KUCINICH DROPS OUT, NO ENDORSEMENT EXPECTED

The most liberal of the major Democratic presidential candidates, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, is abandoning his long-shot bid for the White House. “I’m transitioning out of the presidential race,” he said, flashing a bit of his “new age” philosophy in an interview yesterday with his hometown newspaper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He set a news conference for Friday and said he does not plan to endorse another candidate in the primary.

According to the Associated Press, Mr. Kucinich wound up with only one delegate, very likely himself as a result of his position in Congress. He got 1% of the vote in New Hampshire and had a similar showing in national polls. The congressman, whose most famous debate moment may have been his claim to have seen a UFO, is expected to focus now on defending his congressional seat against a serious primary challenge.

McCAIN SCORES CLINTON OVER ‘SURRENDER’ IN IRAQ

Senator McCain says he’s bristling for a fight with Senator Clinton over the direction of American policy in Iraq, and he’s showing he’ll use highly-charged language to join the issue. “Incredibly, Mrs. Clinton decided that she wants to surrender, she wants to raise a white flag,” Mr. McCain said during a campaign stop in West Palm Beach, Fla., according to the Chicago Tribune. “We are succeeding, and she is committed to setting a date for withdrawal, for surrender. … My friends, I will not let that happen.”

Mrs. Clinton’s aides said Mr. McCain’s tone was regrettable. “Senator McCain says it would be fine with him if our troops were in Iraq for 100 years,” a spokesman for the New York senator, Blake Zeff, said. “Senator Clinton wants to end the war and will bring our troops home quickly and responsibly.”

CLINTON PULLS NEGATIVE AD IN SOUTH CAROLINA, OBAMA RECIPROCATES

After just a day, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign has dropped a radio ad that suggested Senator Obama endorsed the Republican agenda in the 1990s. The spot, which aired in South Carolina, included sound of Mr. Obama describing Republicans as the “party of ideas” in that period. However, news outlets blasted the ad as misleading because the Illinois senator went on to indicate that he believed some of the ideas, such as tax cuts, failed. The Clinton campaign didn’t offer a detailed explanation but said it was turning to a new ad in which President Clinton tells African-American voters that his wife is best equipped to fix problems with the economy and health care.

Mr. Obama’s campaign signaled that it would respond to the change in tone by taking off the air a harsh response ad that warned, “Hillary Clinton will say anything to get elected.”

CANDIDATES CAN’T CLINCH ON SUPER TUESDAY

The much-anticipated Super Tuesday vote set for February 5, when 24 states including New York will hold primaries, caucuses, and such, will not deliver enough delegates to any candidate to clinch the Democratic or Republican presidential nomination that day, according to the Associated Press. About 40% of the convention delegates in each party will be at stake, but it will still be “mathematically impossible” for any of the contenders to go over the top, the wire service said.

ENDORSEMENT WATCH

Look out Chuck Norris, Sylvester Stallone is ready to throw some punches for the McCain campaign. “I like McCain a lot,” the star of “Rambo” and “Rocky” said in an interview aired yesterday on Fox. “There’s something about matching the character with the script, and right now the script is being written and reality is pretty brutal and hard-edge and like a rough action film, you need somebody who’s been in that to deal with it.”