For Election 2000, New Hampshire has urged all candidates to pledge to avoid the Delaware primary - under pain of punishment by New Hampshire voters.

The Delaware primary on Saturday would make a nice start, thank you.

President Clinton will skip the Delaware primary, his campaign announced on Wednesday.

Mr. Dole was also asked today about Steve Forbes, the winner of the Delaware primary.

As the primary approached Joe Lieberman said that victory in the Delaware primary was required in order for his campaign to continue.

Now, Mr. Forbes is on something of a roll, having won the Delaware primary on Saturday.

As part of that, the campaign is portraying the governor's win in the low-profile Delaware primary as a monumental triumph.

Gingrich dropped out on May 2 after a disappointing showing in the Delaware primary that left his number of victories at 2 to Romney's 28.

In most respects, the Delaware primary was a sideshow to the main events in New Hampshire last week and in South Carolina on Feb. 19.

Candidates Rudy Giuliani, Duncan Hunter, Fred Thompson, and Tom Tancredo had dropped out of the presidential race before the Delaware primary.