Senator Bob Dole, anxious to put the Republican nomination battle behind him so he can concentrate on beating President Clinton, looked forward Sunday to seven more primary victories this week that could put him most of the way to the presidential nomination.
Republicans hold primaries in Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana and Oregon in what has come to be known as "Super Tuesday". With 362 delegates to the Republican National Convention at stake, the day had been viewed as a make-or-break test for the Republican nomination.But Dole's string of 10 primary victories over the past eight days has turned "Super Tuesday" into little more than a formality. With conservative commentator Pat Buchanan and publisher Steve Forbes as his last remaining opponents, the Senate majority leader is expected to steamroll to victory in all seven states.
On a campaign plane on his way to a rally in Jacksonville, Florida, Sunday Dole, who failed to clinch the Republican presidential nomination twice before, said he felt closer than ever to reaching the White House but did not underestimate Clinton as an opponent.
"When I drive by Tuesday on the way to work, I won't see myself at the White House. I'll see myself closer than I've been before, but I've still got to scale that fence around there," the Senate majority leader said in a Reuter interview.
Despite predictions of certain victory, Dole remained wary of predicting a sweep on Tuesday, saying he was unsure of his showing in Louisiana. Buchanan won party caucuses there in a surprise earlier this year.
As the nomination nears, Dole has declined to discuss his vice-presidential preferences. But asked whether he would seek a running mate near his own position in the center of the party, or would shore up the conservative wing, Dole said he wanted someone who shared his views.
"I'm looking for somebody who shares my philosophy . . . somebody I know, somebody I can work with, some body who understands what it's all about - Congress, the government, private sector . . . "
He said he had had not spoken to any possible running mate because he did not want to "jinx" the campaign.
Earlier Sunday, Dole made a low-key appeal to the heart of the religous conservative "Bible Belt," attending services at Prestonwood Baptist Church with his wife, Elizabeth, who addressed the congregation.
"Total commitment to Christ . . . for me is the only life worth living," Elizabeth Dole told a 2,000-member congregation in her husband's only appearance of the day in Texas.
The 72-year-old Kansas senator, on his third presidential bid, has already begun looking ahead to what is shaping up as a tight election battle against Clinton. In recent days, he has been focusing on foreign policy, which he clearly views as one potential area of weakness in the president's record.
In weekend campaign appearances, he criticized Clinton's policies on Cuba, the Middle East, Bosnia and Haiti.
"When Bob Dole is in the White House and we have to send troops somewhere, I will make that decision, not (Secretary-General) Boutros-Boutros Ghali in the United Nations," Dole said at an Oklahoma City rally Saturday, repeating one of the most reliable applause lines in his campaign stump speech.