Gore Roars, Bush Soars
Front-runners reaped the reward of hard campaigning and a friendly primary system Tuesday, as 16 states voted in what amounted to a national primary.
Vice President Al Gore won every primary he entered - including California, New York and Ohio - and left nothing but a handful of delegates for former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley. By early Wednesday, it became clear that Gore also took California's overall, non-binding popular vote, edging out GOP front-runner George W. Bush and leaving the third slot for John McCain.
| Aides: Bradley Bowing Out Aides to Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley say the former Senator is planning to quit the White House race and endorse Al Gore. Click here for the full story. |
Texas Governor George W. Bush won virtually every place he expected or needed to, leaving a handful of New England states for Arizona Senator John McCain. Alan Keyes mustered his usual single figure finish in every state.
"Tonight we have good news from sea to shining sea," Bush told a crowd of supporters in Austin, Texas. "We promised a national campaign, and tonight we have a national victory."
Bush won California, New York and Ohio, along with a slew of other states. He comfortably took Georgia - no surprise, since it's a Southern state with a strong religious right (around 30 percent of the voters queried in exit polls put themselves in that category). And he took Missouri and Maryland too - again, not a surprise.
"Soon our party will unite," Bush predicted, hoping that the thoroughness of his victory would persuade McCain to leave the fray. "I congratulate John McCain. We've had our disagreements, but I respect him and his commitment to reform."
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McCain snagged Vermont, Connecticut and Rhode Island, four New England states that followed New Hampshire's lead and voted for him. He lost Maine, but that was the least of his problems. His string of small state victories doesn't do enough to counterbalance any of Bush's large wins. McCain's last, best hope was California, where he hoped to win the popular vote, even though Bush had already won all the delegates. But by early Wednesday those hopes were dashed; the top slots were snagged by Gore and Bush, respectively.
"We won a few, and we lost a few," McCain told disappointed supporters in California. He said he'd "enjoy the victories and take stock of the losses" over the next few days. Speculation runs rampant that McCain will drop out of the OP race, and may run on the Reform party ticket, even though he has said he wouldn't pursue such a course. He gave no clear hints Tuesday, saying he'd "reflect on the direction of the campaign."
Religion loomed large in the Republican race, thanks to McCain's railings against the religious right. Not surprisingly, voters in most states who identified themselves with the Christian right chose Bush. But his attack was intended to reach moderate Republican ears in non-Southern states.
In Ohio, New York, and California, the majority of voters (roughly 60 percent) said the attack wasn't a major influence on their decision. And those voters divided their votes between Bush and McCain. That left around 40 percent of voters who were influenced by McCains criticism of Christian conservatives, and they strongly preferred Bush. So McCain's complaints about the religious right succeeded in stirring its defenders, but may not have drawn any new voters into his camp.
In most states, McCain did well with independents, but Bush did better with registered Republicans. Yet Georgia, Ohio and Missouri were open primaries, and the fact that Bush won them suggests he's tightening his grip, and is better able to win over or withstand independent voters. In fact, in Georgia, he did better than McCain among independents.
Just after the polls closed in New York, Gore greeted supporters in a Nashville ballroom. "You ain't seen nothin yet," he assured them. But he spent as much time offering olive branches as he did gloating.
"Anybody who has heard Bill Bradley in this campaign has come away moved and touched by the strength of his commitment," Gore said. He added that he had "learned" from Bradleys passion for healing and bringing people together. "I salute Senator Bill Bradley, and Ernestine Bradley, his wife." Thus he gracefully nudged Bradley out the door.
And Bradley looks to be heading there himself. He told supporters, gathered in a New York hotel, that he had called to congratulate Gore on his victories. "He won, I lost. On the one hand, I agree with Vince Lombardi when he said 'Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing.'" Bradley said he'd consult with supporters tomorrow to figure out his next step. It's widely assumed that next step will be to withdraw from the race.
Even as he luxuriated in his winnings, Gore sought to reach across the political divide. He respectfully started to direct McCain towards the exits, even as he muscled in on the maverick Republican's message.
Gore called on "Republicans whose heroes are Teddy Roosevelt and Abe Lincoln," - two of McCain's heroes - to "join us. ... Our campaign is now your cause." Without a hint of irony, he testified, "like John McCain, I bring a commitment born of personal experience to the cause of campaign finance reform." Even Bush didn't kick McCain under the table that neatly.