Senator Obama, seeking to become the first black US president, has not won any contest since his surprise victory in the coveted Iowa caucuses that kicked off the nomination race, and sorely needs a fresh win Saturday. He has campaigned hard in South Carolina, where he is leading polls, and has worked to upstage Mrs Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, who has long been popular with the black community.

Bill Clinton this week played down her prospects in South Carolina, where blacks account for about 50 per cent of the Democratic electorate. The state is less crucial for Mrs Clinton, who has won the last two contests in New Hampshire and Nevada and has a solid lead in national polls, and she is looking down the road to bigger states.

In Florida, which holds its primary on Tuesday, the Republican candidates have not let up on Mrs Clinton, trumpeting their economic expertise, but turning from each other to blast her at a debate.

Mrs Clinton played to voters there on Friday, saying she wants the Democratic National Convention to restore the delegates stripped from Florida as punishment for the state holding its primary early.

Republicans
On the Republican side Friday, Mormon millionaire and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney reiterated his outsider's credentials as a businessman, blaming government paralysis in Washington for failure to expand health insurance coverage, end illegal immigration and wean the country from foreign oil.

Mr Romney headed the 2002 Winter Olympics and was Massachusetts governor from 2003 to 2007 but spent most of his career as a businessman and consultant. He has been accused of making millions through heartless layoffs and cost-cutting, but he said took any such steps with a greater goal in mind and with personal pain.

For his part, veteran senator John McCain told reporters his service on the Senate Commerce Committee is better preparation for overseeing the US economy than Mr Romney's private-sector experience.

The former prisoner-of-war in Vietnam also secured the endorsement of Cuban-born Florida Senator Mel Martinez, a move that would likely give him a crucial boost. The decision would be a blow to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani who has sought to sway the powerful Cuban-American vote in the state. Giuliani has gambled on a win in Florida to propel him forward going into the Feb 5 series of make-or-break primaries and caucuses in 22 states.

Giuliani's popularity falls
Polls show Mr Romney and Mr McCain are the leaders going into Tuesday's Florida primary. Despite his efforts in the state, Mr Giuliani's popularity appears to have plummeted there.

He also took a drubbing from The New York Times, whose editorial board announced on Thursday it endorsed Mr McCain because he 'is the only Republican who promises to end the George Bush style of governing from and on behalf of a small, angry fringe.' The newspaper endorsed New York senator Mrs Clinton among Democrats.

The Times editorial said Mr Giuliani 'shamelessly turned the horror of 9/11 into a lucrative business ... then exploited his city's and the country's nightmare to promote his presidential campaign.' Mr Giuliani largely dismissed the paper's criticism.

Preacher-turned-politician Mike Huckabee is trailing in fourth place in Florida and the former Arkansas governor, who won in Iowa, is now running a sparse campaign. He scraped together enough money to run a limited TV ad in Florida calling for the abolition of the Internal Revenue Service, the US government's tax agency.

Mrs Clinton also received a boost from The New York Times endorsement.

The board spoke favourably of Senator Obama, but it concluded it needed 'a clearer sense of how he would govern.' Mrs Clinton picked up emotional endorsements on Friday from two prominent black women in South Carolina - a college dean and a local councilwoman - who implored blacks to set aside their excitement about Senator Obama's campaign to be the first black president.

While reaching out to blacks, Senator Obama has tried to avoid being tagged 'the black candidate.' On Friday, he looked to cut into Mrs Clinton's support among women, who were crucial to her New Hampshire win.

At a round table with four women in Charleston, he sought to appeal on women's concerns on health care, the mortgage crisis that has fanned US fears of recession, and government spending on preschool.

The mortgage squeeze, he said, 'impacts women more and minorities more.'

Democratic Rival John Edwards, the South Carolina-born trial lawyer and former North Carolina senator who has not been able to keep up in the historic race between a black man and a woman, tried to refocus attention on Mrs Clinton and Senator Obama's fiery exchanges over the past few days.

'We saw all of the petty, personal bickering,' Mr Edwards said.

'That may be the way they do politics in New York, that may be the way that they do politics in Chicago, but South Carolina's better than that,' he said.

National polls have shown Mrs Clinton ahead of her rivals. But in South Carolina, Senator Obama led with 38 per cent, compared to 30 per cent for Mrs Clinton and 19 per cent for former Senator John Edwards, according to a survey from Mason-Dixon Polling and Research. The Jan 22-23 poll had a margin of error of 5 percentage points. -- AP