"George Bush's days are numbered and change is coming to America," said Kerry (AFP)

MICHIGAN, February 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – U.S. Senator and Democratic front-runner John Kerry scored Saturday, February 7, two more wins in the race to the White House ticket, accusing incumbent George W. Bush of taking the country down an "extreme path".

Cruising to victory in Michigan and Washington , the biggest states to vote so far, Kerry moved a giant step closer to the Democratic presidential nomination and a showdown with Bush in November, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

With nearly all precincts reporting in the northern industrial state of Michigan , the 60-year-old Vietnam War hero and four-term senator from Massachusetts had a commanding 50 percent of the vote.

Former Vermont governor Howard Dean was next with 17 percent followed by North Carolina Senator John Edwards with 14 percent.

Retired general Wesley Clark had seven percent; civil rights activist Al Sharpton had five and former Cleveland mayor and Congressman Dennis Kucinich another five.

Party officials said 46,000 ballots were cast over the Internet in Michigan .

In the northwestern state of Washington , with most precincts reporting, Kerry topped the race with 48.5 percent, followed by Dean with 30.5, Edwards 6.4 and Clark 3.2 percent.

Washington will send 76 delegates to the July Democratic Party convention, where a candidate will be chosen to run against Bush on November 2, but the real prize on Saturday was Michigan , which sends 128 delegates to the convention.

Dean has said he will drop out of the race if he fails to win the February 17 primary in the northern state of Wisconsin .

Southerners Edwards and Clark are hoping to perform well in Virginia and Tennessee on Tuesday in a bid to stay in the race until the March 2 "Super Tuesday," when 10 states go to the polls.

Edwards, a 50-year-old former trial lawyer, and former NATO commander Clark, 59, a native of the southern state of Arkansas, have each won one state while Kerry has won nine of the 11 states contested so far.

Last week, Kerry continued to shake up all speculations by gained five huge steps towards winning the Democratic presidential nomination winning contests in Missouri , Arizona , New Mexico , North Dakota and Delaware .

His come-from-behind win in the Iowa caucuses in January turned the 2004 presidential race upside down.

‘Extreme Path’ 

Kerry, in remarks prepared for delivery at a dinner in Richmond , Virginia , welcomed the results in Michigan and Washington and looked past his Democratic opponents to tell his audience "George Bush's days are numbered and change is coming to America ".

"Will we stand with the mainstream values that have defined our country?" he said.

"Or will we continue on the extreme path of the Bush Administration, a path fundamentally at odds with our history and our hopes?

"Abroad and at home, all across the board, America faces a fundamental choice in this election," said Kerry.

Wounded in Vietnam and decorated twice for valor, Kerry thanked veterans' groups in his speech for their support.

He warned the "Republican smear machine" that "this is one Democrat who is going to fight back.

"George Bush, who speaks of strength, has made America weaker -- weaker economically, weaker in health care and education," Kerry said.

"And the truth is George Bush has made us weaker militarily by overextending our forces, overstraining our reserves, and driving away our allies.

"The extreme policies of this Administration have cost America three million jobs in three years," he added.

"They are extreme. We are mainstream and we are going to stand up and fight back."

A poll of registered voters released by Newsweek Saturday found that Kerry would beat Bush by 50 percent to 45 percent if the presidential election were held now.

And a U.S.A Today/CNN/Gallup survey on February 2 showed Bush's popularity down 11 points in a month to below 50 percent for the first time in his presidency.