McCain has tried unsuccessfully for four straight years to get the Senate to adopt stricter fund-raising controls, including a ban on the unregulated donations to parties known as "soft money."

Bush, the first presidential candidate ever to raise more than $50 million, would ban soft money contributions from corporations and unions, but not from other groups. He would also raise the limit on individual contributions.

Bush has refused federal matching money for his campaign, freeing him to spend as much as he wants.

But many voters will be concentrating on making sure the economy continues to grow, predicts Martin A. Linsky, a lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government.

"I don't think voters in the Northeast are unique," he said.

"Their central concerns are keeping the economy humming along, and making sure the growth extends throughout the community," he added.

Both McCain and Bush have proposed tax cuts, though the Texas Governor's reductions are more generous.

The Democratic race is not as simple to characterize, particularly in the Northeast.

Massachusetts, one of the most solidly Democratic states in the nation, will likely go for Al Gore '69--whom Sen. Edward M. Kennedy '54-56 has endorsed--and McCain, Zogby predicts.

"In the Massachusetts GOP primary voters will look more like voters in Michigan than like voters in South Carolina, because of the differences in ideology," Linsky said.

Both Gore and former senator Bill Bradley support a soft money ban and full federal financing of elections. Both advocate spending increases for child care programs, though Bradley proposes targeted tax credits for child care expenses.

The two Democrats differ only slightly on defense policy, though only Gore supports what he calls "sensible" increases in the military's budget.

In the other New England states, Maine, Vermont Rhode Island and Connecticut, anything is possible, Zogby said. All four have very independent streaks in politics and are ruled by "Yankee conservatism," he said.

Both Bradley and McCain might benefit from New York's history of voting for the underdog candidate, Zogby predicts.

"Democrats in New York love to turn the world upside-down," he said. "It's hard to predict, but history is on [Bradley's] side."