With Dan Quayle gone and Pat Buchanan possibly heading for the Reform Party, the Republican race appears to be down to three heavy-weight contenders: Texas Gov. George W. Bush, Elizabeth Dole and Steve Forbes.

Some Iowan Quayle supporters already have picked sides with these major GOP candidates.

The impact on their campaigns come caucus time remains to be seen.

“Quayle’s campaign was not very organized,” said Monte Shaw, Iowa campaign manager for Dole. “But both [Quayle and Dole] offered a return of trust and integrity to the White House.

“They are both good and decent people, and there are no questions about either of their personal lives. We’ve already picked up some of [Quayle’s] county leaders,” he said.

Shaw said he could not go on record with names at this time.

The Dole campaign is not the only team picking up Iowans.

“We’ve picked up three Quayle supporters in Iowa, including Bill Anderson, who was Quayle’s Northwest Regional Director in the state,” said Juleanna Glover, press secretary at the Forbes national campaign headquarters in Alexandria, Va. “I think we can look forward to a lot of Quayle supporters.”

The other two Iowans joining the Forbes campaign are Steve Salem, Quayle’s Woodbury County chairman, and Joyce Hagen, Quayle’s Worth County chairwoman.

Both campaigns will need considerable help to gain ground on front-runner Bush.

A CNN poll of 1,698 Americans, taken Sept. 14, shows Bush garnering 62 percent of the vote when respondents were asked who they would support for the Republican nomination. Dole weighed in with 10 percent, and Forbes had 5 percent.

A ray of light offered for Dole and Forbes was that half of all those polled who supported Bush said they may change their minds by GOP primary time.

Shaw said he feels that there is a bigger issue than the polls pitting the GOP candidates against each other.

“Right now, there are only two candidates that the American public are taking seriously, and that’s Dole and Bush,” Shaw said. “But what’s even more noteworthy is there hasn’t been a national poll taken this year where Dole has not beaten out [Vice President Al] Gore or [Bill] Bradley head to head, and these results are very similar to Bush’s.”

As for the ramifications of Buchanan possibly leaving the Republican Party, Jason Darrah, chairman of the ISU College Republicans, said they would be minimal.

“His decision to not seek the Republican nomination might take some votes away from the party, but more staunch, hard-line Republicans will then seek candidates such as [Gary] Bauer and Forbes,” said Darrah, junior in political science.

Darrah said the American people are generally very happy with the two parties, especially because of the state of the economy, and therefore a third-party candidate wouldn’t likely have an effect on the Republican vote next year.