs at the Massachusetts senator during a candidates' debate in Milwaukee on Sunday evening.
On top of that, his national campaign chairman, Mr Steven Grossman, all but conceded defeat by announcing that "if Howard Dean does not win the Wisconsin primary, I will reach out to John Kerry unless he reaches out to me first to help him become the next president".
Mr Roy Neel, the Dean campaign manager, said "anything is possible" after Wisconsin and "the governor's not made a decision". Even as several of his aides plan vacations, Mr Dean is publicly refusing to give in, telling Fox News: "we're not dropping out after Tuesday, period".
His only hope is that Wisconsin's independent-minded Democrats - who gave John F Kennedy an unexpected victory over local favourite Hubert Humphrey in 1960 - will again stage a surprise and rekindle the embers of his dying campaign.
If voters do resist conventional wisdom however, John Edwards is more likely to be the beneficiary.
The North Carolina senator, who says he will stay in the race come what may, scored points during the 90-minute debate for his passionate denunciation of international trade agreements, unpopular among Wisconsin blue collar workers who have lost jobs to Mexico and China.
Mr Edwards admonished Mr Kerry during the debate, possibly the last of the primary season, for delivering a long-winded explanation of his vote for the Iraq war.
But the front-runner otherwise emerged unscathed, and barring a scandal, is set to secure the nomination on March 2nd's "Super Tuesday".
In Wisconsin Kerry leads Mr Edwards by 37 points according to a recent poll.
Mr Dean rebuffed opportunities offered by the moderator to criticise Mr Kerry, a sure indication that he is laying the groundwork for turning his campaign into an action group devoted to defeating President Bush.
Asked if he and the Bush campaign were in agreement in that both had attacked Mr Kerry on special interests, Mr Dean replied: "I think George Bush has some nerve attacking anybody on special interests." He called Mr Kerry "a fine person" and said "if he wins the nomination I'm going to support him".
The Massachusetts senator said he anticipated a tough fight with Mr Bush, saying: "I'm ready for what they throw at me," which stung Mr Edwards to reply: "Not so fast, John Kerry, we're going to have an election here in Wisconsin this Tuesday."
Asked if he regretted his vote for war, Senator Kerry replied: "My regret is not the vote, my regret is this president choosing the wrong way, rushing to war."
He said "there was a right way to do this and there was a wrong way" because the president did not build a legitimate international coalition, exhaust the UN process or go to war only as a matter of last resort.
As usual the sharpest comments at the debate, held at Marquette University in Milwaukee, came from the Rev Al Sharpton. The African American candidate got the biggest cheer of the evening when he accused Mr Bush of lying over Iraq.
"Clearly, Bush lied," he said. "Now if he is an unconscious liar, and doesn't realise when he's lying, then we're really in trouble. Because, absolutely, it was a lie.
"They said they knew the weapons were there. He had members of the administration say they knew where the weapons were.
"So we're not just talking about something passing here. We're talking about 500 lives. We're talking about billions of dollars. So I hope he knew he was lying, because if he didn't, and just went in some kind of crazy, psychological breakdown, then we are really in trouble."