Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 9, 1992                   TAG: 9203090144
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SUPER TUESDAY VOTE UNLIKELY TO BE DECISIVE

Ridiculed and recanted by some, the quadrennial extravaganza in which legions of Southerners were supposed to rise up and moderate the Democratic Party will be decidedly less super in 1992. About 18 percent of Democratic delegates will be picked Tuesday, versus 31 percent on Super Tuesday 1988.

But ironically, this eviscerated primary day may come closer than that of four years ago to working as some originators of the regional primary intended.

The voting then aided Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr., a white moderate. But it also catapulted into contention the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a black liberal whose politics are anathema to many of the conservative white Southerners whom Super Tuesday boosters hoped to lure back to the Democratic Party.

This year, the day is widely expected to boost a Southerner of more moderate persuasion, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton.

But while Super Tuesday could give Clinton a substantial lead, it almost certainly will not end the battle for the Democratic nomination.

That is partly because of the smaller vote this year. In 1988, every Southern and border state except South Carolina was in the pack. This year, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas and Maryland, as well as Washington, Idaho and Nevada, have dropped out.

Seven remaining Southern and border states - Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas - will join Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Rhode Island in voting Tuesday. Only Democrats will vote in Delaware, Hawaii and Missouri, which will have caucuses rather than primaries.

In all, 633 Democratic delegates will be chosen from Southern and border states out of the 2,145 needed for the nomination.

Among Republicans, 367 delegates of the 1,104 needed to nominate will be picked in six Southern and border states.

Just as four years ago, debate continues over whether a regional primary day is a good idea. "I think we would be ignored without it," said Lisa Walker, director of the Mississippi Democratic Party.

But others say lumping so many ballots on a single day can have negative results.

"It tends to stamp a candidate as a regional candidate," said former Mississippi Gov. William Winter.

"Super Tuesday as an institution has probably lived most of its life," said Atlanta pollster Claibourne Darden. It's a day "that has never acted as it was supposed to act."

Keywords:
POLITICS