Michigan crucial for McCain

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, FEB. 22. Even as the front runners in the Democratic Party, the Vice-President, Mr. Albert Gore Jr., and the former New Jersey Senator, Mr. Bill Bradley, were exchanging sharp words in Harlem, New York, on education, guns, support for minorities and racial profiling, much of the attention thus far in the Presidential race of 2000 remains on the Republican front.

Today the Grand Old Party has its open primary in Michigan and Arizona; and one more time the stakes are simply too high for both the Texas Governor, Mr. George W. Bush, and his spirited challenger, Mr. John McCain. The Arizona Senator is predicted to win handsomely in his own state today, but the real match is in Michigan where the Washington politician must deliver the goods or get ready to close shop.

The McCain camp claims its candidate will be in the race all the way until the two critical Tuesdays of March 7 and 14 are out of the way. But if the intensity of the campaigning in South Carolina and now in Michigan is anything to go by, Mr. McCain has to win so that his money flow can be assured to keep him in the race. If Mr. Bush comes out on top in Michigan on Tuesday, that will leave him with not only a big political boost but also a shot in the arm for additional fund raising.

The Engler Machine - Michigan's Republican Governor, Mr. John Engler - is said to be out in force working overtime that the Texas Governor comes out on top. On the eve of the open primary thousands of volunteers are said to have been pressed into service to ensure that Republicans turn out in strength to give Mr. Bush a much needed victory. As in South Carolina, Mr. McCain is banking on the independents and the Democrats to turn out in large numbers.

The disadvantage for Mr. Bush in Michigan is that the state is much different from that of South Carolina, one of which is that Evangelical Christians who gave Mr. Bush the advantage in South Carolina are far fewer in Michigan. The Bush campaign denies the McCain charge that religious and conservative leaders like Mr. Pat Robertson and Mr. Ralph Reed ``hand delivered'' the victory in South Carolina - rather the counter argument has been that Republicans and ``real'' conservatives came out to offset help from Democrats and others.

In the last two days the McCain strategy has been one of going on the offensive even if this has surprised many in the establishment and outside. The Arizona Senator has minced no words when it comes to the Texas Governor and has been hammering away at Mr. Bush's claim of being a reformer. ``If he is a reformer, I am an astronaut,'' quipped Mr. McCain who has put himself in a difficult position by saying that he will not run negative advertisements.

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