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"Scam" ads the norm Trail Mix: Hillary haters spam cyberspace Gunning for the center Democrats make Hillary legit The blundering pundit Don Giuliani Campaign video: |
Swaggering towards Washington
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March 8, 2000 | AUSTIN, Texas -- While the flag is more than 150 years old, the Texas challenge was essentially the same Tuesday night. Gov. George W. Bush dared Sen. John McCain to come and take the Republican presidential nomination away from him, a nomination he has been favored to win for more than a year. But Tuesday night, the McCain rebellion appeared to come up short, with Bush posting big victories in most of the 13 states that held Republican contests Tuesday. "Tonight we have good news from sea to shining sea," Bush said. "We promised a national campaign, and tonight we have a national victory. 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."
Bush won victories in California, New York, Ohio and Georgia, and a handful of other states, including Maine, a symbolic victory breaking McCain's regional stronghold on New England. All along, McCain advisors were hoping for a New England sweep and a win in New York to keep the senator's candidacy afloat. In all, Bush won more than 400 of the 613 Republican delegates at stake Tuesday. Bush extended an olive branch to McCain, with nothing but kind words for the man he has blasted from the stump as recently as Monday. Tuesday, Bush congratulated McCain, saying, "We have our disagreements, but I respect him and his commitment to reform ... Soon, our party will unite and turn to the main task at hand -- ending the era of Clinton and Gore." After Tuesday night, we are all where we always expected to be. Though the road took a fierce but short McCain detour, the country is now headed for a contest between the two establishment candidates, Bush and Vice President Al Gore. The bulk of Bush's remarks Tuesday were aimed at Gore. Bush began by setting a gracious tone, congratulating the vice president, but in the same sentence labeled him "the candidate of the status quo in Washington, D.C., and he has a tough case to make in the general election." Bush didn't miss a chance to link Gore to President Clinton, beginning with the issue of Social Security, saying the Clinton administration had "chosen to demagogue Social Security, not repair it." The other issues on the Bush laundry list were rebuilding the military, education reform, taxes and hints about how he might exploit Gore's role in the 1996 fund-raising scandals. "These are the issues I will raise in my campaign," Bush said. "Someone will make history this November. Either we will ratify the status quo, or we will have a new beginning in American politics. I say American must not give Clinton-Gore a third term." He also invited sure-fire criticism from presumptive Reform Party nominee Pat Buchanan, saying, "Legal immigration is not a source of national weakness, it is a sign of national success."
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