LOS ANGELES -- After months of nonstop campaigning, momentum swings, insurgent uprisings and election-night surprises, the nomination battles seem headed back where they began.
Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the early front-runners in the presidential race, are heavily favored in Tuesday's coast-to-coast round of delegate contests. Both men could well emerge from the biggest primary day in American history as all-but-certain nominees.
"The truth is, with most people saying that the country is going in the right direction and with the overall feeling and mood so positive, Bush and Gore are still the most comfortable fits in their respective parties," says Paul Maslin, a Democratic pollster in California. "Under these circumstances, why would voters abandon these guys?"
Not too long ago, that seemed precisely what might happen. Now, though, former Sen. Bill Bradley and Arizona Sen. John McCain are struggling to keep their challenges alive.
McCain, attempting to counter a $2.5 million ad campaign financed by two wealthy Bush backers from Texas, accused his rival's supporters yesterday of trying to "hijack" the GOP race in the key states of New York, California and Ohio. McCain was campaigning in Massachusetts, one of the few March 7 primary states where he has a clear lead over Bush.
Bradley tried to rally backers in New York, the city that still regards him as a pro basketball hero, by summoning the spirit of Harry Truman's 1948 election upset. Polls show Bradley far behind Gore in the Empire State, once considered one of the former New Jersey senator's best shots for a primary victory.
Gore, who campaigned in upstate New York, is positioned to sweep all 16 Super Tuesday contests against Bradley, polls indicate. Bradley has not won a single state.
The vice president is so confident of winning California, the biggest prize of all, that he decided not to return in the final days of the campaign here. He did take time, however, to stop late last week in Florida, which does not vote until March 14.
The Republican fight remains closer. But over the past week, the center of gravity seems to have shifted increasingly in Bush's favor and away from McCain.
Trailing in the GOP delegate tally, McCain needs to carry New York and the New England states and score a California victory, his aides say. But his campaign has stalled in California, where Bush is now strongly favored to win all 162 of the state's delegates.
