DOLE SWEEPS MIDWEST\Kansan clinches GOP nomination in 3rd try.

Byline: John King Associated Press 

Sen. Bob Dole clinched the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday with a Midwest primary sweep that set the stage for a generational battle in November squaring the World War II hero against the Baby Boom Democratic incumbent.

"The fall campaign is under way," Dole said triumphantly. "It is 230 days to defeating Bill Clinton."

Republican leaders said Dole's chances against Clinton would only be boosted by the quick end of the nomination fight, made possible by an early primary calendar and Dole's roaring comeback. Even so, Ross Perot spoiled Dole's celebration by suggesting that he might run again, and GOP officials worried aloud that a three-way race would help Clinton.

Dole defeated persistent rival Pat Buchanan by lopsided margins in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin and welcomed delegates picked up earlier by his defeated rivals. As a result, Dole gained more than 200 delegates Tuesday and crossed the 996 mark needed to clinch the GOP nomination. The Associated Press delegate count showed Dole with 1,002. Buchanan has 109 delegates.

Dole was getting 66 percent in Ohio to 22 percent for Buchanan. Illinois was 65 percent for Dole and 23 percent for Buchanan. Michigan returns had Dole with 52 percent, Buchanan 34 percent. Wisconsin was also 52 to 34. For Buchanan, those 34 percent showings were his best of the primary season.

The Kansas senator refused to declare victory in the nomination chase, eager to maintain some meaning for next week's California primary. Still, Dole knew the prize that eluded him in two prior White House bids was his.

"The first time I came up empty. The last time I came up short," Dole told the Associated Press. "This time I'm coming up full."

Dole said he soon would begin the process of picking a running mate and preparing for the August GOP convention in San Diego. He sounded a bit irritated with Buchanan's daily demands that his views be written into the party platform. "Last time I checked I was the one winning," Dole said. "He has to decide if he is a good Republican."

Adding to Dole's optimism was a new national poll showing him moving to within eight points of Clinton in a head-to-head matchup.

"Now that we have a clear candidate that will tighten up even more," Dole told the Associated Press, "we're going to be hard at work convincing the American people we have the right agenda for the next generation and the next century."

But Perot's flirtation with another run had some Republicans equating another three-way race with another Clinton victory.

"Bill Clinton is going to be defeated if it's a two-man race," Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson said on CNN. "I think there's always a problem if Ross Perot or someone else gets in."

Dole said he likely would make an effort to dissuade Perot. "Go up and down his issues list - if we just had Bob Dole in there we would get it done," Dole said.

As Dole looked ahead to the general election, a weary Buchanan was in California where he ignored the delegate math and said, "We are going to pull no punches. . . . I don't think he's got this locked up yet."

Even so, he authorized aides to make the case that Buchanan's support among Democrats and Perot voters made him an ideal Dole vice presidential candidate.

"Dole is weak among working class and middle class voters and you cannot win the general election without them," said Buchanan spokesman Greg Mueller. "Buchanan is his way of bringing them home."

Dole noted that Buchanan had "way high" negatives in public opinion polling, but added, "I don't want to get into that with Pat right now. We're trying to get him to see the light here," a reference to Buchanan's daily campaign assaults.

Dole spent the day at the Capitol tending to his work as Senate majority leader and plunging into a fresh budget debate with Clinton, who already was assured of the Democratic nomination.

It was clear heading into the voting that Dole was poised for a four-state sweep. The only drama was whether he could win Michigan and Wisconsin by wide-enough margins to clinch. Dole also hoped to prove his strength in the industrial battlegrounds likely to be pivotal come November.

He was winning big, although exit polling exposed weaknesses, including concerns Dole at 72 was too old. He also ran behind Buchanan in the blue-collar suburbs of Detroit and Milwaukee, critical swing regions in competitive statewide races.

Just a month ago Dole lost New Hampshire to Buchanan and went on to lose three of the first five primaries. But he has piled up a 22-0 primary record since, and added a couple of caucus victories to boot. "Part of our strategy, of course, early on was to lose New Hampshire," Dole joked.

Dole first sought the GOP nomination in 1980, and got nowhere. His 1988 effort got off to a winning start in Iowa but faltered at George Bush's hands in New Hampshire. The difference this time was South Carolina. Bush crushed Dole there in 1988 to end the Kansan's comeback hopes. This time, Dole worked the state for more than a year and his big March 2 win there was a giant first step in his comeback.

Tuesday's California primary offers 165 delegates, with 32 more at stake in Nevada and Washington. Clinton leads Dole comfortably in California polls, and Dole hoped to use his primary campaigning to narrow that gap in November's biggest electoral prize.

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