Rival Democrats fighting Senator John Kerry for their party's presidential nomination have a short window to spoil Kerry's White House dreams following his latest primary wins, several US newspapers said Wednesday.
Kerry, the Democratic front-runner, virtually swept Tuesday's seven primary and caucus contests picking up five fresh endorsements as the race for the Democratic nomination swings towards Michigan and Washington states.
Hot on the heels of his wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, major US papers said his rivals will now have to up their games if they want to challenge his tightening grip on the Democratic nomination.
"No candidate in modern times has passed so many early tests and lost the nomination," The New York Times said of Kerry's five state wins Tuesday.
Kerry, 60, won contests in Missouri, Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota and Delaware on Tuesday in his bid to go head-to-head with President George W. Bush in November.
"For the third week in a row, Mr Kerry finished far better off than any of his rivals, winning richer victories in Missouri, a big battleground state in November, and in Arizona, where he ran strongly among Latino voters, an important constituency," The New York Times commented.
"If he is to pose a serious challenge to Mr Kerry, Mr Edwards will have to move much more quickly, and more sharply, to distinguish himself as the fresh face, and a man qualified to be president," the paper commented on rival Senator John Edwards.
Edwards said his win in South Carolina and strong showing in Oklahoma - the two other contests that were up for grabs Tuesday - made him the only alternative to Kerry. "For Dr (Howard) Dean, whose early effort to create an aura of invincibility collapsed so completely that he chose not to compete really in any of last night's contests, the only hope is to exploit the continued unsettled state of the race and stand and fight in places like Wisconsin, on February 17, or New York and California, on March 2," the Times added.
Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, touted as a likely winner before the primaries by the media, was campaigning in Washington state Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Times said Tuesday's results "identified possible chinks in his (Kerry's) armour that could let a rival - probably John Edwards - mount a drive to stop him." The paper said that although Kerry's wins cemented his status as front-runner, exit polls "raised red flags for the leader."
"The polls showed that Kerry, who has been trying to shed an image as an aloof patrician, fared worse among voters who said their priority was a candidate who cared about people like them."
"These findings suggest an opening for the North Carolina senator to run a "lunch bucket" campaign of tough-on-trade, economic populism aimed at blue-collar voters and those without college education's," the Los Angeles Times said.
However, it said Kerry's wins in states as diverse as Delaware, Missouri and Arizona demonstrated again "the breadth of his reach across the Democratic Party."
The LA Times said former Nato commander, retired general Wesley Clark - who won his first election in Oklahoma - faces the challenge of establishing "a clear niche against Kerry."
"In both Arizona and Oklahoma, Clark demonstrated steady appeal across the party, and attracted many voters on the basis of his experience, but he didn't establish a decisive advantage anywhere," it added.
The Wall Street Journal said Kerry's bid to bury Edwards' candidacy was not the most significant election 2004 story of the week.
"Less noticed, but more consequential, is the gathering threat to President Bush's political standing," wrote WSJ columnist John Harwood.
"And just as with the nose-diving candidacy of Howard Dean, the problem is largely self-inflicted."
The WSJ said Bush had damaged his standing as the November election fast approaches with a ballooning budget deficit and the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq.
"A new Gallup survey showing declining presidential approval, and Messrs Kerry and Edwards actually leading Mr Bush, points to more than just a primary-season Democratic bounce," Harwood wrote. Separately, Washington Post columnist William Safire, in a faux election year conversation with former President Richard Nixon - portrayed Edwards as a "slam-dunk" running mate for Kerry.
Edwards has said he would not accept a potential offer to run as vice president.
The Post also pointed out that Kerry romped home with a double-digit win in Missouri, a state with a sizeable number of delegates who will be voting for their party's presidential nominee at the Democratic convention July 26-29.
Senator Joseph Lieberman - Al Gore's running mate in 2000 - quit the race for the party's nomination after a poor showing in all seven states Tuesday.