As for Gore, the vice president earned chits and respect within his party by stumping on behalf of fellow Democrats around the country, filling the role that would ordinarily have been played by scandal-ridden President Clinton. Still, it's early as the presidential calendar goes.
Questions loom over the potential candidacy of each front-runner.
Bush, for all the appeal he has demonstrated in the Lone Star State, remains untested nationally. No wonder then, in each party, a covey of wannabe presidential candidates is lurking in the weeds, pondering challenges to the leaders. But, analysts say, the hill these longshot candidates would have to climb has become much steeper because of Tuesday's balloting. On the Republican side, Bush, the eldest son of former President Bush, benefited not only from his own performance in Texas but from the success of his younger brother Jeb, who won the governorship in Florida. That leaves the Bush family in charge of two of the nation's largest states, both laden with convention delegates and key elements in any GOP majority in the electoral college.