Races Heat Up As Fields Narrow

Jan 31, 05:00 AM

WASHINGTON -- The winnowed field of presidential candidates is hurtling toward a crush of pivotal primaries next Tuesday after Democrat John Edwards and Republican Rudy Giuliani reshaped the race by ending their campaigns.

In an extraordinary day, Edwards suspended his candidacy Wednesday where he had launched it more than a year ago, standing in Katrina-damaged New Orleans and vowing to spotlight the issue of poverty.

Then Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who led the Republican field in national polls through 2007, withdrew the day after finishing third in Florida, the state where he had staked his campaign. He endorsed that primary's winner, Arizona Sen. John McCain.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also will endorse McCain today, according to McCain adviser Steve Schmidt -- a boost in the nation's biggest state.

Less than four weeks after the first votes were cast in Iowa, once-sprawling fields have been narrowed to a pair in each party with realistic chances of prevailing: New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton vs. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama among the Democrats, McCain vs. former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the GOP.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who won Iowa but has lagged since, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul joined McCain and Romney in a debate Wednesday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.

Romney listed McCain positions he said were "outside the mainstream of conservative Republican thought," including support for an immigration overhaul. McCain retorted, "Let me note that I was endorsed by your two hometown newspapers that know you best."

Clinton and Obama hold their first one-on-one debate tonight at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.

In a sign of what may be a sharper tone ahead, Obama turned former president Bill Clinton's signature phrase against his wife at a huge rally in Denver. He said it would be "tempting" -- and wrong -- "to simply turn back the clock and to build a bridge back to the 20th century." Clinton repeatedly said his goal as president was to "build a bridge to the 21st century."

Clinton strategist Mark Penn accused Obama of "negative hits" that were "false" and "personal."

Hopefuls were barnstorming across the USA and booking millions of dollars in TV ads in the 22 states voting Tuesday. The biggest primary day ever could give a decisive boost toward the nominations -- or signal standoffs that could last until summer conventions.

Edwards' departure apparently guarantees that the Democrats will have a breakthrough nominee: Either the first woman or first African-American to win a major-party bid for the presidency. Edwards, the Democrats' 2004 nominee for vice president, said he was stepping aside "so that history can blaze its path."

Which rival benefits isn't clear. In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll two weeks ago, Edwards' backers split between Clinton and Obama as their second choice.

In the GOP, Giuliani supporters were slightly more likely to cite McCain over Romney as a second choice. (c) Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. Races Heat Up As Fields Narrow
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