White House Hopefuls Make Super Tuesday Pitches

Democratic and Republican White House hopefuls are making their final Super Tuesday pitches as voters in 24 states and American Samoa are heading to the polls.

Super Tuesday is virtually a national primary day, and some of the biggest prizes of the primary season -- California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Missouri and Georgia -- are up for grabs.

More than four-fifths of the 2,025 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination and more than 1,000 of the 1,191 necessary delegates on the Republican side are at stake.

Tuesday's results are more likely to decide the presumptive presidential nominee in the Republican contest than in the Democratic contest because of the way the GOP allocates delegates.

Victors in the Republican primaries and caucuses usually enjoy a winner-take-all delegate system, while Democrats parcel out delegates on a proportional basis

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton cast her ballot in her home state of New York Tuesday morning. She was joined by her husband, former President Clinton, and her daughter, Chelsea.

The stakes are huge for our country, a lot of big challenges, but America's up to it," Clinton said after casting her vote. "We just need a president who's ready on day one to turn the economy around and become commander in chief and get our country back on the right track."

Obama started his Super Tuesday on the opposite coast. During an interview with CNN from San Francisco, California, the Illinois Democrat promoted his health care plan, a key issue for California voters.

"Our focus has been on reducing costs, making it available. I am confident that if people have a chance to buy high-quality health care that is affordable, they will do so," Obama said.

GOP nominees Sen. John McCain of Arizona, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will be scrambling for votes throughout the day.

Two front-runners, McCain and Romney, have engaged in some bitter exchanges over each others conservative records

McCain started his day at a rally in New York flanked by former New York City mayor and presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman. McCain told supporters on a Manhattan street that he would "take the battle to the enemy."

"I guarantee you, as the nominee of my party, I can and will carry the city of New York as well as the state of New York, because we know how to appeal to independents," he said.

McCain was scheduled to fly to California, a key Super Tuesday state, for events in San Diego and was set to finish his day in Phoenix, Arizona.

McCain's closest rival for GOP nomination, Romney, told delegates at the West Virginia Republican convention Tuesday that wins in California and other Super Tuesday states would put him in position to win his party's nomination.

"It will indicate the conservative voices in our party are standing up and saying, 'wait a second, we want to make sure that this party does not leave the house that [former President] Ronald Reagan built," Romney said in Charleston, West Virginia.

"And if that happens, I think we're going to see a very clear pathway to gain additional delegates from the ongoing contests, and put together the winning combination to get the nomination."

While last-minute polls indicate Romney has gained ground against McCain in California, Romney is likely to split races with Huckabee in the South, Republican strategist John Feehery said.

In the Northeastern states and Midwest, I think John McCain is going to win," Feehery said. "I think it's really hard for Mitt Romney to get this nomination."

On the Democratic side, the surviving contenders -- Obama and Clinton -- are likely to split the delegates more evenly, Democratic analyst Peter Fenn said.

"I think that Obama clearly has an advantage in those seven states that are doing caucuses," Fenn said. "I think she's got to carry the big states that she had planned on. California is clearly up for grabs now ... Unless one or the other gets annihilated, I think they go on to many more Tuesdays."

In a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll out Monday, the two Democratic front-runners were virtually tied

Obama, who trounced Clinton in January's South Carolina primary, garnered 49 percent of registered Democrats in Monday's poll, while Clinton trailed by just 3 percentage points. View the latest poll results »

With a sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points, that margin is too close to say which Democrat is leading

Giuliani quits White House race

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has pulled out of the Republican race for the White House after disappointing primary results in Florida.
Mr Giuliani announced he was giving his support to Arizona Senator John McCain, describing him as "an American hero".

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California will also endorse Mr McCain.

Earlier on Wednesday, Democrat John Edwards left the race, without backing any of his rivals, after failing to win a single party nomination contest.

Mr Edwards contested Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and his native South Carolina, but only in Iowa did he get higher than third place, and that only by the narrowest of margins.

He told supporters in New Orleans, where he launched his latest White House bid in 2006: "It's time for me to step aside so that history can blaze its path."

