 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |||||
|
||||||
 |
 Al Gore, left, votes in the Tennessee Democratic presidential primary Tuesday at Forks River Elementary School in Elmwood. Right, former President George Bush and wife Barbara, mother and father of candidate George W. Bush, vote in the Texas Republican primary at St. Martin's church in Houston. (AP photos) Gore, Bush clinch presidential nominations Southern primaries put both over the top
By Ron Fournier and Eun Kyung-Kim, Associated Press, 03/14/00
Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush clinched their presidential nominations in a sweep of Southern primaries Tuesday night, ensuring a bare-knuckles November matchup that quickly turned contentious. With both candidates securing delegate majorities needed to lead their parties' tickets, Bush predicted victory in the fall and tried to chain Gore to President Clinton's scandals. "He can't distance himself from the president when, for eight years, he's served as cheerleader-in-chief," the Texas governor told supporters, American and Texas flags serving as a colorful backdrop. Gore told The Associated Press that voters will soon get "a choice between keeping prosperity going or going back to the Bush-Quayle days of gigantic budget deficits and paralyzed democracy." Their chief rivals vanquished less than a week ago, the Southern sons of political patriarchs racked up huge victories in Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas and Louisiana. Exit polls exposed weaknesses of both general election candidates: Gore supporters were not as motivated as Bush's, while Texas Republicans reported little progress on education under Bush. Saying Americans have "caught on" to Gore's political tactics, including questionable fund-raising in 1996, Bush said, "Al Gore can't solve campaign finance problems when he symbolizes them. He can't talk about rebuilding the military when his administration has dismantled our military." Gore rattled off a laundry list of issues he would address, including education, health care, Social Security, Medicare and the national debt. And he suggested that Bush is beholden to his party's right wing, warning that the Texan would give anti-abortion evangelical leaders Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell a "working majority" on the Supreme court. "This election is a fork in the road. I represent one direction. He represents another," Gore told the AP. Gore addressed supporters in Florida, a general election battleground and home of Bush's brother, Gov. Jeb Bush. Bounding on stage to Tina Turner's "Simply the Best," the vice president said, "We've got to move into the fall election strong and united and ready for what's going to be a very tough fight." Gore, who once claimed to have invented the Internet, e-mailed Bush and said Democrats won't air TV ads purchased with unlimited, unregulated donations called "soft money" unless Republicans do so first. After expensive primary fights, both parties are planning ad campaigns to help their nominees. An AP analysis showed that Bush's delegate count would reach 1,093, and Gore's would reach at least 2,520 by the end of the night -- far more than required. "I'm humbled with the knowledge that I am a step closer to assuming the highest office in the land," Bush told the AP in a telephone interview from Texas. He is the son of former President Bush. Gore's father was a longtime Tennessee senator with unfulfilled White House ambitions. Republican John McCain and Democrat Bill Bradley abandoned their campaigns Thursday, ending an exciting primary season that tested the front-runners and spurred record-breaking voter turnout. Former ambassador Alan Keyes remained on GOP ballots, but was not a threat to Bush. With suspense drained from the race, turnout was low Tuesday. "I guess I'm just going to have to vote for Gore, though I'm not really happy about it," said Dennis McHale, a Democrat from New Orleans who was drawn to the polls by a city council election. In a hopeful sign for the Republican candidate, exit polls suggested that Bush ran stronger among Democratic voters than Gore did among GOP voters. Just 6 percent of voters in Republican primaries said they would for Gore in November; twice as many Democrats said they would defect to Bush. In Gore's home state of Tennessee, Republicans showed an intense dislike of their native son: only 4 percent of the GOP voters said they would vote for the vice president in November, and more than 80 percent had an unfavorable opinion of their one-time senator. In Texas, half the Republicans as well as half the Democrats said Bush was more conservative as presidential candidate than he was in 1998, when he won a landslide re-election as governor. As Bush tries to campaign on his education record, nearly half of Texas Republicans said the governor had produced no meaningful school reforms. In Louisiana, Bradley was taking nearly three in 10 votes, running particularly strongly among whites, conservatives and the poorest voters. Those Bradley voters said they favored Bush over Gore in November, 3-1. The exit polling was conducted by Voter News Service, a consortium of the AP and television networks. Both nominations become formal when the major parties conduct conventions in the summer. While Gore and Bush cast ballots for themselves in their home states, Bush's parents voted for their son in Houston. The elder Bush had trouble expressing his emotions. "It gets down to family and how lucky we are," the former president said. Politics runs in both families. Gore is the son of the late Sen. Albert Gore Sr., a critic of the Vietnam War and early convert to civil rights who lost his Tennessee seat in 1970. The elder Gore once bragged that his son was raised to succeed in presidential politics. Both Gore and Bush campaign heavily in the six primary states, but had the general election in mind. Polls show the Texas governor is strong in the South. Gore believes he has a chance to win Florida, Louisiana and Tennessee in November. Bush's brother, Jeb, is the governor of Florida and President Clinton lost the state in 1992 -- but pulled off a surprise victory in 1996. A recent poll showed the current race tight and Gore hoped to make inroads with Hispanic and elderly voters. Louisiana has a high population of black voters, who tend to side with Democrats. And the vice president hopes to carry his home state in November. "It's not a question of bravado, it's a judgment that the voters will make," Gore said. "This is my home." Democrats have all but conceded Texas to Bush, who won re-election by a landslide in 1998. Mississippi and Oklahoma are also tough states for Democrats. The primaries drew loyal Gore and Bush voters, but a few Bradley and McCain backers showed up. "We have to express our thoughts, too, even if Bush will be the nominee," said Magda Pelias, a McCain voter from New Orleans. Dan Barr of Florida voted for McCain to send a message to Bush. "He's got to get a little more broad-based appeal," said Barr, who had supported the Texan early in the primary process. |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
