DES MOINES, Jan 20: Democrat John Kerry capped a stunning political comeback on Monday with a victory in Iowa's caucuses that dramatically reshaped the Democratic presidential race and ended Richard Gephardt's White House quest.

In the first test on the road to find a challenger to President George Bush, Mr Kerry won 38 percent and John Edwards scored a surprise second-place finish with 32 percent of the vote. One-time favourites Howard Dean and Gephardt trailed with 18 and 11 per cent, respectively, in nearly complete returns.

The win was a huge boost for Kerry, the four-term senator from Massachusetts and decorated Vietnam War veteran who weeks ago was lagging in the polls and given up for dead but roared back into the race with an emphasis on his foreign policy experience and ability to beat Bush.

"Thank you Iowa for making me the comeback Kerry," he told supporters in Des Moines, a reference to former President Bill Clinton's designation as "the comeback kid" after his showing in the 1992 New Hampshire primary when he had been down in the polls.

Mr Edwards, the senator from North Carolina who also was mired in the single digits in polls weeks ago, won new life after stressing a positive domestic agenda and staying out of the race's bitter attacks.

Both Mr Kerry and Mr Edwards benefited by arguing they offered the best chance to beat President Bush, which television network caucus polls showed was an important issue with Iowa Democrats.

The result dealt crushing blows to Dean and particularly Gephardt, one-time favourites who were left behind by their rivals' late surges. Gephardt, the congressman from neighbouring Missouri and one-time leader in Iowa polls, cancelled his planned flight to New Hampshire, site of the next primary a week from now, and dropped out.

"My campaign to fight for working people may be ending tonight, but our fight will never end," said an emotional Gephardt, who won Iowa during his first presidential bid in 1988 and had said a loss here would end his campaign. The loss by Dean opens the door for other candidates and turned what was shaping up to be a quick Dean victory into a dogfight.-Reuters