Gore, Bush Seal Nominations With Huge Wins

From sea to shining sea, Al Gore '69 and George W. Bush cruised to victory in numerous Super Tuesday primaries yesterday, all but wrapping up their parties' presidential nominations.

Gore shut out challenger Bill Bradley in all 16 Democratic contests, winning most by landslides, while Republican John S. McCain was only able to collect victories in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Rhode Island.

In California and New York, two bellwether states McCain needed to win in order to remain a viable candidate, Republican voters chose Bush instead. In delegate-heavy Ohio, Bush won with a commanding 60 percent of the vote.

"We have a national victory," Bush said to his supporters in Austin, Texas last night. "Republicans and conservatives across America have said they want me to lead the Republican Party to victory come November, and I am ready and eager to do so."

In his victory speech, Bush complimented McCain and seemed to indicate that the Arizona senator's presidential campaign was effectively over.

"I respect him, and I respect his commitment to reform," Bush said.

Anticipating Bush victories elsewhere, McCain advisers had hoped that their candidate would sweep the Northeast, win the majority of New York delegates and claim popular vote victories in Ohio and California--home to 162 delegates--to have a reasonable shot at the nomination. None of those scenarios played out.

Though there is hardly any way in which he could gain enough delegates to win the nomination, McCain refused last night to withdraw from the campaign.

"Let's celebrate our success and prepare to get back to work tomorrow," he said.

"We will never give up this mission, my friends," he added. "America needs...a thorough reform of the way our nation does its business."

The road does not get any easier for McCain. Following primaries in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado this Friday, the Republican campaign heads into the heart of Bush's key constituency, conservative Southern voters. Voters will cast ballots in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas March 14.

The number of delegates needed to obtain the parties' nominations differ; the Republican candidate needs 1,034, and the Democratic candidate needs 2,170.

In Nashville, Tenn., last night, an exuberant Gore thanked his supporters and turned his attention to the upcoming showdown with Bush.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," he said. "Our fight for the working families of this country has just begun."

Gore also made a preemptive plea to pick up McCain supporters last night.

"We need tough, uncompromising campaign finance reform," Gore said.

He challenged the Republican nominee to ban unrestricted soft money donations, 30- and 60-second television and radio commercials and to have a debate with him every week until the election.

For Bradley supporters, it was a disappointing night.

By mid-evening on the East Coast, the Associated Press delegate tally showed Gore with 975 of the 2,170 needed to win the nomination at the Democratic National Convention this summer in Los Angeles. Bradley had 284.

"He won, I lost," Bradley said simply in his concession speech.

Still, Bradley said his campaign marked "the beginning of a new politics in this country" and added that his efforts have steered the campaign towards issues such as health care, the poor, and race.

"Tonight we're a step closer [to a country] in which no family has to fear being one step away from financial disaster because their children get sick," Bradley said.

He added that his efforts to bring back idealism and honor to politics are not over.

"I'm going to work for them until we win, and we will win," he said resoundingly.

Bradley declined to say whether he would withdraw, though one top adviser told The Crimson last week that a poor showing yesterday would spell doom for his nomination. Bradley will meet today with top campaign managers and key financial supporters to decide his next course of action.

As the first returns came in, the expected Gore sweep became apparent. In nearly every demographic crucial for Democrats, Gore's margins of victory were large.

In California, Gore took nearly nine out of 10 black and Hispanic votes and more than seven of 10 white votes.

Bush's victory showed similar strengths across the board.

While McCain won the majority of independent votes, Bush received 63 percent of all Republican votes. McCain received only 32 percent.

Even among veterans, Bush prevailed, winning by 51 to 43 percent. McCain had banked upon support by veterans and never failed to remind voters that he was a prisoner of war for five and a half years in Vietnam.

McCain supporters at Harvard could console themselves with their candidate's commanding victory in the Commonwealth.

In Massachusetts, both Gore and McCain had solid victories. Gore won by 61 to 37 percent over Bradley, while McCain doubled Bush's vote total, winning by 64 to 32 percent.

McCain received most of the independent votes--76 to 21 percent--as well as 88 percent of self-described Democratic voters. Among Republicans, Bush held a slight edge of 49 to 47 percent.