George Bush Victorious in Virginia

Tuesday, February 29th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Gov. George W. Bush scored an easy victory in Virginia and was expected to capture North Dakota on Tuesday, but he was locked in a closer primary contest with presidential rival Sen. John McCain in Washington state.

Among Democrats, Vice President Al Gore was poised to deliver a body blow in Washington to former Sen. Bill Bradley, who cited the nonbinding contest as a must-win for his sputtering campaign.

In a primary day that was not seen as critical, the contests were, nevertheless, important stepping stones for next Tuesday's high-stakes, delegate-rich contests in California, New York and 14 other states.

In Virginia's primary and North Dakota's caucuses, Mr. Bush was aided by core Republican and establishment support.

"We are one step closer to victory," Mr. Bush said at a colorful, downtown Cincinnati rally.

"The voters of Virginia rejected the politics of pitting one religion against another," he said. "This campaign is winning and we're doing it the right way. We are uniting our party without compromising principles. We are expanding our base without destroying our foundations."

In a last-ditch salvo in Virginia on Monday, Mr. McCain had blasted Mr. Bush's appearance at Bob Jones University in South Carolina and his ties to some Christian conservative leaders such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.

The move failed to rally enough moderate Republicans, independents and Democrats to Mr. McCain's side.

Mr. Bush took all 56 of Virginia's delegates to the Republican national convention in Philadelphia this summer, bringing his total to 187 compared with Mr. McCain's 95.

Mr. McCain telephoned Mr. Bush after learning of Tuesday's election results.

"I congratulated him on his victory," Mr. McCain told reporters. "It seems as if he has a southern strategy here, doing well in southern states. And we'll look forward to [the primaries next week] when we have a broad section, a cross section of America voting all on that same day."

Exit polls conducted by Voter News Service in Virginia found that Mr. Bush again outstripped his rival among traditional GOP voters. Republicans made up two-thirds of the votes in Virginia's open primary and they favored the governor almost 3 to 1.

Those identifying themselves in the exit polls as members of the "religious right" favored Mr. Bush by 8 to 1. In South Carolina, that group, while a larger slice of the electorate, broke 3 to 1 for Mr. Bush.

"Sen. McCain has a major problem among Republicans. He has been unable to reach out to Republicans," Bush communications director Karen Hughes said. "Voters did send a signal that the path to victory is through the nominee who seeks to unify our party. Voters in Virginia were rejecting Sen. McCain's attempt to pit one group of voters against another."

Independents, who were less than a third of those voting in Virginia, and Democrats, who made up about 8 percent, strongly backed Mr. McCain. But not enough of them voted.

A double-digit loss in Virginia "was about what we expected," a glum senior McCain strategist said, adding, "Virginia is not representative of the nation."

Mr. McCain said he hoped his Virginia pitch would resonate in later primary states such as California and New York, which have a greater number of moderate voters.

"This is a defining moment for our party," Mr. McCain said earlier in Fresno, Calif. "We have to reject a couple of people who have led our people astray."

One problem for Mr. McCain is that next Tuesday's contests prohibit or limit the participation of independent and Democrats, who have fueled his surge.

Still, he touted a broad general election appeal. New public opinion polls suggest the senator would be a stronger candidate than Mr. Bush against Mr. Gore in November.

In North Dakota, Mr. Bush was expected to ride a strong organization edge and establishment support to collect the 19 delegates up for grabs in GOP caucuses.

Mr. McCain was banking on a more moderate, reform-minded electorate in Washington state.

"We feel more confident about Washington," Mr. McCain told reporters early in the day. "Can I just sum up what we all know? No one has been able to predict a single one of these yet, so why in the world should I be able to predict?"

Widespread absentee voting kept the television networks from conducting traditional exit surveys in Washington state.

"We have to do it the old-fashioned way," the McCain aide said Tuesday, "and see what the voters say."

Active campaigning across the state by Democrats and Republicans was expected to produce the kind of high turnout seen in many states this year.

Secretary of State Ralph Munro, a McCain co-chairman, noted Tuesday that half of the one million absentee ballots mailed out had not been returned. And because absentee ballots postmarked Tuesday count toward the official tally, a final count in a very close contest could be days away.

Mr. Bush, certain of his Virginia strength, scaled back his campaigning there last week to devote more attention to Washington state, where Mr. McCain was sinking more of his resources.

Only 12 of Washington's 37 GOP delegates were up for grabs, with the rest to be chosen at state caucuses next week.

Democrats were conducting a "beauty contest" in Washington state, with no delegates at stake Tuesday. Instead, they will be awarded at the caucuses.

But Mr. Bradley raised the ante over a week ago when he announced he was making a symbolic stand in Washington, and spent five days campaigning there.

The former New Jersey senator, who has yet to win a primary or caucus, badly needed a win, independent political analyst Stuart Rothenberg said.

"There is no indication that Bill Bradley has anything going in California. He's far behind in New York. It appears the campaign has passed him by," Mr. Rothenberg said.

Chris Lehane, Mr. Gore's spokesman, said before the results were in that "the Gore campaign is optimistic." The vice president's positions on the environment, education and high technology "translate into great politics in Washington state," he said.

Mr. Bradley's campaign fended off rumors Tuesday that he would immediately pull out of the race if he lost in Washington - before his Wednesday debate with Mr. Gore in Los Angeles and before next Tuesday's pivotal contests.

"That's preposterous," Bradley press secretary Eric Hauser said as the candidate touched down in Los Angeles. Mr. Hauser recited the candidate's schedule for the week and noted that the former NBA star had just purchased five minutes of national television time on CBS for an unusual campaign commercial Wednesday night.

David Jackson, traveling with the McCain campaign in California, and Wayne Slater, with the Bush campaign in Ohio, contributed to this report.