Morry Taylor

Millionaire tire magnate Morry Taylor gave up his little-noted run for the Republican presidential nomination Friday, endorsed Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas and urged other rivals to withdraw too. "Most of them have admitted that there is no chance to get" the nomination, said Taylor, who earned no delegates and about 7,000 votes, about 1% of the total in the primaries in which he ran. He urged Patrick J. Buchanan and Steve Forbes to follow his lead and get out of the race. Taylor, 51, spent $6.

Millionaire tire magnate Morry Taylor gave up his little-noted run for the Republican presidential nomination Friday, endorsed Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas and urged other rivals to withdraw too. "Most of them have admitted that there is no chance to get" the nomination, said Taylor, who earned no delegates and about 7,000 votes, about 1% of the total in the primaries in which he ran. He urged Patrick J. Buchanan and Steve Forbes to follow his lead and get out of the race. Taylor, 51, spent $6.

Why would a successful and seemingly sane man spend $15 million in a futile quest for the presidency? What dream or delusion drives a man like tire-and-wheel magnate Morry Taylor to drop more money than most people make in a lifetime in such a vain enterprise? What makes Alan (Alan Who?) Keyes believe that the American people will, in a rush of moral fervor, hoist him on their shoulders and carry him into the White House? Is it all vanity or noblesse oblige? Towering ego or a lust for combat?

For a guy who likes to brag about being a doer, not a talker, Morry Taylor has a lot to say. Folks in this town of 11,000 found that out recently as arguably the most colorful of the Republican presidential candidates held forth during a meet-and-greet gathering at The Hotel. A standing-room-only crowd, upward of 130 northwestern Iowans, jammed into puffy parkas and a stuffy room to hear the business tycoon's plan for running the country in the improbable event that he should get the chance.

For a guy who likes to brag about being a doer, not a talker, Morry Taylor has a lot to say. Folks in this town of 11,000 found that out recently as arguably the most colorful of the Republican presidential candidates held forth during a meet-and-greet gathering at The Hotel. A standing-room-only crowd, upward of 130 northwestern Iowans, jammed into puffy parkas and a stuffy room to hear the business tycoon's plan for running the country in the improbable event that he should get the chance.

The crowded Republican field in next year's presidential campaign has thinned in Rhode Island, where three GOP candidates failed to qualify for the state's March 5 primary. Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, multimillionaire publisher Steve Forbes and conservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan were not on the list when Secretary of State James Langevin announced the primary slate. That leaves Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, Sen. Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, former Tennessee Gov.

Key to Election Tables * An asterisk (*) denotes an incumbent candidate; a dagger (**) denotes an appointed incumbent. * A double dagger (***) indicates a race where a runoff election will be held between the top two candidates if no one receives more than half of the vote. * Elected candidates and approved measures--or those leading with 99% of precincts reporting--are in bold type. Runoff elections may be required in nonpartisan races where no candidate receives over 50% of the vote.

PARIS -- An incredulous -- and insulting -- letter from an American capitalist to a Socialist government minister in France has revealed a monumental clash of cultures. Tire magnate Maurice "Morry" Taylor Jr., head of Titan International, did not hold back when he decided to tell Arnaud Montebourg, France's minister for industrial renewal, where he could stick his suggestion that the U.S. businessman take over an ailing French factory. A simple no, or even non, might have sufficed.

Some folks were angry about the inconveniences resulting from last week's partial shutdown of the federal government. Others, like Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), were angry that not enough was closed. Cox was aghast to learn that in spite of the budget impasse, the outdated federal helium program was deemed "essential" and continued producing hot air. Cox has won House approval to shut down the program, labeled one of the biggest federal boondoggles in recent times.

It's Thursday afternoon, just hours before the GOP candidates' televised debate. While the major presidential candidates are prepping, Richard P. Bosa is working the telephone from home, trying to line up radio interviews. Bosa, a Republican mayor from the northern New Hampshire town of Berlin, has gone on cable television and radio to complain that the "federal candidates are not addressing the issues," such as the loss of manufacturing jobs here. At least he found a forum.

Why would a successful and seemingly sane man spend $15 million in a futile quest for the presidency? What dream or delusion drives a man like tire-and-wheel magnate Morry Taylor to drop more money than most people make in a lifetime in such a vain enterprise? What makes Alan (Alan Who?) Keyes believe that the American people will, in a rush of moral fervor, hoist him on their shoulders and carry him into the White House? Is it all vanity or noblesse oblige? Towering ego or a lust for combat?

There aren't too many ways to explain a last place finish in the Iowa caucuses and still be a candidate. Unless the candidate is Orange County Congressman Robert K. Dornan, whose campaign blames the Christian Coalition for creating the impression he had dropped out of the GOP presidential race, resulting in a poor showing in Iowa Monday.

Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle is on a list of potential Republican convention delegates from California pledged to support Bob Dole for president. He is also on a delegate list pledged to Lamar Alexander. But he has not made a public endorsement of either candidate. Pringle spokesman Gary Foster said that both the Dole and Alexander campaigns asked Pringle to be on their slates and he accepted. "He would like to be a delegate for California.