Carol Moseley Braun ended her long-shot bid for the US presidency and backed Howard Dean, giving the Democrat a high-profile endorsement that could pay dividends with women and minorities.
The former Illinois senator, the only woman and one of two blacks who was running for the Democratic nomination, said she could not compete in the fund raising and organization required to stay in the field and encouraged her supporters to back Dean.
Her departure leaves eight candidates seeking the Democratic Party's nomination to run against President George W. Bush, a Republican, in November.
The endorsement came as a new poll showed the race for Iowa's caucuses -- to be held Monday -- growing even tighter, turning into a four-way, free-for-all among Dean, Dick Gephardt, John Kerry and John Edwards. Iowa is the first state to hold a vote to select the Democratic nominee.
"Governor Dean has the energy to inspire the American people, to break the cocoon of fear that envelops us and empowers President Bush and his entourage from the extreme right wing," she said. "And he has a program to put our country back on track to tax fairness, job creation, balanced budgets and an economy that works for everyone regardless of race or sex."
Dean thanked Braun for the endorsement and for defending him in a debate last Sunday after rival Al Sharpton questioned Dean's commitment to diversity. Braun faulted Sharpton for starting what she called "a racial screaming match."
"What an extraordinary classy person Carol Moseley Braun was," Dean said during a joint rally at a local high school. "And I'm going to miss you at those debates stepping in and defending me from those outrageous things that people say."
Braun's endorsement comes just four days after the debate in which Dean was forced to acknowledge he never had a black or Hispanic in his Cabinet during nearly 12 years as governor. It was the latest example of Dean's ability to line up support at a crucial point in his campaign.
Dean has received the endorsement of former vice president Al Gore, which helped overcome a spate of campaign missteps and more questions about Dean's lack of foreign policy experience.
Last week, Senator Tom Harkin announced that he, too, thought Dean was the best person to be president.
Another well-known Democratic politician, former Texas governor Ann Richards, endorsed Dean Thursday night during an appearance on CNN's Larry King Live.
A Research 2000 poll released on Thursday showed a close race in Iowa, with Dean at 22 percent, Kerry at 21 percent, Gephardt at 18 percent and Edwards at 18 percent, within the margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The undecided vote was at 13 percent, with other candidates in single digits.
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