It is also unclear how much Republican candidates will benefit from their party's lopsided financial advantage in the last days of the campaign.

They maintained that, even though New York City's voter registration was a lopsided five-to-one advantage for Democrats over Republicans, too many voters cannot participate in the Democratic primary.

But the district has a lopsided Democratic advantage in voter registration, which has given confidence to the supporters of Diane Savino, 40, Mr. Curtis's Democratic opponent.

Long Island history is no different, and as elswhere, Long Island whites have had a lopsided advantage in how such disputes have been resolved.

The Democrats' lopsided financial advantage - at the beginning of the year the Democratic State Committee had $1.2 million in the bank, while the Republicans had $135,000 - was not even the worst of it.

Auburn outshot Tennessee in the first half by 54.5 percent to 43.2 percent, but Tennessee got 15 more shots than Auburn and four more field goals because of its lopsided rebounding advantage (21-12).

Investors will remain on the sidelines without assurances that new regulations will offset the lopsided advantages of the much larger telephone companies.

Mr. Gore also enjoys a lopsided advantage in endorsements from officials across the nation, reflecting the institutional advantage he enjoys as a sitting Vice President.

As was the case throughout the game, the key to the Nets' lopsided advantage at the intermission was defense.

In a season of upheaval, in which nothing has come easily, an obvious question in Wednesday's post-game locker room was how it felt to have such a lopsided advantage.