Mullings by Rich Galen | Issue for March 3, 2000

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The Friday the Thirteenth Campaign

Friday, March 3, 2000

Mullings will be in California - the big Kahuna - from now until Super Tuesday. This is a joint effort between Mullings and Voter.com.
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From The LA Times Press Filing Center
Los Angeles, California

There is a body of thought, among the traveling press, that the campaign of John McCain is all but over. Once you start totaling up delegates, it doesn't appear possible that McCain can stop George W Bush from getting the 1,034 votes necessary to secure the Republican nomination.

This mistake has been made before. McCain is like Freddie in one of those Friday the Thirteenth movies. Just when you think he's done for, the music rises, the camera moves in for a close shot and he leaps out at the screen and scares the you-know-what out of you.

There is a significant body of thought that the Republican campaign is now getting close to the "how- much-longer-will-he-stay-in" stage. But the Bush folks would be wise to watch the results next Tuesday night from behind fingers spread in front of their eyes. J-U-S-T I-N C-A-S-E.

On the other side, it IS over. The only thing missing from Bradley-Gore Demerol Debate last night was an actual towel being thrown onto the stage. You don't think a tough - even negative - campaign works anymore? Ask the Bradley staff, as they are polishing up their resumes and selling off the office equipment, whether they would like to rewind the clock and take the fight to Gore every day.

This campaign moved, with blinding speed, from the living room-and-luncheonette stage of New Hampshire to the jets-across-America stage of Super Tuesday.

It doesn't seem possible that it was 15 months ago, in January 1999, that the term "Super Tuesday" began to creep into our political conversations. Now, we are four days away. If you were going to bet on how many people were going to be viable candidates in the Republican race in four days you probably would have lost. And, if you say you would have bet one of them was going to be named McCain, you are probably not telling the truth.

The twelfth Republican debate, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times and CNN, was held in Los Angeles. Bush and Keyes were in LA. McCain had been in Los Angeles earlier in the day, but flew to St. Louis so he could participate via satellite.

As a sharp contrast to Bill Bradley and Al Gore reprising their famous "Dull and Duller" stage act the night before, the GOP debate was spirited without being mean, and showed differences among the Republican candidates and, more importantly, showed positive differences between the Republican candidates and Al Gore.

The press filing center was in a parking garage next to the Times Building. I envisioned people standing around writing on laptops balanced on the hoods of cars but, of course it was carpeted (gray), and pipe and draped (blue) with coffee and sandwiches for all. Hey, that should be the press corps pledge of allegiance: One Press Corps, under deadline, with coffee and sandwiches for all.

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