EATTLE - Bill Bradley ended his risky Washington gambit yesterday, heading south and leaving voters to show if he wasted five precious days trying to win the state's nonbinding ''beauty contest'' today.
As Bradley set out for California, the biggest prize in a round of primaries on March 7 that will make or break his candidacy, he received a rousing sendoff from a crowd of more than 2,000 in a cold rain in the quadrangle at the University of Washington.
But he all but conceded before the event that he did not expect to defeat Vice President Al Gore in Washington despite the extra time and money he invested.
A weekend survey by a Seattle television station showed Bradley trailing Gore by nine points, a far cry from Gore's earlier 25-point cushion but less than Bradley had counted on to provide his stalled campaign a shot of adrenaline heading into next week's primaries.
''I saw the numbers before we got here,'' Bradley said in a news conference at a women's health clinic in Seattle. ''I knew there would be entrenched power. I knew it would be difficult, and it has been.''
Gore, who is backed by the state's Democratic establishment, made a major push in Washington over the weekend to counter Bradley's effort.
In Denver yesterday, Gore never mentioned Bradley as he took a few shots at the two leading Republican candidates, accusing them of being ''in the hip pocket'' of the National Rifle Association. He also singled out John McCain before taking off to campaign in the Arizona senator's home state.
''There are some things I agree with John McCain on, like campaign finance reform and taking on the tobacco industry and taking on special interests,'' Gore told a crowd at the Performing Arts Center here, drawing a loud cheer.
But ''the Republican Party today is in the midst of a huge identity crisis,'' Gore said. ''They don't know who they are.''
In Seattle, Bradley argued that his Washington strategy had not hurt his national effort because he spent an hour or more each day conducting television interviews via satellite in states across the country.
''So I've been everywhere while I've been here,'' Bradley said. ''That's one of the advantages of politics today.''
He said he accomplished one of his goals in Washington by defining himself as the ''reform-plus'' candidate in contrast to McCain, who has been surging in the Republican race with a message of reform.
''I'm the reform candidate-plus,'' Bradley said, ''meaning you can have a reform candidate who is also pro-choice, pro-gun control, invests in education and health, and is strong on the environment. That's relevant to voters across the country who want reform but don't want the most conservative agenda in the world, which is what you would get with the Republican.''
Bradley, despite discouraging polls in most states that hold primaries March 7, remained optimistic.
''It's important to remember that the delegate count right now is 41-27'' in Gore's favor, Bradley said. ''The difference between Al Gore and me is less in delegates than the difference between John McCain and George W. Bush.''
Bradley is hoping to gain ground tomorrow night in Los Angeles, when he and Gore engage in their final debate before the March 7 contests.
Bradley also launched his national ad campaign yesterday with 30-second biographical television spots in New York, Maryland and every New England state but New Hampshire. He is expected to hit the airwaves in California tomorrow.
But his campaign staff refused to say whether Bradley will compete with paid advertising in every state that holds primaries next week, including such large states as Ohio and Georgia.
Bradley reiterated that his campaign's survival hinges on a respectable showing. ''I have to win several primaries on March 7,'' he said. ''I have to take off in that period of time, no question about it.''
Meanwhile, Senator Patty Murray of Washington, who is backing Gore, criticized a Bradley aide for purportedly saying, ''Gore has courted the party establishment, the party hacks.''
Murray said Bradley's ''campaign has called Gore supporters `party hacks.' That's not respect. That's an affront.''
Bradley's spokesman, Eric Hauser, said he was not aware of anyone in the campaign using the term ''hack.''
