Looking for Two Out of Three

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Walking down the Capitol steps Tuesday, Bob Dole was quietly optimistic about his chances in primaries in Arizona and the Dakotas. "We feel good about it. We hope to win two out of the three primaries today. We'd like to win all three." Expected to win in both North and South Dakota, Dole faces a stiffer fight in Arizona, where polls show him neck and neck with Steve Forbes and Pat Buchanan in the winner-take-all contest for the state's 39 delegates. But for Dole, the fact that he was leaving Washington Tuesday not for Arizona but for South Carolina shows that the Senator believes the real battle for the nomination will take place there. Saturday's South Carolina primary kicks off a grueling ten-day stretch where delegates will be decided in eighteen states, and each candidate hopes a win there will provide momentum to carry them through. For Buchanan and Forbes, both of whom campaigned hard in Arizona, the stakes are different. Despite a surprising win in Delaware on Saturday, Forbes desperately needs a win to revive his flagging campaign. Buchanan, meanwhile, hopes a win in Arizona will make his case that he is a legitimate candidate and not someone who is just trying to push the Republican Party to the right. The looser may be Alexander, who Tuesday resigned himself losses in Arizona and the Dakotas that leave him finishing once again well out of first place in a primary. "I'm a patient man," he said, and suggested he would concentrate on looking for a win in South Carolina or in another southern state such as Georgia next Tuesday.