Volume XXX. Number 4
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January 26, 2000
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Gorewins, Bush leads Longshots make it to Superbowl Game raises
in Iowa caucus vote
S U P E R
B O W L
A ssocialeil E ress
By D ash Cut
Vice President Al Gore won Iowa’s Democratic caucuses Monday night,
opening the 2000 presidential election season with a comfortable victory over
Bill Bradley. In the Republican race, George W. Bush led conservative
publisher Steve Forbes in results that left four other candidates far behind.
T he v icto ry blunted B ra d le y ’s
challenge and validated G ore's status
as front-runner going into the New
H am pshire prim ary next week.
Bradley has polled even with Gore, or
ahead, in New Hampshire.
In the Iowa Republican race, Forbes
was running close to Bush with Alan
Keyes, John McCai n, Gary Bauer and
Orrin Hatch trailing.
Bush was about 10 points ahead o f
Forbes in interviews conducted by
Voter News Service as voters entered
th e ir c a u c u s sites. V N S is a
consortium o f The Associated Press
and the nation's principal television
outlets. VNS projected that Gore
would win by a wide margin.
The caucuses, where citizens have to
attend neighborhood meetings to
Vice President AI Gore
make their choice, were expected to
draw no more than 100,000 voters from each party, concluding months o f
debates, fund raising and grass-roots campaigning here. Iowa launches the
presidential race into a frantic six-week stretch, with the New Hampshire
primary a week away.
Bradley, once an internationally known professional basketball star, had
hoped to sustain his challenge to Gore on the Democratic side.
McCain, who spent more than five years as a prisonerofthe North Vietnamese,
declined to campaign here, but the Arizona Republican was still listed on
ballots.
The Iowa process will yield 47
________________________
d e le g a te s to th e D em o cratic
convention and 25 delegates to the
Republican convention, where the
parties formally pick theircandidates.
It is a tiny fraction o f the total a
c a n d id a te n eed s to w in the
nomination. The true rewards o f Iowa
are momentum or a validation o f the
candidate’s campaign.
En route to the early contests.
Republicans squabbled over taxes
and abortion, with international
issues only on the sidelines.
Courting religious conservatives who
make up a third o f the caucus-going
population. Bush carefully calibrated
his anti-abortion views to make clear
George IT. Bush
his opposition to a Supreme Court
ruling allowing abortions. Democrats
were poised to campaign on the issue if Bush were to win the Republican
nomination.
Gore and Bradley di tiered intone more than substance. They wrestled primarily
over alternative approaehes to federal health insurance policy. While Bradley
promised to provide big ideas to solve a few big problems. Gore said the next
president should not limit himself to a handful o f issues.
A string o f setbacks for Bradley, including recurrence o f a minor heart
condition, threw him offtrack in Iowa even as pol Is showed a tight race in New
Hampshire.
Despite McCain's failure to campaign in Iowa, except for participation in two
debates, he and Bradley have emerged as the significant challengers for 2000.
lowans attended caueuses at 2,100 sites across the sprawling farm state.
Ina display of basic grass-roots politics, voters here braved the winter weather
and visit classrooms, libraries, fire stations, church basements, grain co-ops
and even a few private homes to play their unique role in the American political
system.
It was one o f the most expensive caucuses in history, with millions spent on
TV alone. Forbes spent far more than anyone_ about $3.2 million, according
to aides from the Forbes and Bush campaigns. Bush spent at least a million
dollars less
The Democrats spent about $1.5 million each_closerto$2 million for Bradley,
according to the Gore camp.
Friday
Weather
Occaisonal
shower
Through the weekend
Today
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Cloudy
Thursday
Partially
sunny
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money for
scholarships
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There is no Steel Curtain in Atlanta
this week. No Silver and Black,
Doomsday Defense or last hurrah for
Joh.« Elway.
Those are the kind ofbig-name images
the Super Bowl has been built around,
the kind that w on't be around come
this Super Sunday.
“Maybe some people still want Green
Bay and Denver,” Titans tight end
Frank Wycheck said. “But to me, this
is a refreshing game. It’s two great
teams who have been through some
tough times and deserve to be here.
For people to say this is not a
glamorous game doesn ’ t make sense.
These are the two best teams left.”
Those two teams are Tennessee and
St. Louis.
It’s a small-market, middle-America
game that offers plenty o f compelling
stories, most o f them dealing with
underdogs overcoming long odds to
finally play for a title.
But whether those stories and those
teams are enough to hold the nation’s
interest through a w eek’s worth o f
hype, a day full o f pregame shows
and four hours o f football has yet to
be seen.
After a slow start in the television
ratings, the playoffs got a boost last
week in the conference title games.
The so-called Grits Bowl, a small-
m arket Southeastern show dow n
between Jacksonville and Tennessee,
drew an overnight 24.2 rating, down
just 6 percent from the early game
between Atlanta and Minnesota the
year before. The St. Louis-Tampa Bay
game got a 26.9 rating, a 3 percent
jum p the previous year’s Broncos-
Jets matchup in the late game. It was
the highest-rated show since the
Academy Awards last March.
