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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: haqihana who wrote (13471)	3/2/2000 12:24:00 AM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Haqihana, here is the REAL story of yesterday! And since I am a proud Washingtonian (and probably the only one on this thread) I will just have to take credit for the Bush turnaround, <VBG> Wednesday March 1, 2000; 10:15 AM EST newsmax.com Media Mum on Bush Upset in Washington Pollsters predicted that George W. Bush had a good chance to win Tuesday's Virginia primary. And Bush's victory in North Dakota was no surprise. But the GOP race in the state of Washington was expected to be a close one. It wasn't. Though results came in too late for most East Coast newspaper deadlines, the Texas Governor blew out media darling John McCain by a whopping twenty points, 58 to 38 percent. Morning TV and radio reports were crediting Bush's three-state sweep to the power of the Christian right, continuing the popular media myth that the Texas governor just doesn't stand a chance without Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson beating the drum for him. That may have been true in Virginia, where McCain's attempts to demonize the religious right backfired big time. But what about Washington state? Washingtonians aren't exactly known for their Bible-thumping, holy roller contingent. Volvo-driving yuppies and lumberjacks, maybe -- but if the Christian Coalition had anything to do with Bush's landslide there, it certainly did a good job of hiding it. In fact, the press thought McCain had a real chance to embarrass the Texas governor in Washington. On Tuesday the New York Post, which has endorsed the Arizona senator, reported: "Since anyone can vote in either party, Washington polls match all contenders together -- a weekend poll put Bush at 24 percent, McCain at 23 percent." Even the home-state Seattle Times sounded as if it expected a McCain win, reporting two days before the vote that he was drawing "emotional" crowds: "The Arizona senator thinks voters here are a natural for him. They are independent and resist being identified with either party." So what happened? First, Washingtonians who wanted their vote to count toward delegate selection had to pledge to stay with the GOP. That short-circuited the game plan McCain used to great advantage in Michigan last week, where he reminded Democrats they could vote for him in the primary and still vote for Vice President Al Gore in November. But more importantly, Democrats and independents had to choose between voting in Washington's Republican primary or playing a role in their own party's contest between Gore or Bill Bradley. When these non-Republicans swept McCain to victory last week in Michigan, actually turning out in larger numbers than the state's GOP voters, there was no such conflict. Michigan's Democrat primary isn't till March 11. Bush's Washington landslide may be a harbinger of things to come in the GOP race. No wonder the media aren't focusing on it.