Dollar Bill in the Fourth Quarter

...didn't offer so many delegates—one-sixth of what's needed to win the nomination—and didn't award them in proportion to a candidate's percentage of the vote, Bradley's withdrawal from the state would make sense...

...As for California's AFL-CIO, its executive secretary, Art Pulaski, says the union is making one million calls to its members urging a vote for Gore...

...Some of Bradley's troubles here are self-inflicted, but most are not...

...He told the San Francisco Chronicle recently, "If the only thing that makes the news is attacks, then I don't have an audience...

...Bradley has nothing that comes close to this get-out-the-vote effort...

...His decision not to spend a single day in California during the week following the state convention prompted speculation from the Gore camp that he's writing the state off and focusing his energies elsewhere...

...Describing the early stage of his presidential campaign as "exhilarating," he boasted, "I'm at the top of my game...

...What's more, the state's Democratic establishment is wired for Gore...

...But if California Jay Leno joked that while at the Sierra Club, Bradley "talked about the latest name on the endangered species list—his...

...Upbeat though the setting was, the only time I saw Bradley's face light up was when Russell entered the gym...

...Gray Davis, for example, has been a statewide elected official for more than 13 years, and was elected governor i 1998...

...Bradley, on the other hand, refuses to escalate the rhetoric against Gore...

...But Bradley has also been hurt by the absence of Democratic primary contests since New Hampshire, which has deprived him of the opportunity to score momentum-building victories...

...His supporters are chanting his name, but he doesn't even look back to acknowledge them...

...Fast forward to February 12...

...Gore sounded like the underdog...

...Indeed, Gore has come to California the equivalent of once every six weeks since he became vice president (that's over 60 trips...

...And those who identify themselves as Gore supporters will receive another call in the last three days before the vote, reminding them to go to the polls on primary day...

...It featured short speeches from basketball icons like Julius Erving, Bill Russell, and Phil Jackson, and was punctuated by Bradley, in sweat pants and ratty low-top sneakers, horsing around with kids doing drills...

...But the outlook is grim as Bradley heads into the March 7 primary...

...And then there's the problem that Bill Clinton has just achieved his highest ever approval rating in California, 64 percent...

...What are we doing here...

...Following the rally, 300 people march a few steps behind him as he saunters through the Hilton lobby to the adjoining convention...

...But elections generate little attention in California, and the state's sheer size makes it difficult to penetrate...

...Bill Bradley had just hauled in $1 million at an oversubscribed fund-raiser and he could barely contain his giddiness...

...Afterwards, as intermediate-school students mobbed him and clamored for his autograph, he never cracked a smile...

...He had considerable success fund-raising (particularly in Silicon Valley), signed up a highly touted party operative in Gale Kaufman, and even scored better than expected in opinion surveys pitting him against Al Gore...

...After spending the 1997-98 academic year teachMatthew Rees is a staff writer at THE WEEKLY STANDARD...

...Coupled with the exposure any veep receives, it means Gore is simply much better known than Bradley...

...ing at Stanford University, he came back to California for extended visits last year to lay the groundwork for his presidential effort...

...To break through, Bradley's strategy has been to hammer Gore for lacking "core convictions," highlighting his voting record on abortion and guns and his less than stellar environmental record...

...But the write-up in the next day's LosAngeles Times was a measly four paragraphs...

...And in his animated address to the Democratic convention he devoted more time to attacking Bradley than Republicans...

...And for someone who spent 10 years as a professional basketball player, Bradley looked extraordinarily awkward on the court...

...After campaigning at a synagogue later that day, Bradley jetted off to Seattle and didn't hold another California event until the pre-convention rally two days later...

...I'm having the time of my life...

...But a recent po showed that just 65 perce of California voters identify him...

...he snaps at the Secret Service agents nearby, who quickly redirect him...

...He's been in the state as much as I have," says California congressman Bob Matsui, one of his supporters...

