Democrats hand Gore victory

Tuesday, February 1st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Vice President Al Gore defeated challenger Bill Bradley in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday, solidifying his lead for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Mr. Gore's victory, much smaller than his smashing triumph in last week's Iowa caucuses, left Mr. Bradley still playing catch-up as the Democratic race prepared to take a five-week hiatus. The next primaries are March 7 in a dozen states, including New York and California.

Even before the polls closed, Mr. Bradley, in a reversal, had challenged Mr. Gore to debate at least once a week, starting this Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press . "It's a whole new day," press secretary Eric Hauser said.

Previously, the former New Jersey senator had rejected Mr. Gore's challenge for twice-weekly debates and an end to television spots. The only scheduled debate between the two Democrats is March 1 in Los Angeles.

The Gore camp said it would accept the challenge. "We'll work out the details," said Doug Hattaway, the vice president's New Hampshire press secretary.

Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute of Public Opinion, said the Gore victory means that Mr. Bradley will have to rebound on March 7 "to justify his candidacy."

"He probably has to win both California and New York," the New York-based pollster said. "He needs to do something that will show he can shake up the race. Winning both of them would do that. But short of that, he's got a long haul."

Analyst Stuart Rothenberg said that, even if Mr. Gore wound up winning by less than 5 percent, "he has to be happy that he's gone 2-0 in Iowa and New Hampshire. But the margin appears to be close enough to encourage Mr. Bradley to stay in at least through March 7 and maybe close enough to give him some new energy.

"Bradley's people have to be very relieved," Mr. Rothenberg said. "If the margin had been bigger, there was likely to be a chorus of Democratic activists calling on him to get out of the way."

As soon as the outcome became clear, both Democratic contenders left to launch their campaigns for the next round of primaries. Mr. Gore flew to New York, while Mr. Bradley headed for Connecticut.

From there, both rivals planned to fly to California, which along with New York is the top prize March 7. Those two primaries may provide Mr. Bradley his best opportunity to derail Mr. Gore before the March 14 tests in Texas and five other Southern and border states.

Network exit polls showed that Mr. Bradley led Mr. Gore 3-to-2 among the independents who make up nearly 40 percent of the Democratic electorate. But that cushion was offset by a similar margin for the vice president among the 60 percent who were Democrats.

They also showed that the former New Jersey senator did better among voters under 30 than in those from 30 to 60 and ran surprisingly well among those over 60 - in part a reflection of how well-educated New Hampshire Democrats are.

More than half the voters, the exit polls showed, were either college graduates or had done some post-graduate study, and less than 20 percent had no more than a high school education.

That Mr. Bradley ran close to Mr. Gore will probably minimize the amount of pressure he may face from party leaders to drop his challenge. In any case, Mr. Bradley has plenty of money in the bank and had made clear even before the results came in that he planned to press ahead.

"I've been running against entrenched power, so should I expect pressure from entrenched power? Of course," Mr. Bradley said in an interview Tuesday with CNN. "Ultimately, the people will make the decision."

In challenging Mr. Gore to debate weekly, Mr. Bradley said in a letter to the vice president that "I'm certain that these debates will provide a useful road map to the voters on where the Democratic Party will take the voters in a new century."

Mr. Hauser said the debates would highlight differences between the two Democrats and "give the voters a clear choice."

And he made clear that the Bradley campaign was not interested in the previous Gore offer to substitute twice-weekly debates for television advertising spots.

"It's not about his initial offer right now," Mr. Hauser said. "It's about a national primary."

Mr. Bradley invested heavily in both time and money in New Hampshire, where as recently as a month ago he led Mr. Gore in the polls. And pre-primary surveys indicated that the vice president led Mr. Bradley in every key Democratic demographic group.

In the past, most Democratic primary winners here had won by margins between 5 and 10 points except for 1988, when Gov. Michael Dukakis of neighboring Massachusetts won by 16 points.

Earlier Tuesday, both Democratic candidates had visited polling places to rally last-minute support.

At a school in Merrimack, Mr. Bradley shook hands with a number of voters, telling each of them, "I need your help."

Mr. Gore offered coffee and doughnuts to volunteers and voters and exulted in the news that the economic expansion had reached a record of 107 months. "If you ask me, I think the timing is just about right," the vice president said.

Despite the last week of sometimes bitter exchanges between them, Mr. Gore said he believed there had been a "good discussion" of the issues in New Hampshire.

"The differences between the Democrats and the Republicans are so great that it's going to be a clear choice in the fall, no matter who the nominee is," Mr. Gore said.

Mr. Bradley has allowed he was too slow in responding to Mr. Gore's attacks in Iowa and vowed a more aggressive campaign in New Hampshire, which he defended Tuesday.

"It was consistent with having respect for the voters to say if something is untrue, it's untrue," he said on CNN.

There is a five-week gap before the next primaries because the Democratic Party has traditionally enforced rules barring any tests before the first Tuesday in March, except for the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.

So while the Republican candidates move on to the Feb. 19 South Carolina primary and a half-dozen other contests later, the two Democrats will be concentrating on California, New York, Ohio and the other states that vote on March 7.

For example, both candidates are expected to be in California for the state Democratic convention Feb. 11-13 in San Jose.