By Yvonne Abraham, Globe Staff, 2/2/2000

ASHUA - He started at 3 percent, he always says. Polls had a 5 percent margin of error. That means he might have been at minus 2. That one always gets the laughs.

NEW HAMPSHIRE RESULTS Republican 98% of precincts reporting McCain 49% Bush 31% Forbes 13% Keyes 6% Bauer 1% Democrats 98% of precincts reporting Gore 52% Bradley 47% Percentages will not necessarily add to 100. FROM THE GLOBE Democrats fight to a close finish Independents turn GOP contest Contrarians speak up, leaders get wake up call Arizona senator has found strength in his weaknesses Independent voters say character was key to decision Why they voted the way they did Result no setback for Bush backer Cellucci Primary shows off NBC synergy Independents seen taking up the insurgents' fight Bauer, Keyes unbowed as they vow to soldier on Forbes hopes to make it a three-way race Bush campaign says it's ready to move on In Granite State diner, a final helping of politics First primary settled, campaigns mull new tactics On campaign trail, it's a frantic pace Vow of tenacity keeps Bradley's spirits high, focus keen For vice president's campaign, no letup in asking for votes NECN VIDEO Forbes praises McCain win, asks for more support Keyes will stay in race, despite big N.H. loss Gore wins the Democratic N.H. primary over Bradley Bradley greets voters at polls Will Bradley triumph? Turnout heavy in Granite State Can McCain pull off a victory? Gore makes a last minute effort These video clips are viewed using RealPlayer. Get RealPlayer | Help EARLIER COVERAGE Gore wins close race among Democrats McCain savors big win over Bush in GOP race True to tradition, N.H. tests front-runners McCain impressed voters as straight shooter GOP voters happier with candidates than in '96 Independents say character was key to vote Granite State voters have their say N.H. Secretary of State again predicts high turnout Keys to reading the New Hampshire returns Bradley, McCain win Dixville Notch, Hart's Location

Until now, Senator John McCain's candidacy for the Republican nomination has been defined by its unlikeliness, his scant organization, his anemic finances. But those weaknesses didn't stand in the way of his run in New Hampshire. Instead, McCain and his aides tried to make them his strongest weapons.

And it worked.

His victory celebration at the Nashua Crowne Plaza last night was worlds away from those early days: supporters jammed a ballroom, and the lobby outside. The vast media contingent, caught up by the story of the campaign, took up every other available inch of floor space. The ravioli and chicken strips disappeared as fast as harried servers could truck vats of them out. A slick eight-piece band, complete with horns, entertained the revelers.

McCain, who had seemed guardedly confident in recent days, was more subdued when he took the stage last night, accompanied by ''Anchors Aweigh.'' It was as if he had suddenly found himself in a world he didn't quite recognize. Even if he had known in his heart he would win, he had always maintained the contest would be close. A double-digit margin - and high double digits at that - had shocked everyone.

Still, there were some of the familiar sights: a person dressed up in a pig costume, who had appeared at many campaign events this season, was dancing around in the lobby after the senator gave his prepared acceptance speech. The pig had been protesting pork-barrel spending and was a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

In past appearances, McCain has enjoyed inviting such costumed protesters onto the stage, if only to explain why they would wear such garb. But there was no room for the pig on stage night; the room was far too crowded with celebrating supporters, drawn to a candidate who suddenly looked a lot less like an underdog.

Former senator Warren Rudman, one of the few major politicians in New Hampshire to embrace McCain, likened the senator's campaign to ''take the government back'' to that of the Minutemen of the Revolutionary War.

He also compared McCain to Ronald Reagan, who has often been invoked by the senator's rivals. Henceforth, Rudman said, supporters of McCain's ideas would be called ''McCain Republicans.''

''We have discovered the real McCain,'' Rudman concluded.

McCain had embraced his underdog status with gusto, merging it with his advocacy of campaign finance reform, a theme he hammered at every opportunity.

He said he considered his early weakness in this campaign further proof of how rare, and serious, a threat his reform message posed to the federal establishment.

Indeed, almost everything that might have seemed an advantage to Texas Governor George W. Bush under ordinary circumstances - his huge campaign coffers, his endorsements by countless elected officials, his disagreements with McCain over campaign finance reform and taxes - was used by McCain to buttress his case.

In return, Bush tried to label McCain as something of a liberal, by Republican standards, with values too much in harmony with the very establishment that McCain claimed to deplore.

At McCain's town hall meetings, it was clear that his message was resonating with voters. His appearances, early in his effort, might not have been as well-attended as Bush's, but those who showed up were clearly fervent.

And their numbers would swell.

He had had a town hall meeting in Peterborough in July, given away free ice cream, and only 40 people showed up. Last Sunday, McCain held another town hall meeting in Peterborough, and more than a thousand people showed up.

But it wasn't necessarily campaign finance reform, or his stance on abortion, or his tax cut policy that was drawing supporters to McCain.

It wasn't even his politics in some cases.

The senator's appeal was much more personal in New Hampshire, a fact attested to by the large crowds that would surge toward him at the end of each town hall meeting as election day approached, looking to shake his hand and have him sign ''Faith of My Fathers,'' the story of the naval careers of McCain's father and grandfather and of his own experiences as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Some in his audiences found themselves completely out of tune with his politics, but that didn't matter, because McCain was the kind of man who would stand up on stage and say, ''I'm going to tell you some things you want to hear and I'm going to tell you some things you don't want to hear, but I'm always going to tell you the truth.''

''I'm a Democrat,'' said Richard Lippincott, 70, of Deering, at that last town hall meeting. Lippincott said he favored free, universal health care and a far bigger role for government in American life.

''I sound like a socialist,'' he allowed. But he said he would still vote for McCain, who had been calling himself ''a proud conservative'' at every opportunity.

''I'm here because John McCain makes sense,'' Lippincott said. ''He's more honest and direct.''

''If either one is elected, they'd probably align pretty well with my beliefs, but I don't see Bush as decisive,'' said Mark Fiedler, 50, a teacher from North Swanzey who attended a McCain rally in Keene on Monday. ''I never thought [Bush] wanted to be president. It's like he was drafted. ... He doesn't have the same fire as McCain.''

But despite the apparent size of his victory, McCain's aides took pains to point out that his run for the nomination was still a long climb up a steep hill.

For one thing, money continues to be a problem.

The McCain campaign plans a major fund-raising push starting today. