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Jewish World Review Sept. 30, 1999 /20 Tishrei, 5760
Chris Matthews
Early next March, this well-matched pair of Democratic
hopefuls will meet in California for a pivotal 2000 primary
contest.
Should Bradley, the NBA star-turned-senator, win in
California, a prospect that grows greater by the day, the
vice president would be lucky to survive the week.
The New Hampshire primary is Feb. 7. A month later
comes the March 7 slew of primaries, including those in
New York and California.
Bradley's surprising strength in early polling — he is
neck-and-neck with Gore in New Hampshire and New
York — has already forced the Gore team on the
defensive. Rather than challenge the poll figures in the
East, the Gore people talk down Bradley's high Empire
State poll numbers as a "favorite son thing" — and they
talk up what they regard as Gore's firewall in the South
and West, especially in California.
Gale Kaufman, the Bradley campaign's senior California
advisor, mocks such efforts as the "ever-changing
strategy" of a Gore team forced to play catch-up.
"Clinton's the key," she said, explaining Bradley's surge in the polls in an
interview last week. "Clinton fatigue. It's huge. By next March, the only thing
that's not going to happen is that Clinton fatigue will not have gone down.
People are not going to be any less unhappy with what's gone on."
Bradley, she argued, is positively lighthearted about not having to carry Bill and
Hillary Clinton around with him.
"He says what he thinks. He looks very comfortable with himself."
She loved watching her candidate turn the tables on ABC's Sam Donaldson,
Cokie Roberts and George F. Will last Sunday by inquiring if they used illegal
drugs.
In her Sacramento office, the veteran Democratic consultant laughed and said,
"I thought it was hysterical."
The Bradley forces have a fresh and powerful reason for such giddiness. A new
NBC poll in New York state shows the three-term New Jersey senator (and
former New York Knicks basketball forward) beating the Republican
front-runner, Texas Gov. George W. Bush.
The same poll has Gore trailing the former president's son.
The nationwide numbers are equally stunning. While Gore holds a 53-32 lead
over Bradley, that 21-point edge is 13 points less than when summer began.
But it's the state-by-state figures, especially those in New Hampshire and New
York, that illustrate the near and present danger facing the vice president. If
Bradley beats him on Feb. 7 and follows up with victory in New York, Gore
will need to carry California that same day or risk political eradication.
Kiki Moore, the campaign spokeswoman for Gore who dismissed Bradley's
New York surge as a "favorite-son thing" also belittled his endorsement last
week by New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. She says the vice president
is prepared to take on Bradley face to face before the March 7 California
balloting.
"I expect there to be debates," she says.
The Bradley camp appears eager for such a big-screen display of the two
candidates' styles.
"Gore does not have the luxury to just go out there and have a good time," says
Kaufman.
Bradley's campaigner is talking about the 53 trips Gore has made to California
since becoming vice president.
"Part of the reason is the official business part of the trips," she says. "Part is his
different style."
His highly restrained "style" has been a major source of Gore's troubles. While
neither candidate can match Clinton's prowess as a political stumper, Gore
faces a far greater need to distinguish himself. Unless people get a distinctive
notion of the man, they will continue to view him as simply a carry-over of the
two-term Clintons.
Gore will face the deepening indictment voiced last week by Moynihan that he
"can't be elected president." Even the most loyal Clinton fan knows that "Four
More Years!" is hardly the most winsome campaign slogan for a Democratic
win in 2000.
March 7 is Gore's deadline for achieving his transformation from caterpillar to
butterfly. The Golden State is the place where he needs to do it.
"California's important," spokeswoman Moore said in an interview last week.
"How could it not
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