Things continue to break well for the once-improbable presidential candidate Steve Forbes. One private poll shows him at 17 percent in Iowa — far ahead of Gramm, Buchanan, and Alexander, who are still mired in single digits. What’s more, the Forbes campaign has probably succeeded in its effort to get on the New York ballot, once thought to have been closed off by A1 D’Amato to everyone but Bob Dole.
Forbes spent some $ 1 million to gather the 50,000-plus signatures necessary and will be the only other candidate on the ballot statewide. Together with polls showing strength in both New Hampshire and Arizona (where he’s even ahead), a preliminary sketch of a Forbes victory scenario is possible:
February 12: Second in the Iowa caucuses. February 20: Second in New Hampshire. February 21: Lead story on all network newscasts. February 27: Second, or even first, in Arizona. February 29: On the cover of all three newsmagazines. March 7: Beats Dole one-on-one in New York. After which, who knows?
