Gephardt drops out of US presidential race

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 21, 2004

Gephardt drops out of US presidential race

US Representative Dick Gephardt announced an end to his presidential bid on Tuesday after a disappointing fourth-place finish in Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses Monday night.

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US Representative Dick Gephardt announced an end to his presidential bid on Tuesday after a disappointing fourth-place finish in Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses on Jan. 20 night.

"Today my pursuit of the presidency has reached its end. I'm withdrawing as a candidate and returning to private life after a long time in the warm light of public service," Gephardt told a press conference in St. Louis, Missouri.

A 14-term congressman, Gephardt was the House Democratic leader from 1994 to 2002.

He said he had given to the campaign "everything I had in me." The caucuses, however, did not "come out the way we wanted," Gephardt, 62, said Monday night.

The defeat spells the end of his 33-year career as one of the party's most prominent leaders. Elected to the Congress in 1976, Gephardt was the oldest candidate in the Democratic field vying for the party's nomination, and was perceived by many as "yesterday's man."

Gephardt became the third Democrat to drop out of the race since October last year, following former Illinois Senator Carol Moseley Braun last Thursday, and Senator Bob Graham of Florida on Oct. 6, 2003. Seven candidates still remain in the Democrats field seeking for the party's nomination.

Gephardt, who won the Iowa caucuses in his first unsuccessful bid for the White House in 1988, had hoped a win in Iowa would help him to continue his campaign in New Hampshire and other early primary states.

He had said he would not seek re-election to the Congress, but would serve out his final year in the House of Representatives.

Source: Xinhua

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