he Massachusetts primary was once a target of opportunity for Bill Bradley. His support surged through the fall as he captured the public's imagination with his unpackaged style, liberal message, and promise of visionary leadership on the preeminent issue for voters here: health care.
But that was then and this is now Bradley, according to a Boston Globe poll of likely Democratic primary voters, has fallen more than 30 points behind Vice President Al Gore, with just over a week until the March 7 primary.
Gore would trounce Bradley, 59 percent to 27 percent, if the primary were held today, according to the poll. He would draw overwhelming support from Democrats and dominate among independent voters, a key constituency for Bradley's campaign.
The vice president, in fact, holds a comfortable lead in every demographic category in the poll but one: Self-described conservatives favor Bradley 46 to 36 percent.
Liberals, meanwhile, are Gore's strongest suit, favoring him by 67 percent to 24 percent. This after Bradley had campaigned hard for liberal support, advocating a sweeping but costly fix to the health care system, speaking with passion about race relations and stressing the needs of the poor.
The poll also underscores that one potential drag on Gore's popularity is not a factor here. President Clinton remains extremely popular in Massachusetts, viewed favorably by 68 percent of those polled. Gore's close association with a president who was impeached and faced removal from office just over one year ago evidently doesn't hurt him here.
''There is no Clinton fatigue here,'' said Gerry Chervinsky, president of KRC Communications Research, which conducted the poll of 400 likely Democratic voters. ''Gore is perceived as inevitable.''
The telephone survey, conducted from Feb. 22 to 24, has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
While he trails badly in the poll, Bradley remains a popular figure in Massachusetts, viewed favorably or extremely favorably by 58 percent of those polled. Only 19 percent view him unfavorably. Yet despite a year of campaigning, he is still something of an unknown for many voters: Of those polled, 24 percent said they had no view of him one way or the other.
Just about everyone in the poll had a view of Gore, and that view was generally rosy: Eighty percent said they had a favorable opinion of him, including 50 percent who said they viewed him extremely favorably. Only 10 percent said they had an unfavorable or extremely unfavorable view of him.
Yet for all the favorable reviews of the Democrats, likely voters in the Democratic contest were not as charged up as those apt to vote in the Republican race.
The apparent reason: John McCain, the GOP senator from Arizona who has energized independents and stolen the spotlight from Bradley's insurgent effort.
More than 70 percent of likely voters in the Democratic primary said they have the same or less interest level as in previous presidential elections, the survey found.
By contrast, about half of likely GOP primary voters, surveyed in a separate Globe poll whose results were published Friday, said they were more interested in this race than usual, and they attributed that interest to McCain.
Even among Democrats, McCain had more admirers than detractors: Forty-four percent of those polled viewed him favorably, while 34 percent viewed him unfavorably. Governor George W. Bush of Texas, McCain's chief rival, has few allies on the Democratic side. Seventy-three percent viewed him unfavorably.
McCain's popularity is one more obstacle for Bradley, who has also counted on the support of independents. In New Hampshire, Bradley won the support of 57 percent of independents who voted in the Democratic primary, compared to 42 percent for Gore. But Gore won there among Democrats and prevailed.
''The independents who had been for Bradley, by and large, are leaving the Democratic primary and heading out to vote for McCain,'' Chervinsky said. ''The people who are left now are really Democratic leaning. The race withered because the McCain train has gotten all this attention.''
Although the Democratic candidates are not getting the same amount of press attention as the Republicans, Gore and Bradley were on target framing their early campaigns around competing universal health care plans.
The poll found that medical coverage is an overriding issue among those surveyed, with 35 percent saying it was their greatest concern, followed by education at 19 percent and taxes at 14 percent.
