Dean faces must-win in Wisc.

Howard Dean told supporters Thursday he will be out of the race for the Democratic nomination for president if he fails to win the Wisconsin primary, declaring "all that you have worked for these past months is on the line on a single day, in a single state."\nAsked if Dean plans to end his campaign if he loses in Wisconsin on Feb. 17, Dean spokesman Jay Carson said: "It's a moot point because we are going to win Wisconsin. ... This is an e-mail to supporters to let them know how important Wisconsin is to the campaign."\nIn the e-mail distributed in the early hours of Thursday, Dean wrote: "The entire race has come down to this: we must win Wisconsin. ... We will get a boost this weekend in Washington, Michigan, and Maine, but our true test will be the Wisconsin primary. A win there will carry us to the big states of March 2 and narrow the field to two candidates. Anything less will put us out of this race."\nDean is trying to rally his supporters and raise money by casting Wisconsin as a last stand against the establishment candidates. The e-mail, which included a plea for a $100 contribution, resulted in more than $125,000 in online contributions by noon EST Thursday, the campaign said.\nDean, once the front-runner with $41 million in campaign funds, has failed to win a single delegate contest since voting began with the Iowa caucuses Jan. 19. He finished a distant third in Iowa, behind John Kerry and John Edwards, and was runner-up to Kerry in the New Hampshire primary Jan. 27. He did not win any of the seven states that had caucuses or primaries Tuesday.\nAdding to his reputation as the front-runner, Kerry picked up the endorsement of Maine Gov. John Baldacci and former Senate majority leader George Mitchell of Maine. The governor, recuperating from injuries suffered in a car accident, released a statement during Kerry's trip to Portland, Maine, saying, "Senator Kerry is ready to lead. He is ready to take our country in a better direction."\nThe state holds Democratic caucuses Sunday.\nDean and Kerry's other major rivals for the nomination, Edwards and Wesley Clark, were fanning across the country Thursday in search of support in upcoming contests that can keep them competitive.\nDean earlier had vowed to remain in the race through March 2, the "Super Tuesday" election day featuring 10 contests for delegates. He has targeted Wisconsin's Feb. 17 primary for an all-out effort to slow Kerry's march toward the nomination, part of a long-shot strategy of winning delegates if not first place in the elections themselves.\nDean plans to campaign in Michigan, yet the former Vermont governor has acknowledged that he probably can't win there in Saturday's caucuses. But he hopes to pick up enough delegates to keep him in the race.\nClark and Edwards skipped campaigning for the weekend contests in Michigan, Maine and Washington state, sticking instead to their Southern roots with plans to travel Thursday to states that vote on Tuesday. Clark is taking a bus tour of Tennessee while Edwards is traveling from Memphis to Virginia.\nAll the candidates are pointing to a showdown in Wisconsin. But the odds are with Kerry, who has the most money and allies.\n"Without money, you can't have the troops. Without troops, you can't compete. How can you compete with a guy who can write himself a check for ads in California?" Michigan pollster Ed Sarpolus said.\nClark, Edwards and Dean hope to rise out of Wisconsin as the only alternative to Kerry when the race turns to contests in California, New York and eight other "Super Tuesday" states.\nTwo officials close to Clark, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the retired Army general considered dropping out of the race Tuesday night after scoring a single victory, a nail-biter in Oklahoma. They said his wife, Gert, helped talk him into staying in the race against the advice of some backers.\nIn another sign of trouble, Clark's staff agreed to a pay freeze to pay for television ads.\nThe hopes of Edwards, Clark and Dean hinged on two matters that were out of their control -- Kerry's future performance on the campaign trail and his past.\nWhile hoping he will slip up, foes also are pushing media reports about Massachusetts senator's ties to special interests and lobbyists.\n"If we're going to have a president who's not a Washington insider, who knows the changes that need to take place in Washington to change America, I need to be the president," Edwards told CNN on Wednesday, the day after he won South Carolina to keep his candidacy alive.\nKerry won five states and the lion's share of the delegates Tuesday, taking command of the race. Of the 269 delegates up for grabs, Kerry won 144, Edwards 66, Clark 50, Dean seven and Al Sharpton two. He earlier had won Iowa and New Hampshire, giving him seven victories in the nine contests held so far.\nDean suggested that "it'll be more of the same" if Kerry replaces Bush in the White House. Clark criticized both Kerry and Edwards, faulting them for complaining about White House policies that they had backed in the Senate.\nMichigan and Washington state hold caucuses Saturday, and Maine comes a day later for a total of 228 pledged delegates -- nearly as many that were at stake Tuesday.