It has taken about a

month-and-a-half longer than we expected, but Texas Gov.

George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore now have enough

delegate votes to award them the Republican and

Democratic Party's presidential nomination, respectively.

When these two men

announced their candidacies last year (and even before

then when they were unannounced candidates), it was

widely presumed that they would be the major party

nominees in the November 2000 election.

After all, Mr. Gore was the

sitting vice president - and, even though they don't

always win elections, they can usually manage to get

their party's nomination.

And, for his part, Gov.

Bush was rapidly amassing money and endorsements in

support of his bid.

So, they each looked

unbeatable.

But, of course, that was

before former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley and Arizona

Sen. John McCain decided to challenge the front-runners.

For his part, former Sen.

Bradley always looked like a tougher opponent on paper

than he actually proved himself to be.

In fact, that is just what

this anticipated tiger turned out to be - paper!

Vice President Gore handily

won in the Iowa caucuses (where having the support of the

party establishment counted a great deal) and he edged

Sen. Bradley out in New Hampshire (despite that state's

propensity to be cantankerous).

Once the "Veep"

had swept the Super Tuesday primaries, including the big

prizes of California, New York, and Ohio (as well as Sen.

Bradley's home state of Missouri), the Democratic

challenger could easily read the handwriting on the wall.

So, he endorsed the vice

president's campaign and graciously bowed out.

Sen. McCain - a real

American hero with a wicked sense of humor (he once said

he decided to run for president when he saw Angela

Lansbury turn over the Queen of Hearts) - proved

quite a bit more attractive to voters in the primary

states.

He actually won New

Hampshire, and was doing well in the days ahead of Super

Tuesday (until he ran head-on into the monolithic

Religious Right).

But, in the end, Gov. Bush

proved that money and organization count for a lot in the

battle for the GOP nomination.

So, Sen. McCain bowed out

- but, pointedly, did not endorse the man who

defeated him!

Now, even though Vice

President Gore and Gov. Bush have to wait until this

summer to officially accept the nominations of their

parties, they are, for all practical purposes, the

nominees - and they can begin battling it out for

the big prize in November.

Thus, we voters face the

prospect of another elongated struggle for the White

House - one that will make us all wish that it would

just go away before it's over and which by November may

leave us wondering why we should elect either one of the

candidates.

And, of course, there will

be many voters who will simply pick what they perceive to

be the lesser of two evils when they enter the ballot

box.

But, the two surviving

candidates do offer a choice - one which the voters

should seriously consider before they cast their ballots.

Now, obviously, one

difference is that Vice President Gore is a heck of a lot

smarter - book learning and common sense - than

Gov. Bush.

(Of course, President Jimmy

Carter was perhaps the smartest president to serve in

this century, based on his I.Q., but he is also rated one

of the worst men to hold the office in terms of

accomplishing his goals; and, he was turned out of office

hostage situation.)

And, on the issues, Gov.

Bush and Vice President Gore offer some clear differences

- Gore is for a woman's right to choose, for

instance, and Bush is not.

Ultimately, though, the

decision may come down to then-candidate Ronald Reagan's

famous question: Are you better off today than you were

four years ago?

Each one of us will have to

answer that for ourselves.

[Lee N. Howell is an

award-winning writer who has been observing and

commenting upon politics and society in the Southern

Crescent, the state, and nation for more than a quarter

of a century.]