SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.-Vice President Al Gore swept all 15 of the Democratic Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses yesterday, effectively locking up the Democratic presidential nomination and ending former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley's bid for the Oval Office.
While Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) repeatedly has said he would "beat Gore like a drum" in the general election, Bradley was the one receiving the whipping yesterday.
Gore took California easily, winning the highly coveted primary by a whopping 61 points, 80 percent to 19 percent, with 28 percent of the precincts reporting at press time.
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Gore carried all other Super Tuesday states as well, taking New York with a commanding 65 percent to Bradley's 34 percent and Ohio by a landslide 73 percent to Bradley's 25 percent.
The vice president romped from coast to coast, also capturing Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Missouri, North Dakota, Rhode Island and Vermont in what was a truly super Super Tuesday for Gore.
In California, as in other parts of the country, voter turnout yesterday was at its highest for a presidential primary in over 20 years.
In Yolo County, a highly Democratic section of Northern California's agrarian wine country, Elections Officer Louise Micke said voter turnout yesterday was as large as she has seen in her 30 years of working at the precincts.
In Micke's precinct, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a three-to-one margin, volunteers were kept busy at Oliver Wendell Holmes High School throughout the day. "We had a person a minute in the first hour," Micke said. "It's been a zoo."
The high voter turnout in California - despite the steady, cold rain in the San Francisco Bay area - was partly because of the large number of referenda on yesterday's ballot.
The most controversial referendum, Proposition 22, nullifies and prohibits future gay and lesbian marriages in the state. Exit polls indicated the referendum passed. Other ballot initiatives drawing voters to the polls dealt with gaming rights and juvenile crime laws.
The Golden State - Super Tuesday's most coveted prize because of its large delegate count - always has been partial to Gore, partly because of his 60-plus visits during his term as vice president, said David Chai, California Gore 2000 press secretary.
Gore "is in tune with the critical issues facing California," Chai said.
San Francisco resident Jack Agrawala agreed.
"He has been vice president for a long time, so it's obvious [Gore] has experience," Agrawala said.
As the manager of a San Francisco hotel, he said the most relevant issue in the presidential election is the state of the economy - and because financial times are good, Agrawala said he supports the current administration.
While Bradley did not officially end his campaign last night, his failure to win any states in the primary season ended his chances of gaining the Democratic nomination.
"Bradley will be back though - in the general election," said Larry J. Sabato, University government and foreign affairs professor. "He has driven home some unpleasant truths about the sleaziness of the Clinton-Gore administration, and those truths will be quoted and advertised by the Republicans all the way to Nov. 7.
"Truth-tellers are extremely useful in politics, but they rarely win nominations," Sabato said.
While a Los Angeles Times poll earlier in the week had Gore with a five-to-one lead in California, many Bradley supporters still campaigned for the New Jersey Senator through yesterday's primary.
A cable car with Bradley signs traveled throughout downtown San Francisco yesterday as his supporters urged Californians to head to the voting booth and ignore the polls.
"It's all been a grassroots effort," Bradley California Press Secretary Julie Wong said.
"What we were attempting to do here was just the best that we can," Wong said. "We wanted to get out as many people as possible for Bill Bradley."
Davis, Calif. resident Edgar Chen voted for Bradley despite his showing in preliminary polls.
"I think my vote is important, regardless of the polls," Chen said.
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