Forbes pulls out of presidential race

By Alan Elsner, Political Correspondent

WILMINGTON, Del., Feb 9 (Reuters) - Publisher Steve Forbes, after spending more than $65 million of his own money over two campaigns, pulled out of the 2000 presidential race on Wednesday, leaving George W. Bush and John McCain to fight it out for the Republican nomination.

Forbes, who worked tirelessly for the past four years for the White House prize, canceled his campaign schedule in Michigan after finishing third in Tuesday's Delaware Republican primary with 20 percent of the vote.

Bush, the governor of Texas, won with 51 percent. But after making many visits to the state, Forbes was eclipsed by Arizona Sen. McCain, who won a quarter of the vote without setting foot in Delaware once or spending a penny.

His campaign spokeswoman said Forbes would fly back to his New Jersey home and formally withdraw on Thursday at a 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) appearance.

Forbes' withdrawal -- he is the seventh declared Republican candidate to drop out -- leaves Bush and McCain vying for the nomination with only talk radio host Alan Keyes on the fringes of the race.

KEYES GETS FEW VOTES

Keyes, a spellbinding orator, often grabs the spotlight in debates but has almost no chance of winning the nomination. He won 4 percent of the vote in Delaware and is in low single digits in national polls.

Speaking on NBC's "Today" show, Bush said Forbes had injected some "pretty good ideas" into the political process and that he hoped to benefit from his withdrawal.

"If he drops out I will work hard to appeal to his voters and give his conservative voters a home in the primary in South Carolina and other important states," he said.

Republican political consultant Rich Galen said Forbes' withdrawal would help Bush in the South Carolina primary on Feb. 19 which is looming as the next crucial showdown.

"There are some analysts who think if Forbes and Keyes continue to compete through South Carolina they could get 10-12 percent of the votes, nearly all of which would come out of Bush's hide," he said in a written commentary issued before Forbes' decision was confirmed.

"Therefore, if Forbes gets out of the race this week, it will make McCain's hill a bit steeper to climb in South Carolina," Galen wrote.

Forbes won the Delaware and Arizona primaries in 1996, campaigning on a platform of scrapping the income tax and replacing it with a 17 percent flat tax for all.

In 2000, he grafted a fierce anti-abortion message on to his platform. But Forbes could get no traction in a campaign that had been dominated by Bush's money and clout until McCain shook things up by drubbing the Texas governor in last week's New Hampshire primary.

NO ENDORSEMENT EXPECTED

Forbes aides said he would not endorse any other candidate at this stage. Forbes has bitterly attacked Bush as a fake conservative who is not really committed to cutting taxes or reducing abortions. Forbes, whose net worth has been estimated at about $500 million, shelled out more than $28 million for the 2000 bid and spent about $37 million of his own fortune on his failed 1996 attempt for the Republican nomination,

The Bush-McCain battle has become increasingly bitter and personal since McCain's New Hampshire triumph.

Bush released a new advertisement in South Carolina Tuesday quoting a newspaper article that said McCain's campaign "is crawling with lobbyists" and another that warned "it's time the rest of the nation learns about the ... McCain we know."

McCain was running his own spot in the same state asking voters, "Do we really want another politician in the White House that we can't trust?"

Bush accused McCain of backing a tax plan that only a Democrat could like, while McCain charged Bush with "twisting the truth like (President) Clinton."

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Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), February 09, 2000

Answers

If that schmuck wants to salvage any semblance of honor and respectibility, he'll endorse Keyes, and actively campaign on his behalf.

Will he do it?

I don't think so.

-- der papa (papa@katz.&.jammer), February 09, 2000.

--I sincerely hope that forbes will personally and financially support keyes at this time, and not waste any time, either. How do the two of them get along? anyone know?

-- zog (zzoggy@yahoo.com), February 09, 2000.

Zog, my friend, you are forgetting the myriad restrictions on such financial support. A fair amount of soft money might be possible, but lots of hard dough from Forbes for Keyes? I would like to see this happen too, but see it as unlikely in the extreme.

www.y2ksafeminnesota.com

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesota@hotmail.com), February 10, 2000.