A Day in the Life of a Political Machine

Cold coffee. Last-minute plans. Calls that are not made and many that are not answered. Primary campaigns are usually studies in tension, turmoil, trial and error. Not George Bush's campaign. The Vice President, more than any other contender in either party, has an organization that functions like a finely tuned machine. The campaign is always a reflection of the candidate, but sometimes the candidate seems to be no more than the end product of an enormously intricate mechanism.

Last week the Bush machine was concentrating on the South, and especially on South Carolina, where Saturday's primary served as an all-important prologue...