20000309

Bradley to quit campaign, McCain likely to follow

WASHINGTON: With eight months to go until the U.S. presidential election, Democrat Bill Bradley let it be known on Wednesday he would quit the race, while Republicans waited for John McCain to abandon his insurgency campaign.

The day after "Super Tuesday" was one of clearing the decks for an election battle on Nov. 7 between Democratic Vice President Al Gore and Republican Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, which many observers expect to be close and hard fought.

"This is going to be a spirited contest. I'm looking forward to it," Bush said.

Bradley aides said the former three-term senator would end his bid in his home state of New Jersey on Thursday at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT), at which time he would to endorse Gore.

"He said all along he would endorse Gore if he pulled out," a senior aide said.

Bush, the son of former President George Bush, and Gore were the big winners on "Super Tuesday" when 16 states and one territory staged primaries and caucuses. Gore swept all the Democratic contests while Bush won nine of the 13 Republican ballots, including the top three states of California, New York and Ohio.

Arizona Sen. McCain beat Bush in four New England states but that was not enough to halt the Texan's momentum.

MCCAIN TO REFLECT

McCain flew to his Arizona ranch on Wednesday to rest and reflect. One aide said he would signal his intentions soon but was leaning toward ending his campaign by the end of this week. Others remained defiant.

"Right now there's no timetable for anything," said McCain campaign manager Rick Davis. "We are still on the edge of a tidal wave of public opinion that has changed our party forever. We're still at the beginning of it, not the end of it."

However, McCain's endorsement of Bush was likely to come with a strings attached. He wants the Texas governor to commit himself to some form of campaign finance reform and to run a clean campaign.

New York Republican Representative Peter King, who switched his support from Bush to McCain, said: "I think it's important for Bush to reach out to McCain and somehow acknowledge that what happened in New York won't happen in a general campaign."

He was referring to Bush TV ads in New York alleging that McCain opposed funding for breast cancer research.

Bush said it was up to McCain to choose the time to end his presidential bid.

"John is going to decide whether he's going to continue on and it's his choice," Bush told reporters at a news conference in the garden of the governor's mansion. "My main opponent in this campaign will be Al Gore and our differences will be stark."

COULD CLINCH NEXT WEEK

McCain can no longer prevent Bush from winning the Republican nomination even if he stays in the race a little longer. Bush could win the delegates to the Republican National Convention that he needs by next Tuesday when six southern states hold primaries.

Bradley, a former basketball star with the New York Knicks, at one time posed a serious challenge to Gore. But his challenge faded after the vice president won the pivotal New Hampshire primary by four percentage points.

"I want to ask all of those who have supported others to look at this campaign as their cause. An awful lot is at stake and we need to keep our prosperity going," Gore said in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America."

By early Wednesday, Gore had won 1,419 delegates to 410 for Bradley, according to an unofficial count by CNN. The magic number to secure the Democratic nomination is 2,169.

Bush had 595 delegates to 223 for McCain on the way to the 1,034 delegates needed for the Republican nomination, according to the National Journal's Hotline.

In the Republican race in California, Bush had 60 percent of the vote while McCain trailed with 35 percent. Among the Democrats, Gore took 81 percent while Bradley had 18 percent.

GORE WINS BEAUTY CONTEST

In a direct match-up in California, Gore beat Bush in a nonbinding "beauty contest." With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Gore had 34 percent, Bush had 28 percent, McCain took 23 percent and Bradley trailed with 8 percent.

In his cre had warm words for Bradley, with whom he fought a fierce, occasionally nasty personal battle, but refused to comment on whether his opponent had told him he would withdraw from the race.

"I'm going to let him speak for himself. I spoke about my respect for him in my speech last evening, and throughout the campaign I've affirmed my belief that he is a good person," Gore told CBS on Wednesday.-Reuters