Howard Dean bowed out of the bid for the Democratic presidential nomination Wednesday, making the party's battle for the White House largely a two-man contest between Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.
\Today my candidacy may come to an end-but our campaign for change is not over,"" Dean said to supporters in Vermont.
He added he is not done fighting for change within the Democratic party, saying he will launch a new initiative for change within the next few weeks.
""The most important thing he said was that he was not going to endorse another candidate, but he would support the eventual nominee and was going to watch him,"" said Charles Jones, a UW-Madison political science professor.
Jones added Dean should feel accomplished with the impact he had on the caucuses and primaries, saying he influenced other candidates to adopt his themes of change and beating President George Bush.
Before the Iowa caucus Jan. 27, polls predicted Dean as the party's front-runner. Almost a month later, he is no longer in the race and failed to place first in any primary or caucus in which he participated.
UW-Madison political science Professor Virginia Sapiro said she did not think the early polls were misleading. They simply predicted opinion at the time, she said, adding that opinion changes.
Jones said the early polls indicated the choices of ""committed"" voters, which only constituted 20 to 25 percent of the public. Voters saw Dean as the most aggressive campaigner against Bush, he said. However, Jones added the public eventually viewed Kerry and Edwards as more credible and more capable to defeat the Republicans.
""[The public] liked the message, but they did not much like the messenger,"" he said. ""He was too shrill ... to beat Bush.""
Jones said it was too early to tell if Dean would consider running on a vice presidential ticket, but indicated if he did it would have to be with Edwards, as both Dean and Kerry have similar East Coast backgrounds.
With Dean out of the race, the pending question is: Which remaining candidate will Dean supporters choose? Jones said Kerry clearly has the advantage right now, but added it is crucial for Edwards to get through Super Tuesday and make it to March 9, when all four primaries are in his native South.
""If [Edwards] could survive March 2, he could do really well March 9 and make it a competitive race,"" he said.
