MANCHESTER, New Hampshire - John Kerry took firm command of the Democratic presidential race with a big win over Howard Dean in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, cementing his grip on the front-runner's role and dealing another setback to Dean's reeling campaign.

Kerry, the Massachusetts senator whose come-from-behind win in the Iowa caucuses last week turned the 2004 presidential race upside down, scored his second consecutive victory in the race to pick a Democratic challenger to President George W. Bush.

"I have only just begun to fight," Kerry told cheering supporters in Manchester, urging them to "stand with us" on a drive to evict Bush from the White House.

In nearly complete returns, Kerry led Dean 39 per cent to 26 per cent, sending him into next week's crucial round of seven Democratic state contests on a huge wave of momentum.

In a battle for third-place bragging rights ahead of next week, retired Gen. Wesley Clark narrowly led North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, 13 per cent to 12 per cent, with Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman at 9 per cent. All three said they would continue their campaigns.

The loss was the latest in a series of setbacks for Dean, whose high-flying campaign stalled on a dismal third-place showing in Iowa, a widely ridiculed concession speech and growing voter doubts about his ability to beat Bush in November.

But Dean, who cancelled television ads in other states to focus his resources on New Hampshire, called the finish "a solid second" and said he was pleased.

"The people of New Hampshire have allowed our campaign to regain its momentum," Dean, who saw a 20-point lead in New Hampshire polls vanish in a month, told supporters in Manchester.

Kerry, a decorated Viet Nam veteran who has made a special pitch to military veterans, looked to be going nowhere a month ago. But he has stressed his war and foreign policy experience on the campaign trail, driving home the message that he can challenge Bush on traditional Republican issues like security.

Exit polls found that experience and electability were the key qualities for voters who backed Kerry, who swept almost all demographic groups - whites and blacks, men and women, union and nonunion households, affluent and working class, all religions as well as veterans.

"We're a little older and a little grayer," Kerry said of the "veterans' brigade" he has formed to support his bid. "But we still know how to fight for our country."

The win completed Kerry's transformation into the Democratic front-runner, a title he has resisted since Iowa and one that will likely make him the target of fresh attacks from his rivals in the race and Bush's Republican supporters.

About 200,000 voters, a new Democratic primary record, turned out in New Hampshire, the tiny state famous for surprise finishes and a fondness for political underdogs.

Outcome crucial

Edwards, Clark and Lieberman all hoped a strong showing in New Hampshire would propel them on to breakthrough wins in later contests. Despite his fifth-place finish, Lieberman called it "a three-way split decision for third."

Edwards, who scored a strong second-place finish in Iowa, said his showing was good enough to provide a boost heading into next week's must-win contest in South Carolina, where he was born.

He noted Clark skipped Iowa to concentrate on New Hampshire "so if I'm ahead of him at all or we're in the same ballpark, that's a great victory for me."

Clark, who has been criticized for his past votes for Republicans, told supporters "when we take on George Bush this fall, we want everyone to join us, no matter where you're from, what your background is or what your party registration might say."

The voting in New Hampshire, coming one week after Iowa's kick-off caucuses, ends the first phase of intensive, person-to-person campaigning. The race spreads across the country next Tuesday with contests in seven states, where candidates switch their emphasis from building momentum to rounding up the delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination.

New Hampshire will send 22 pledged delegates to the Democratic convention this summer, fewer than all but one of the seven states with contests on Tuesday. Early projections showed Kerry picking up 14 delegates in New Hampshire and Dean getting the other eight.

Kerry will head to Missouri on Wednesday, the biggest prize next week with 74 pledged delegates. Dean will return to his home in Burlington, Vermont, for a day before heading to South Carolina on Thursday to campaign and participate in a debate.

Edwards and Clark hit South Carolina, the first primary in the South, on Wednesday, while Lieberman travels to Delaware.

Bush also was on the ballot in New Hampshire in a Republican primary in which he faced no major opposition.

(Agencies via Xinhua)