Heated debate

Mr Giuliani announced his withdrawal just before the remaining Republican candidates began a televised debate at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, on Wednesday evening.

With the two other candidates - former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Texas Congressman Ron Paul - often struggling to be heard, the 90-minute debate was dominated by the verbal jousting of the two front-runners.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney accused Mr McCain of "dirty tricks" for accusing him - just before Tuesday's Florida primary - of supporting a date for withdrawing troops from Iraq.

"It's offensive to me that someone would suggest that I have," said Mr Romney.

Mr Romney said Mr McCain was out of the conservative mainstream, having twice voted against President Bush's tax cuts, which the Republican establishment had embraced.

Mr McCain countered that he was proud of his conservative credentials, and questioned Mr Romney's administrative record in Massachusetts.

"His job creation was the third worst in the country," said the Arizona senator.

The simmering tensions were indicative of the pressure that is building ahead of next week's "Super Tuesday", when 20 states hold their nominating votes in what could be a decisive day in the race for the White House.

Rudy's gamble

In contrast to the heated exchanges in Simi Valley, Mr Giuliani's address was light-hearted.

This man is a national hero and I'm honoured by his friendship

John McCain on Rudy Giuliani

He said he had thought he was the sort of person who had the qualities to make a good president of the United States, "but the voters made a different choice".

"John McCain is the most qualified candidate to be the next commander in chief of the United States," Mr Giuliani said. "He's an American hero and America could use heroes in the White House."

He added that Mr McCain was a longstanding friend and he would campaign alongside him whenever and wherever he was needed.

Mr McCain returned the compliments, praising Mr Giuliani's leadership as mayor in the wake of the attacks on the US on 11 September 2001.

He described his former rival as "my strong right arm and my partner".

"This man is a national hero and I'm honoured by his friendship," he said.

Mr Giuliani was seen by his supporters as a tough commander in chief, while other Republicans were wary of his attitude on social issues, like abortion.

When he entered the race more than a year ago he led some national polls and had an impressive war chest. He is reported to have spent up to a million dollars a week on TV advertising in Florida alone.

Correspondents say his decision to focus his efforts on Florida was always going to be either a stroke of political genius or an unwise gamble that would see him fall at the first hurdle.

Mr Giuliani won 15% of the vote, behind Mr McCain with 36% and Mitt Romney with 31% and just ahead of Mike Huckabee who won 13%.

Thompson quits White House race

Former US Senator Fred Thompson has withdrawn from the Republican presidential race, after a string of poor finishes in early voting rounds.
"I have withdrawn my candidacy... I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort," he said in a short statement.

It follows his third place result in Saturday's South Carolina primary - a state he had said he needed to win.

Mr Thompson did not say if he would endorse any of his former rivals.

The ex-Tennessee senator ended his statement by saying that he and his wife, Jeri, would "always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people".

Desire questioned

The actor-politician entered the race in September, months after his rivals had started campaigning.

After climbing into second place in national polls in October, his support steadily plunged as his many critics questioned how seriously he desired the job, says the BBC's Vincent Dowd in Washington.

He finished third with 16% in the South Carolina primary, behind John McCain on 33% and Mike Huckabee with 30%.

The former star of the Law and Order TV series will have thought hard about whether the next Republican primary in Florida at the end of this month offered any hope of a revival - clearly he decided it did not, our correspondent says.

Still wide open

Even with Mr Thompson's departure the Republican race remains wide open, with three candidates each having won in the six states that have voted, our correspondent says.

The remaining Republican presidential contenders are focusing on Florida ahead of that state's primary on 29 January.

Polls suggest Mr McCain has a narrow lead in the Sunshine State over ex-New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Mr Huckabee.

The Democratic White House hopefuls are gearing up for Saturday's South Carolina primary, a day after Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton clashed in a TV debate.

The two senators continued to trade blows on the campaign trail on Tuesday.

The former first lady claimed Mr Obama had been "looking for a fight", while he repeated his claim that the Clintons had been attacking him in "not accurate" ways.

All the contenders are looking towards the potentially decisive "Super Tuesday" on 5 February, when 22 states will vote for a candidate from either side to stand in November's presidential election.