ASHINGTON - Disappointed by a poor showing in Saturday's Iowa straw poll and out of money, Lamar Alexander, former Tennessee governor, left the 10-person GOP presidential field yesterday, and rivals scrambled to recruit his staff, claim his supporters, and reposition their own campaigns.
Former Vice President Dan Quayle, who finished eighth in the straw poll while Alexander was sixth, pledged to stay in the race and will focus exclusively on next year's early nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. Senator John McCain of Arizona, who did not compete in the nonbinding straw poll, said he might skip the Iowa caucuses altogether.
Alexander, a moderate who ran but did not make it to the finish line in 1996 either, refused to endorse another candidate. At a news conference in Nashville, he asserted that the party and country would gain from a vigorous political debate, particularly on his signature issues of education and lowering taxes for families.
''We not only have an 11th Commandment in the Republican Party, which is ` Thou shalt speak no ill of any other Republican,' but we need a 12th one, which is, ` When picking a president, thou shalt have a contest. And the contest shall be on the issues,''' Alexander said.
The other candidates had nothing but nice words for the 59-year-old Alexander yesterday. Elizabeth Dole, energized by a respectable third-place finish in the straw poll, called him a ''talented, respected leader.'' Texas Governor George W. Bush, who won the poll, called Alexander ''a good man'' and said he shared his commitment to improving education.
Analysts said Bush, Dole, and McCain, all considered mainstream moderates in the race, had the most to gain from Alexander's departure. Behind the scenes, a serious talent search was underway for some of Alexander's key backers: Ted Welch, a top fund-raiser in Tennessee; Thomas Rath, a New Hampshire GOP committeeman and savvy strategist; and Terry Bransted, a former Iowa governor known for his skills at political organizing.
Bransted said he was going to listen to appeals from both Bush and Dole, but denied that he would make ''a quick move'' to the Texas governor, who has received the largest number of endorsements from the party establishment. Rath, who has worked for Alexander since 1993, said he was in no hurry to endorse another candidate. It was ''a strange new morning,'' he said, to wake up and find Alexander out of contention.
Rath said it was a combination of Bush's fund-raising juggernaut - he has already banked nearly $37 million for the 2000 race - publisher Steve Forbes's personal wealth, and ''a constant drumbeat'' of negative media stories portraying Alexander as a retread candidate that together made it impossible for Alexander to raise money and move up in the polls.
Quayle, also short of cash, said he is narrowing his sights to Iowa and New Hampshire. The decision was announced as McCain reported that Quayle's state chairman, campaign manager, and two other top organizers in South Carolina were joining his campaign.
A Quayle spokesman, Jonathan Baron, said the defections had not been unexpected because the campaign was redirecting its resources away from South Carolina. ''You do what you have to do,'' said Baron, adding that Quayle was committed to staying in the race.
McCain said yesterday on ABC's ''Good Morning America'' that he was ''leaning toward'' skipping the Iowa caucuses next winter, the first test in the actual nominating process, and concentrating his money and organization in the early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina. ''You pick your shots,'' McCain said.
The GOP campaigns reported yesterday that they had spent from $50,000 (Quayle) to $1.5 million (Forbes) to woo voters to Saturday's straw poll. Former New Hampshire senator Warren Rudman, a McCain adviser, said McCain ''helped himself'' by staying away and not putting money on an event the candidate called ''a sham and a joke.''
But Alexander, a dogged campaigner, fought hard to prove his viability through the Iowa straw poll. After Alexander spent 21 days in Iowa in a run-up to the poll, Saturday night's dismal results were both a surprise and a disappointment, Bransted said.
''I'm ending my campaign for the presidency today,'' Alexander said with his wife and son at his side. ''My heart tells me to keep going and so do a lot of telephone calls this morning, but there's really no realistic way to do that.
''I may learn a lesson from this,'' he said jokingly. ''I seem to be attracting more attention getting out than I did getting in. So, thank you very much for being here.''
