Bob Dole Gets Out His Broom
Eight-state sweep leaves everyone else in the dust
It took a little over a month, but the inevitable happened: Bob Dole took control of the GOP race. By winning all eight states in yesterday's "Junior Tuesday" primary, the 72-year-old Senate Majority Leader has put himself firmly in place to be the GOP nominee. His fellow moderates, Lamar Alexander and Dick Lugar, have seen the writing on the wall and dropped out of the race. The only other candidates left in the race remain either because of irrepressible conservatism (Pat Buchanan, Alan Keyes) or a huge war chest (Morry Taylor, Steve Forbes). The current delegate breakdown:
Dole: 276 Forbes: 69 Buchanan: 57 Alexander: 10 Keyes: 1
For a while, especially after Steve Forbes' win in Arizona last week, it looked like a horserace. But Dole's big victory in South Carolina Saturday was the decisive moment of the primary campaign. And, much like a college basketball player showing up on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Pat Buchanan's backlit mug on the covers of Time and Newsweek (heck, even The Economist) was the kiss of death for his campaign. Buchanan showed that right-wing extremism, even when coupled with ecomomic populism, will only go so far.
Much as President Clinton was enjoying the Republican infighting, Tuesday's result must be a relief to him as well. Having laid low for most of the campaign so far (trouncing Lyndon LaRouche day-in and day-out can't be much fun), he now knows where to direct his energies. Look for him to make an appearance in New York for this Thursday's primary.
Buchanan and Forbes will continue to be thorns in Bob Dole's side--Buchanan in particular forces him to keep catering to the right-wing when he'd probably rather start moving to the center to compete with Clinton (see the Mother Jones article "The Dark Side" by William Saletan). But unless he falls completely apart in New York tomorrow or the South next Tuesday, he has this one in the bag.