Delaware Sen. Joe Biden and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd both abandoned their bids for the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday after poor showings in Iowa's precinct caucuses.

Biden received just less than 1 percent of the vote despite a spirited campaign in which he emphasized his international policy credentials and long career in public service.

"There is nothing sad about tonight. We are so incredibly proud of you all," Biden told his supporters. "So many of you have sacrificed for me and I am so indebted to you. I feel no regret. I ain't goin' away.

"I want to thank the people of Delaware and I'll be going back to the Senate as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee," he said.

Thursday night was a case of deja vu for Biden, who sought the Democratic presidential nomination 20 years ago -- in 1988.  Biden left the race before the Iowa caucuses that year amid accusations that he had plagiarized from speeches by a British Labor Party leader.

This time, Biden campaigned extensively in Iowa, focusing on his plan for ending the Iraq war and the broad foreign policy experience he gained from more than 30 years in the Senate. Biden also noted the many time his rivals acknowledged agreeing with him.

His advisers had hoped for a fourth-place finish and thought even third place was possible.

Dodd had an even tougher time breaking from the pack of Democratic contenders despite his long and distinguished Senate career. He won just 0.02 percent of the state's caucus-goers. He even had taken the drastic step of moving his family to Iowa weeks before the caucuses.

"Tonight I am withdrawing from the presidential race but let me assure you, we are not ending this race with our heads hanging but with our heads held high," Dodd told about 100 supporters.

"I am not going anywhere," he added, to loud cheers. "I will be fighting for the United States."

Some of Dodd's supporters wiped away tears as he spoke.

"I am very, very disappointed," said Eva Bunnell, from East Haddam, Conn., who came to Iowa to volunteer for Dodd. "If the people had the opportunity to get to know him and look at his record more closely, they would see he's a great man."

John Feller, from Des Moines said: "I am sad. Very sad."

At 63, Dodd is at an age that's considered prime for both presidential candidates and U.S. senators. And yet, Dodd's true-blue liberalism, his thick white-mane and his background as the scion of a politically-prominent, Irish-American family from New England conjures images of a bygone political era.

Dodd is the son of Thomas J. Dodd, a lead prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals after World War II and a U.S. senator from Connecticut for 12 years.

Three years after his father's death, Chris Dodd was elected to the House from Connecticut's 2nd congressional district in the post-Watergate election of 1974. He served three terms before winning the Senate seat vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Abraham Ribicoff in 1980.

In his 32 years in the House and Senate, Dodd has forged strong ties with labor unions, tried impose fiscal accountability on corporations and championed family and children's issues.

Although he is firmly positioned in his party's liberal wing, Dodd is noted for a willingness to compromise that has made him capable for forging coalitions with members of both parties.

His role as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee -- which oversees the nation's banking, financial services and insurance industries -- gives Dodd somewhat of a fundraising advantage compared to other longshot 2008 prospects.

Biden, 65, went to the Senate in 1973 after winning a race few expected him to. He was only 29, but turned 30 -- the minimum age for service in the Senate -- shortly thereafter.

Biden voted to authorize the war in Iraq, but since has become one of Congress' most vocal critics of the Bush administration's handling of the war. He was the only Democrat in the presidential race who advocated partitioning Iraq as a means of ending the war and U.S. military involvement there.

He was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1987 to 1995, and presided over two of the most contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearings, for Robert Bork in 1987 and for Clarence Thomas in 1991.

Biden is known for a tell-it-like-it-is speaking style that resonates with ordinary Americans, with a quick wit and colorful phrasings that have made him a sought-after guest for television and radio interviews. But he's also developed a reputation as a long-winded publicity hound.

In one Democratic debate last year, Biden drew laughs when, commenting on Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani's foreign policy experience, he said the former New York mayor's message amounted to "a noun, a verb and 9/11."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.