Kerry's White House dreams rest on Ohio

BOSTON, United States (AFP) — John Kerry's White House dreams rested increasingly on the key Midwestern state of Ohio, which he must snatch to retain hopes of ousting President George W. Bush.

The Democratic nominee watched as the race narrowed agonisingly from his home in Boston, while around 10,000 supporters waited for what they hoped would be a victory rally in the city's Copley Square.

He had early good news, as US television networks projected late Tuesday he had retained the state of Pennsylvania, one of Bush's prime targets in the Democratic column.

But Kerry's drive to snatch back the southeastern state of Florida, ground zero in the 2000 election debacle, failed, according to television network projections.

Half an hour after senior Kerry strategist Joe Lockhart insisted that Kerry was still competitive in Florida, senior Kerry officials started stressing the importance of midwestern Ohio, instead ...