(AP) - John Kerry’s chief rivals all but ceded three weekend elections to the high-striding presidential front-runner on Wednesday, covering their retreat with fresh claims that he is a flip-flopping Washington insider who would lead the party to defeat this fall.

Southern natives John Edwards and Wesley Clark pointed their cash-strapped campaigns to next Tuesday’s elections in Tennessee and Virginia, gambling that they can survive to fight Kerry in Wisconsin Feb. 17. A third challenger, Howard Dean, also had his sights set on a Wisconsin showdown.

The odds are stacked against all three. In a war of attrition, Kerry has the most allies, the longest supply lines and weakened adversaries.

“Without money, you can’t have the troops. Without troops, you can’t compete. How can you compete with a guy who can write himself a check for ads in California?” said Michigan pollster Ed Sarpolus.

Clark, Edwards and Dean hope to rise out of Wisconsin as the only alternative to Kerry when the race turns to contests in California, New York and eight other “Super Tuesday” states March 2.