It's Bush Versus Gore After Super Tuesday Seals The Day
The Age
Thursday March 9, 2000
WASHINGTON
Vice-President Al Gore and the Texas Governor, Mr George W. Bush, are set to carry their parties' torches in the 2000 presidential election in November after routing their opponents in the biggest primary contest in the nation's history.
Mr Gore trounced his Democratic rival, Mr Bill Bradley, in all 15 states contested.
Mr Bush's victory, after a seesawing primary season that saw first him, then Arizona senator John McCain, in the ascendancy, was also decisive. He won all but four of the 13 contests, including the huge states of California and New York.
The victors immediately sought to put the primaries behind them and focus on the November election.
From his home state of Tennessee, Mr Gore said the Democrats were the party of the mainstream, and made clear he would remind voters of the economic downturn under Mr Bush's father, former President George Bush, who lost to Bill Clinton in 1992.
``We don't need to go back to where we were eight years ago," Mr Gore said. ``They tried their approach before - it produced a triple-dip recession and quadrupled the national debt.
``If you don't want to go back to that, then join us now."
Mr Bush, accused of turning right to win the nomination, stressed centrist themes, speaking of extending America's prosperity to the ``weak and forgotten", supporting immigration, and ``rescuing children from failure".
``America must not give Clinton-Gore a third term," he said in Texas.
``We need to put behind us eight years of nightly polls and daily attacks, eight years of partisanship and gridlock and division - eight years is a long time and eight years is enough ... I believe that our country is ready to return exited honor to the White House."
Most interest was in the Republican contest, which turned vitriolic in recent weeks as former Vietnam PoW John McCain spoke stridently of ridding the party of its religious right fringe and attracting new moderate voters. But Senator McCain's appeal that he would be a stronger candidate against Mr Gore was rebuffed by core Republican voters, and his angry repudiation of leaders of the Christian right merely served to bring them flocking to the polls to support his rival.
Senator McCain won in the liberal states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont. But he was unable to attract large numbers of registered Republicans and many states allowed only their Super Tuesday votes to count. Candidates seek to win a majority of delegates needed to grab the nomination at conventions mid-year.
Of the 1034 delegates required to clinch the nomination, Mr Bush has now has 660 to Senator McCain's 210, and should sweep six Southern states, including his home state of Texas - next Tuesday, if Senator McCain remains in the race.
While Mr Gore had a shaky start to his campaign, he emerges from the primaries a stronger candidate with an identity now separate from his mentor, President Clinton.
But Mr Bush has been weakened by the McCain challenge and leads a party divided. With overwhelming support from the Republican hierarchy and a record $70 million war chest, Mr Bush was expected to stroll to the nomination on a moderate theme of ``compassionate conservatism". He now has to raise even more money, and his once commanding lead over Mr Gore has evaporated. A Wall Street Journalpoll has Mr Gore now even with Mr Bush in a hypothetical match-up for the first time in more than a year.
Mr Bradley accused Mr Gore during the primary season of lying about his record and refusing to tackle America's big problems of health and guns.
After a crushing defeat, the former basketball star said simply: ``He won, I lost."
And Senator McCain, who will consult advisers today before making a decision on his campaign's future, pulled back from earlier accusations that Mr Bush was ``not ready for prime time". ``Tomorrow, we'll take a little time to reflect ... But I want to assure you all that our campaign continues tomorrow, the next day, the day after that, as long as it takes to restore America's confidence and pride."
WORLD 15: The McCain factor
OPINION 18: Editorial
© 2000 The Age