Dean bows out of Presidential race

Dean, former Vermont governor and a one-time front-runner for the Democratic nomination, made the announcement in Burlington, Vt, Wednesday morning after Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts scraped ahead of Senator John Edwards in Wisconsin. Dean had had to suffer losses in 17 states since the Iowa caucuses, which re-injected Kerry into the race.

"I am no longer actively pursuing the presidency," Dean told a crowd of cheering, flag-waving supporters, according to an Associate Press report. "We will, however, continue to build a new organization using our enormous grass-roots network to continue the effort to transform the Democratic Party and to change our country."

Dean has not yet endorsed any of his opponents so far but pledged to support whoever is finally nominated to take on President George Bush later this year. "The bottom line is that we must beat George W Bush in November, whatever it takes," Dean told the crowd.

He also ruled out running as a third-party or independent candidate but said he and his supporters would continue to work for change. "We are not going away. We are staying together unified, all of us," he said.

"There is enormous institutional pressure in Washington against change, in the Democratic Party against change," said Dean, who projected himself throughout his campaign as a Washington outsider committed to changing the nature of Democratic politics on Capitol Hill. "Yet, you have already started to change the party and together we have transformed this race. The fight that we began can and must continue."

His wife, Judy Steinberg, whose rare appearances on the campaign made her the topic of much discussion in the media, was also present at the rally.

Dean's campaign shot into prominence early in the race after he changed the nature of the game with his prolific fundraising, mainly through the Internet, getting almost $41 million in one year. With his rallying cry of 'I am the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party," became his rallying cry', Dean successfully energized the rank and file of the Democrats and his unwaveringly strong criticism of the president and the war in Iraq often put Kerry, who voted for the war, on the backfoot.

However, his slide from the top of the heap after the Iowa caucuses was almost as rapid as his rise. In particular, his almost raucous speech following a defeat in Iowa raised questions about his electability as President and the speech quickly became the target of jokes and ridicule within Democrats as well as Republicans, not to mention a host of talk shows.

Agencies