STATE'S EARLY PRIMARY SECURES LEADERS' STATUS.Byline: Rick Orlov and Steve Carney Staff Writers Texas Gov. George W. Bush survived a surge of crossover votes for Arizona Sen. John McCain For McCain's grandfather and father, see John S. McCain, Sr. and John S. McCain, Jr., respectively John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936 in Panama Canal Zone) is an American politician, war veteran, and currently the Republican Senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. in California's first blanket primary The blanket primary, also known as a jungle primary, is a system used for selecting political party candidates in a primary election in the USA. In a blanket primary voters may pick one candidate for each office without regard to party lines; for instance, a voter might select a Tuesday and carried the popular vote as well as winning all 162 convention delegates. Vice President Al Gore Noun 1. Al Gore - Vice President of the United States under Bill Clinton (born in 1948) Albert Gore Jr., Gore capped a coast-to-coast sweep by easily beating former Sen. Bill Bradley For other uses, see Bill Bradley (disambiguation) and William Bradley. William Warren "Bill" Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former U.S. in the nation's largest state. ``A victory in California has made it much sweeter,'' Gore said to California supporters in a telephone call to Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . Bush declared victory shortly after the polls closed at 8 p.m. in California, saying he had scored victories ``from sea to sea.'' ``We promised a national campaign and tonight we have a national victory.'' McCain, in West Hollywood West Hollywood A community of southern California northeast of Beverly Hills. It is mainly residential. Population: 36,600. where he capped a day of campaigning in California, vowed to fight on for campaign finance reform Campaign finance reform is the common term for the political effort in the United States to change the involvement of money in politics, primarily in political campaigns. and other issues that drove his campaign but said he would return to Arizona today to decide whether to stay in the race for the GOP presidential nomination. With his trademark thumbs-up gesture, McCain thanked his supporters, but it was clear he had failed in his attempt to win enough support among crossover Democrats and independents to pull off a popular vote win, which was seen as crucial for him to remain a credible candidate. ``I am proud, so proud, that this message has struck a chord in the hearts of so many Americans of every race, creed and political persuasion in this vast and diverse country,'' he told supporters. ``America stands for something so much greater than the cynicism that sometimes affects us.'' For McCain, the loss in California was not only among Republicans - as he had anticipated - but exit polls showed veterans and Christian conservatives going for Bush in strong numbers. For voters, the blanket primary was a chance to have a say in the race drawing the most interest even if their votes would not be counted to determine delegates to the parties. ``I feel bad that my vote won't help him, because I'd like to help him,'' said Susan Stewart For the "As the World Turns" character, see Dr. Susan Stewart. Susan Stewart is an American poet, university professor and literary critic born in 1952. of Woodland Hills, a Democrat who voted for McCain on Tuesday. ``I think it's a joke. The people's vote doesn't matter,'' said Tom Shiebler, another registered Democrat who voted for McCain. Bush was expected all along to win among Republican voters, and thus snag the 162 delegates in the winner-take-all contest. But McCain hoped to attract enough votes from independents and Democrats for a ``moral victory'' in the popular tally. Such a scenario might have caused a bitter fight within the party, and given McCain fodder for his continual claim CONTINUAL CLAIM, English law. When the feoffee of land is prevented from taking possession by fear of menaces or bodily harm, he may make a claim to the land in the presence of the vares[?], and if this claim is regularly made once every year and a day, which is then called a continual to be the only Republican with broad enough appeal to defeat the Democrats in November. But Bush's convincing win averted that challenge. To many voters, though, the primaries are nothing more than popularity contests anyway, said Sheldon Kamieniecki, chairman and professor of political science at the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission . ``I think people are just exercising a preference, and aren't looking at the delegate count,'' he said. ``I think most people probably don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how the delegates are selected. I think most people think they're voting for the candidate.'' Shiebler, a 48-year-old health-care manager, said he's leaning toward Gore in the general election, but prefers McCain to Bush, and wants a November contest between candidates he likes. He insists he wasn't trying to cause mischief in the Republican race. But Carole Frakes of Woodland Hills, a Republican who voted for McCain on Tuesday, said the open primary lets crossover voters Noun 1. crossover voter - a voter who is registered as a member of one political party but who votes in the primary of another party crossover elector, voter - a citizen who has a legal right to vote sabotage the opposing party. ``I think people vote not for the candidate they prefer, but they vote for a certain strategy,'' said Frakes, 56, a laboratory manager. ``I considered doing that myself.'' Coming into Tuesday's election, the campaigns conceded that the results could well determine the nominees for each party. For California voters, it was a unique event in that the state - the nation's most populous pop·u·lous adj. Containing many people or inhabitants; having a large population. [Middle English, from Latin popul and politically influential with 54 electoral votes - finally got a chance to determine the nominees of their respective parties, even though it came late in a day of voting across the country. And with so many states holding elections, the ``Super Tuesday'' campaigns served as a precursor of what can be expected for the November general election, both in themes and campaign styles. That was evident as Bush returned to his original theme of being a ``compassionate conservative'' and both he and Gore reached out to independent voters needed to decide the election. California voters also got what they have become accustomed to - television campaigns waged through commercials. When combined, it is expected the candidates will have spent in excess of $15 million over the past three weeks in California alone. Gore used his final weeks of commercials to begin a broader approach, while Bush and McCain have battled primarily for Republican votes. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Arizona Sen. John McCain talks to supporters in Los Angeles after losing the California Republican primary. David R. Crane/Staff Photographer (2 -- color) Presidential hopeful Bill Bradley lowers his head while speaking to supporters in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of on Tuesday. Beth Keiser/Associated Press |
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