Still. ABC Sports president Howard
Katz seems to be approaching the
Super Bowl with a sense o f resigned
inevitability.
“People have asked how we feel about
the teams," Katz said. “W e’re here to
cover the game. We hope it’s a great
game.”
So does the NFL.
“Could there be a small difference in
ratings because these teams are from
smaller markets and not larger ones?
Sure, I’d be stupid if I said differently,”
NFL network executive Dennis Lewin
said. “That said, I think the market
size o f the teams is going to barely be
a blip on the radar screen.”
But clearly, Tennessee-St. Louis is a
far cry from Pittsburgh-Dallas.
The core o f the problem is that there
is no history, tradition or significant
fan following for these teams on either
coast, or in many places in between.
“These are not teams that interest
me,” Atlanta resident Ted Kloster
said. “It’s the Super Bowl, so you feel
like you should watch it. But if the
game isn’t good, it’s not too difficult
to turn it off.”
Jackson asks players to protest Georgia flag
A SSIHI VI H i P r ESS
The NFL will prohibit players from
heeding the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s
request to wear the American flag on
their helmets as a sign o f protest over
Georgia’s state flag.
Jackson announced a cam paign
Monday to protest the state flag,
which incorporates the Confederate
battle flag, which many blacks and
other minorities consider a symbol of
slavery and racial supremacy.
“ W e 're in the aw kw ard and
disgraceful position o f playing the
Super Bowl game - the most watched
event in A m erica - under the
Confederate flag,” Jackson said from
Chicago, the headquarters o f his
50°F /l0°C
39°F /3°C
Rainbow-PUSH Coalition.
“W e’re calling for the flag to come
down,” he said.
Inside-A
Jackson said the organization does
(Please see ’Georgia’ page3)
Metro-B
Ina benefit game to raise funds for
the Joyce Washington Memorial
Scholarship, former Trailblazers
battled the Cory Cougars, which is
a group o f former high school and
college standouts.
The game was held at the Self-
Enhancem ent Inc. facility on
Sunday evening and raised $ 1,300.
M ore than 200 com m unity
attended the game. They also
attended the game to honor the life
work of Joyce Washington, former
p u b lish e r o f T he P o rtlan d
Observer. Joyce Washington died
o f a heart attack in 1996.
In addition to the basketball game,
there was an auction o f donated
items from area companies.
It was a nice family affair where
children indulged in hot dogs
sodas and cotton candy. And
adults enjoyed the humor o f the
game and announcer Billy Moore
During the game, many adults also
talked among each other about
Joyce Washington and her love
for this community.
An angel.
That’s how Paul Knaulsdescribed
Joyce Washington, “She was just
an angel,” said Knauls, co-owner
o f G eneva’s Shear Perfection
“Everyone respected her. The
number o f people here shows
that.”
In honor of Joyce Washington
The Portland Observ er established
two aw ards. Charles Washington,
publisherofthe Observer, received
an award. And Gary Ann Taylor,
business manager for the Observer,
received an award, too.
As for the game itself, although the
Cory Cougars were at a heightened
disadvantage, they made up for it
with hustle and determination. The
score was tied late into the fourth
quarter at 53-53 when M ark
W ashington scored with four
minutes and 19 seconds left on the
clock. Trailblazer alumnus Michael
Harper made two free throws with
four minutes and four seconds left
and Blazeralumnus Mark Radford
scored another basket 30 seconds
later. Intheend.theBlazeralumni’s
height and skill adv antage was too
much for the gutsy, but over
matched Cougars. The Blazers won
the gam 63-59.
But Dr. Billy Flowers, who was the
coach for the Cory Cougars, said
his team was a great one. “I didn’t
dream that I would work with so
much talent," Flowers said. The
Joyce W ashington M em orial
Scholarship Fund is designed to
a ssist m in o rity high school
students who plan to major in
business. English, journalism or
athletics. The deadline for the
scholarship is Aug. I . Scholarship
applications will be availableat the
Portland Observer, located at 4949
N.F.. Martin 1 uther King Blvd.
This Week
in History
V
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Saturday
Showers
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Sunday
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Showers
Week in Review....................2 Community court to open in SE
Community panel and police
Portland.................................... 2
abuse......................................... 3 Accident leaves Chiefs
William Temple House and
linebackerpartially paralyzcd.,,5
Legacy..................................... 5 Evangelist uses gospel to
More African-Americans in
unite........................................ 6
undergraduate programs..........6 El O bservador........................4
4
January 26, 1950. India o ffic ia lly
proclaimed itself a republic as Rajendra
Prasad took the oath o f office as president
January 28, 1986. the space shuttle
Challenger exploded 73 seconds after lifto ff
from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven crew
members
January 30, 1948, Indian po litica l and
sp iritua l leader Mahatma Gandhi was
murdered by a Hindu extremist
January 31, 1865, the House o f
Representatives passed a Constitutional
Amendment to Abolish Slavery
I