FACTBOX: Profiles of U.S. presidential hopefuls

(Reuters) - Leading contenders in the race for U.S. president now head into Super Tuesday on February 5 when nearly half of the states will pick Republican and Democratic candidates for the November election.

Following are brief profiles of the main contenders:

DEMOCRATS:

HILLARY CLINTON, 60, heralded her win on Tuesday in Florida but she gained nothing toward the nomination because the state had no Democratic delegates in play. She lost big to rival Barack Obama last Saturday in South Carolina, a state she wanted to win to secure the position of front-runner. Clinton, a senator from New York, would be the first female U.S. president if elected. A former first lady, she has emphasized efforts to insure 47 million Americans without health coverage and criticized opponents for lack of experience. After a disappointing third-place finish in Iowa, Clinton bounced back to a surprise win in New Hampshire. Her once strong lead in national opinion polls has narrowed.

JOHN EDWARDS, 54, who was focused on winning in South Carolina, finished third, a setback in the state where he was born and which he won in his unsuccessful 2004 presidential bid. The former senator from North Carolina and the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004 has not a won a contest in this year's race for the Democratic nomination. He has made combating poverty a major campaign theme and called his vote to authorize military action in Iraq a mistake. Edwards now urges withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. He edged out Clinton for second place in Iowa but came in third in New Hampshire and trails Obama and Clinton in national polls. His wife, Elizabeth, is being treated for a recurrence of cancer.

BARACK OBAMA, 46, won the South Carolina contest last Saturday, regaining momentum ahead of the February 5 coast-to-coast competition. After two consecutive losses in New Hampshire and Nevada, he badly needed a win to have a realistic chance of victory. Obama, an Illinois senator who would be the first black U.S. president, won the opening contest in Iowa. He gave the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention before he was elected to the Senate. He has opposed the Iraq war from the beginning and tried to cast himself as a Washington outsider. He scored a surprise victory in Iowa and came in second to Clinton in New Hampshire.

REPUBLICANS:

RUDY GIULIANI, 63, once the party's front-runner, finished a distant third in the Florida Republican voting on Tuesday and hinted at ending his 2008 presidential bid soon. The former New York mayor, who made his leadership during the September 11 attacks in 2001 a centerpiece of his candidacy, did not campaign heavily in the states holding the early contests. He focused instead on larger states that vote later, particularly Florida. Widely shunned by many conservatives because of his support for abortion rights, gun control and gay rights, he received the endorsement of Christian evangelist Pat Robertson.

MIKE HUCKABEE, 52, has faded since his surprise win in Iowa and finished fourth in the Florida voting. A Baptist minister who hoped to win support from South Carolina's large group of evangelical Christians, Huckabee lost narrowly to McCain in that state. The bass guitar-playing former Arkansas governor, who was born in Hope, Arkansas -- the birthplace of former Democratic President Bill Clinton. Huckabee won Iowa thanks to strong support from fellow evangelicals, who admire his religious beliefs and conservative stances on social issues like abortion and gay marriage. After the Florida voting, he vowed to continue his campaign.