Texas Gov. George W. Bush is also gearing up to square off against fellow Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain. That's why they call it Super Tuesday. The front-loaded primary calendar, with so many delegates elected so soon in the race, has shaped the presidential campaign. The accelerated calendar, which benefits candidates who are well funded, forced a number of Republican candidates, such as Elizabeth Dole and Dan Quayle, to drop out of the race last year, months before a vote had been cast. The bunching of early primaries and caucuses is also dictating the nature of the campaign.
Electrons replace handshakes.
The process has moved from intensive voter contact in every conceivable realm to a gigantic national primary where we're communicating through broad-based media. Many Democratic analysts say they believe that, without some dramatic or unexpected event, Gore is likely to lock up the nomination March 7. The vice president has the momentum from his victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, as well as a vast network of support, with organized labor at its core, in all the key Super Tuesday states and beyond. Bill Bradley, who has been trying to energize his campaign with a steady drumbeat of attacks on Gore, has enough money to continue beyond March 7 even without a major victory that day. But with so much attention on the Republican race, and specifically, on Sen. John McCain, Bradley's campaign has been losing ground in such key states as New York, where the former New Jersey senator played pro basketball and was once expected to win.