...BY MATTHEW REES San Jose, California The scene was San Francisco's Sheraton Palace Hotel last April...

...And in a moment straight out of the movie Spinal Tap, he takes a wrong turn and only realizes the error when he's about to walk into, not the convention hall, but a janitor's closet...

...Even Jay Leno joked that during a campaign appearance at the Sierra Club in San Francisco, Bradley "talked about the latest name on the endangered species list—his...

...Bradley's advisers dismiss such talk, pointing to their two television ads airing throughout California (one references Gore's flip-flop on abortion, the other features Michael Jordan's endorsement...

...For, absent some fourth-quarter heroics, he'll be lucky if his share of the California vote much exceeds his shooting percentage...

...rally shortly before he is due to address the Democratic party state convention...

...On February 10, for example, Bradley held two morning campaign events in Los Angeles, where he strongly jabbed at Gore for changing his position on gun control...

...Garry South, Davis's top political strategist and a Gore backer, says Bradley "grossly underestimated" how difficult it would be to get the kind of attention he needed...

...Gore's campaign chairman, Tony Coelho, represented central California in Congress for 11 years...

...The scene is the San Jose Hilton, and Bradley is speaking at a 9 a.m...

...But the strategy can succeed only if the local media provide coverage, and they're not providing much...

...The performance seemed emblematic...

...The vast majority of congressmen and state legislators are with him, and Gray Davis, the popular governor, is campaigning for him...

...Two recent statewide polls showed Gore leading by more than 35 points, and both showed Bradley's popularity eroding in recent months...

...Instead of leaning down to make small talk, he stood stiffly upright and robotically signed the items being thrust at him...

...It's hugely expensive to mount a serious campaign here, and Bradley faces a steeper uphill fight in California than anywhere else save Gore's native Tennessee...

...This is smart, given the importance California's Democratic primary voters attach to these issues...

...He couldn't even muster much passion at an event where parents spoke of how their children had been harmed by gun violence...

...His immediate problem, for example, is his inability to generate the free media coverage he needs in a huge state, and for this he can blame John McCain, whose Republican insurgency is dominating the news...

...As symbols of Bradley's California campaign, these two events nicely capture his rise and fall...

...This activity might not matter much in a small, politically oriented state such as New Ham shire...

...As for his convention speech, it sounded like that of a front-runner...

...More important than the endorsements, though, is Gore's support from the state's most politically active unions, the AFL-CIO and the California Teachers Association...

...Organized labor in the state was rejuvenated by its successful fight to defeat an antiunion "paycheck protection" initiative in 1998—a crusade that Al Gore joined...

...Today, California's unions are "as mobilized as they've ever been," says Bill Carrick, a Los Angeles-based Democratic consultant unaffiliated with either campaign...

...During the 20 minutes of drills, I watched him take eight shots, most from five feet or less, and he made only one...

...During his three days in the state, February 10-12, he held a slew of events that linked him to most of the Democratic party's major constituencies: unions, Hispanics, women, gays, blacks, high-techies, Hollywood liberals, and healthcare workers ("I love nurses," he cooed at a Los Angeles hospital...

...I should be paying people for the experience...

...He looks tired, and during his 10-minute speech his only memorable line—"We still have the fourth quarter to go"—doesn't exactly stir the crowd...

...Indeed, the CTA has already blanketed the state with 300,000 letters to its members flagging its endorsement of Gore, and its parent organization, the National Education Association, will be mailing out another 185,000 letters...

...California is far from virgin territory for Gore...

...Even the state Democratic chairman, a position that traditionally demands neutrality in primaries, backs Gore and has publicly reamed Bradley...

...Bradley's lone post-convention event was held in the gym of Fremont High School in Oakland...

...While in Los Angeles, he snuck in an appearance on Jay Leno—the kind of free media Bradley desperately needs...

...For all the advantages he enjoys, Gore shows no signs of overconfidence...