Bush Gains a Super Victory; Dukakis Hikes Delegate Lead : Dole Finishes Far Behind in GOP Voting

Vice President George Bush, scoring heavily among supporters of President Reagan and independent voters who cast ballots in GOP primaries and caucuses, was headed for a smashing Super Tuesday victory that will move him a giant step toward locking up the 1988 Republican presidential nomination.

Bush defeated Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole by decisive margins in most of the 17 states at issue--14 Southern and Border states plus Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Washington. Incomplete returns and exit polls indicated the vice president ultimately could emerge victorious everywhere except possibly Missouri, where preliminary tallies showed Dole ahead.

Robertson Runs Third

Former religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, who had looked upon the South as his natural base of support, ran third almost everywhere--an apparently severe blow to his candidacy. And Rep. Jack Kemp, who had already faded from contention, was finishing far back.

With 712 delegates at stake, final returns could show Bush winning 500 or more delegates, putting him far ahead of Dole, who went into Super Tuesday with only 65 delegates. The vice president had 125 delegates going into the contests. Kemp had 35 and Robertson, 8.

Incomplete returns from 16 states showed the following delegate breakdown:

Bush--528.

Dole--91.

Robertson--21.

Kemp--4.

Early in Tuesday’s balloting, the vice president, confident that his well-financed and highly organized campaign would prevail, told reporters that he would be the next President if he scored a clear and convincing victory on Tuesday.

Dole told reporters he realized he was “taking a bath” in the Super Tuesday returns and faced a steep uphill battle for the nomination, but implored them: “Don’t write my political obituary yet.”

Even before the polls closed in Florida, Kentucky, Georgia and Virginia, exit polls left no doubt that Bush had carried all five states handily, and later returns from Massachusetts, Alabama, Mississippi, Maryland, Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina and other states showed Dole’s candidacy and his hopes for the nomination being buried under a landslide of Bush votes.

Huge Margins for Bush

The vice president rolled up huge margins in most of the 14 Southern and Border states where Reagan, for the most part, remains extraordinarily popular. ABC exit polls, for example, showed that voters who supported Reagan in 1984 chose Bush over Dole this time by 62% to 19%, with Robertson getting 14% and Kemp 4%.

Voters who identified themselves as independents, a group Dole had counted on heavily for support, favored Bush over Dole by 53% to 23%, according to the polls, and crossover Democrats, another group the senator banked on, supported Bush, 57% to 29%. Those describing themselves as conservatives favored the vice president by 59% to 16%.

Bush also did extremely well among Latinos and even outpolled Robertson among evangelicals and “born-again” Christians, who had been expected to form the core of Robertson’s support.

Voters Favoring Dole

Among the few categories of voters favoring Dole were those with college degrees and those who voted for former Vice President Walter F. Mondale in the 1984 presidential election.

The exit polls, as well as the official balloting, indicated Bush has overcome the “wimp” factor that plagued his candidacy in the early campaigning. Fifty-eight percent of those polled cited “strong leader” as one of his best characteristics. Twenty percent cited Dole as a strong leader while 16% named Robertson.

Bush also ranked high in the “stable in crisis” category--68% to Dole’s 21% and Robertson’s 4%--and in the “understands people like me” category--56% to Dole’s 11% and Robertson’s 22%.

After Bush cast his vote in Houston, he and his campaign’s brain trust gathered in hotel suites to plan strategy for next Tuesday’s Illinois primary, where he expects to deliver another staggering blow to the Dole campaign. Gov. James R. Thompson and other Republican Establishment figures are backing Bush in the race.

Dole Ads Stress Record

Facing what comes close to a do-or-die situation in Illinois, Dole already had begun running television commercials there, stressing his own record of leadership and attacking Bush for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal, selling arms to Iran in exchange for help in seeking the release of American hostages held in Lebanon.

At a press conference in Peoria, Dole said he had sent a telegram to Bush challenging him to a series of debates in Illinois and said the debates would help “smoke George Bush out” and save the Republican Party from nominating a man Dole said could be pilloried by the Democrats in November’s general election.

“Sooner or later,” declared Dole, who has become increasingly harsh in his attacks on the vice president, “we’re going to have to fight some of the battles on the Republican side because the Democrats are not going to let George Bush hide. They’re going to want answers to a lot of questions.”

Dole insisted he is in the race to stay and said he expects to “turn things around” once the contest moves into the Midwest and West, where polls show he may be relatively stronger.

Debate Called Unlikely

But Dole is unlikely to get a debate with Bush in his struggle to revive his badly sagging candidacy. The vice president has run an exceptionally cautious campaign since winning the New Hampshire primary a month ago. Victory there put his campaign back on track after it had been derailed by a third-place finish in the Iowa caucus behind Dole and Robertson.

Bush, who has made himself generally inaccessible to national reporters covering his campaign, rejected Dole’s challenge to debate in Illinois through statements by aides.

Craig Fuller, Bush’s chief of staff, said, “We’ve been to seven debates and Bob Dole participated in six,” most of which were seen on television in Illinois. “We see no reason to participate in another debate.”

Lee Atwater, Bush campaign manager, called Dole’s debate challenge “an 11th hour ploy” and said Bush would refuse to debate and would stick with his own campaign schedule in Illinois.

Robertson Stays in Race

Robertson, who fared even worse than Dole in Tuesday’s contests, also insisted he will continue campaigning. Comparing the fight with Bush to David and Goliath, the former minister said: “He’s got me 4-to-1. I just don’t know whether I’ve got enough stones in the sling to bring him down, but I’m going to do the best I can.”

Even before Super Tuesday, rumors were rampant that Kemp planned to withdraw from the race if he failed to make a significant showing in any of the states. Despite his dismal showing Tuesday, there was no early word from his campaign on his intentions.