ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 27, 1996 TAG: 9603270066
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
He wanted to be sure - beyond a glimmer of a doubt - before he laid claim to the prize that slipped from his grasp twice before. And Tuesday night, with California's enormous chunk of delegates snug in his pocket, the ever-cautious Bob Dole was finally sure.
``I'm so confident, I'm going to declare right now that I am the Republican nominee,'' the Senate majority leader announced at a victory party before the polls closed on the West Coast.
``The battle for the Republican nomination is over, and the battle for America's future is beginning tonight.''
Dole's victories in the three states that held primaries Tuesday - California, Nevada and Washington - gave him far more than the 996 delegates needed to win the nomination at the Republican national convention in August in San Diego.
At stake in California's winner-take-all primary, where Dole was leading Pat Buchanan, were 165 delegates, by far the largest bloc of delegates. Washington has 18 delegates, Nevada has 14.
By most calculations, Dole clinched the nomination a week ago, when he swept four Midwest primaries. But he held off claiming victory until California's primary, trying to make the most populous state appear pivotal to his nomination and thus gain momentum there for the general election.
Although there are still primaries stretching throughout the spring, Tuesday's vote effectively ended the Republicans' short but highly contentious primary season.
Tuesday's results also paved the way for Dole's match-up with President Clinton - and a possible third-party candidate, such as Ross Perot, who could create big problems for the Republicans in November because of the likelihood that he would drain away votes from Dole.
The only serious Republican challenger remaining, Buchanan, has vowed to stay in the race to gain leverage for his conservative agenda and supporters.
Dole said his primary opponents brought ``passion and energy and ideas'' to the party and made it stronger.
``The issues they have raised and the voters they have appealed to will be a crucial part of a winning Republican coalition this fall,'' he said.
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENTby CNB