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Bush, Gore set sights on Tuesday knockouts

LOS ANGELES: George W. Bush, looking to knock John McCain out of the 2000 presidential race, campaigned in New York on Friday, as a Reuters/MSNBC multi-state poll found the Texas governor headed for a "Super Tuesday" triumph.

Vice President Al Gore showed his confidence of winning the Democratic Party's presidential nomination by campaigning in Florida - a state which is not even among the 16 holding Democratic contests next Tuesday.

The Reuters poll, conducted by John Zogby, suggested the spirited battles for both the Republican and Democratic nominations may effectively end next Tuesday, setting the stage for a presidential election between Gore and Bush.

The Republican race is very close in New York, where Bush has edged ahead of McCain by three percentage points. Bush seems certain to carry the Republican vote in California but the Arizona senator could stay in the race a little longer if he wins New York. Both men campaigned in the state on Friday.

Twelve states are holding Republican primaries or caucuses on Tuesday with 588 delegates to the Republican National Convention at stake. A total of 1,034 will be needed to win that party's presidential nomination.

After Bush won contests this week in Virginia, Washington and North Dakota, he took the lead in the delegate count by 161 to 103 for McCain. More importantly, he grabbed the momentum in advance of next Tuesday.

The Reuters poll found Bush leading McCain in seven of the eight states surveyed, the only exception being Massachusetts. It also found Bush had a chance of narrowly beating McCain in the open ballot in California as well as thrashing him among Republicans.

COMPLAINS ABOUT BUSH AD

In an interview on NBC's Today Show, McCain again complained about a Bush radio ad that accused him of opposing funds for breast cancer research.

"It's very unfortunate. I have a clear record of voting in support of breast cancer research on many, many occasions and have always supported it," McCain said.

Salon, an online magazine, reported that McCain's sister, Sandy McCain Morgan, was recovering from breast cancer, which the senator did not mention in his response to Bush's attacks.

"All I can say is that I'm very grateful for my brother's support for breast cancer research, and I'm very grateful to Johns Hopkins hospital," where her illness was treated, the magazine quoted Morgan as saying.

Gore is widely expected to wrap up the Democratic presidential nomination by beating former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey in all the 16 states holding Democratic ballots.

The Reuters poll found Gore with what seemed to be insurmountable leads over Bradley of 19 points in New York, 35 points in California and 56 points in Ohio.

LITTLE HOPE FOR RECOVERY

The Reuters poll found McCain so far behind in five of the eight states and there seemed virtually no hope of recovery.

McCain led Bush in Massachusetts by 59-29 percent. That was his sole bright point.

Bush led McCain in Georgia by 52-30 percent; in Ohio by 57-31 percent; in Missouri by 46-37 percent; in Maryland by 52-32 percent; in Connecticut by a narrow 45-42 percent and in New York by a slender 44-41 percent.

Under a complicated system in California, all candidates - Democratic as well as Republican - will appear on a single ballot but only specially coded Republican ballots count toward delegates. That means that McCain could conceivably beat Bush in the popular vote but lose all 162 Republican delegates - about 15 percent of total needed for the presidential nomination.

That would be embarrassing for Bush but would not hold up his march toward the nomination.

In fact, the poll showed Bush slightly ahead of McCain and virtually neck-and-neck with Democratic Vice President Al Gore in the popular vote. Bush was walloping McCain by 48-30 percent among Republicans.-Reuters