John Edwards has pulled out of the US presidential campaign, leaving the fight for the Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
The former senator has given up his campaign after coming in third in most of the party's nominating contests.
Mr Edwards, who was his party's vice presidential candidate in 2004, was unable to break through the celebrity of the top two candidates, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
After months of campaigning in the first-voting state of Iowa, Mr Edwards came in second to Barack Obama.
He came in third in the rest of the early contests, including Saturday's vote in South Carolina, the state where he was born.
Earlier today, John McCain emerged as the clear front-runner in the Republican presidential race with a solid victory over rival Mitt Romney in Florida.
His win also dashed the hopes of one-time favourite Rudy Giuliani.
The Arizona senator's victory in Florida capped a remarkable comeback for a candidacy that was given up for dead only a few months ago when he was critically low on support, media exposure and campaign funds.
The 71-year-old was a combat pilot and war hero who survived the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison camp during the Vietnam war.
A Republican party maverick, viewed warily by the party's conservative wing, Mr McCain finished the Florida vote with 36% compared to Mitt Romney's 31%.
Under Republican party rules, Mr McCain now wins all of the 57 delegates Florida sends to the party's national convention in the summer.
Tough-talking former New York city mayor Rudolph Giuliani, once the Republican frontrunner, staked his hopes on winning Florida after ignoring earlier nominating contests.
A poor third-place finish left the 63-year-old virtually dead in the water amid widespread reports he was ready to drop out of the race and support Senator McCain.
Mr Giuliani grabbed an early lead in national polls but faced the hostility of the religious right voting bloc who opposed his comparatively liberal past record on abortion and gay rights.
Meanwhile, former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney struggled vainly to head off the McCain surge and now finds himself with an uphill battle going into the Super Tuesday clutch of primaries.
Mr Romney has poured millions of his own money into the campaign, but faces charges he is a 'flip-flopper' who ditched previous liberal positions to appease powerful social conservatives.
The Baptist minister and ex-Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee scored a come-from-nowhere triumph in the Iowa caucuses but he has yet to duplicate the win elsewhere.
His last-place finish in Florida showed he has yet to break out nationwide and make a dent in what has now become a two-man race between Mr McCain and Mr Romney.
Clinton takes heart from Florida win
Hillary Clinton claimed victory in Florida although no delegates were at stake for Democrats and no candidates campaigned because of dispute over the primary date.
The New York senator and former first lady was on the ropes after losing to her chief rival Barack Obama in Saturday's South Carolina primary.
Her bid to become the first woman US president was also shaken by the high-profile endorsement of Mr Obama by Democratic party patriarch Senator Ted Kennedy and other members of the dynastic clan.
Senator Clinton's Florida numbers allow her to claim new momentum heading into Super Tuesday on 5 February, when nearly two dozen states will vote, including several large states where she has a sizeable lead over Mr Obama in the polls.
Barack Obama said Mrs Clinton's Florida vote totals were meaningless since no candidate had been allowed to stump in the southeastern state.
Mr Obama spent the day campaigning in Kansas.
The Illinois Senator had been on a roll after beating Mrs Clinton in Saturday's South Carolina primary and basking in the Kennedy endorsement of his candidacy.
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