Super Tuesday — the critical presidential nomination contest for Democrats — could deliver a knockout punch to John Edwards’ candidacy, giving John Kerry a straight shot to November’s presidential election.

Kerry has won 19 victories out of the 21 contests, losing only Oklahoma to Wesley Clark and South Carolina to its native son Edwards. In all the Super Tuesday states where recent polls were taken, Kerry was found to be in the lead, in many cases by wide margins.

“Kerry has both Super Tuesday and the nomination locked up,” said Drew Miller, senior in computer science. “He’s resonating with people in a lot of different states, and the state polls are behind him.”

Tuesday’s contest has 1,151 delegates at stake, more than any other day of the primary election season. To get the nomination, a candidate needs 2,162 delegates. Kerry has 754, putting him in striking distance of the nomination if he sweeps Super Tuesday. Edwards has 220.

Despite trailing in the polls, Edwards promised to stay in the presidential race as long as possible. He said he would stay in the race, even if he doesn’t win a single state on Super Tuesday.

But he acknowledged, when pressed Monday, “Of course, at some point I’ve got to start getting more delegates, or I am not going to be the nominee. But I intend to be in this until the end.”

Despite his distance in most polls, Edwards supporters swear to stand behind him as long as he’s in the race, attempting to be as positive as the North Carolina senator they support.

With Dean’s recommendation of Edwards as “the better man,” his supporters believe he’ll grab the vote of former Dean supporters.

“I think Edwards has a chance to do well [on Super Tuesday], with Dean dropping out of the race,” said Beth Wilson, president of Students for Edwards. “I think he’ll do well despite the poll numbers. After all, Dean was doing great in the polls, but after the caucuses, things completely flipped around.”

Since Dean’s departure from the race two weeks ago, his massive nationwide campaign has been redirected to other efforts, mainly supporting the candidate who will eventually grab the Democratic nomination.

But despite Edwards’ showing in Super Tuesday, his supporters won’t make post-Edwards plans.

“We haven’t discussed what will happen if he doesn’t get the nomination,” Wilson said. “We’re being positive` because Sen. Edwards is a pretty positive guy and he doesn’t want those questions to seep into people’s minds.”

—The Associated Press contributed to this story.

A correction to this article was printed on March 3, 2004:

Due to reporting errors, the March 2 article “Candidates facing make-or-break day” incorrectly identified Drew Larson, vice president of Students for Kerry and junior in accounting, as Drew Miller, senior in computer science. Miller is not affiliated with John Kerry’s campaign. Larson is currently the vice president. The Daily regrets this error.