COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, WORLD NEWS: In the United States presidential race, two contenders have called it quits. Democrat Bill Bradley and Republican John McCain were both defeated in an important vote earlier this week. CNN's Skip Loescher has the story.</s>SKIP LOESCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After what turned out to be something less than a super Tuesday for him, Arizona senator John McCain has suspended his presidential campaign.</s>JOHN MCCAIN, REPUBLICAN PRES. CANDIDATE: I will take our crusade back to the United States Senate.</s>LOESCHER: McCain congratulated Texas governor George W. Bush, saying Bush may well be the next president. And McCain made it clear that despite the bitter primary battles, he, McCain, will not leave the Republican Party.</s>MCCAIN: I love my party. It is my home.</s>LOESCHER: But McCain says he will continue to fight for change, for reform, and he asked his supporters to do the same.</s>MCCAIN: Keep fighting, my friends. Keep fighting.</s>LOESCHER: On the Democratic side, the race for the White House is also down to one candidate now that former New Jersey senator Bill Bradley has dropped out.</s>BILL BRADLEY, FMR. DEMOCRATIC PRES. CANDIDATE: We have been defeated, but the cause for which I ran has not been.</s>LOESCHER: Like McCain, Bradley did not use the word "endorse" when speaking about Vice President Al Gore's candidacy. But Bradley did say this.</s>BRADLEY: I am giving him my support for the nomination. I will work for him.</s>LOESCHER: With Bradley and McCain gone, the campaign is effectively a two-man race - Gore versus Bush, and it could be a bitter one.</s>STEVE HESS, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: These guys can be fierce and mean, and it's going to be perhaps the bloodiest campaign that I can remember.</s>LOESCHER: And the election is still nearly eight months away. Skip Loescher, CNN, Washington.
Two U.S. Presidential Contenders Have Called It Quits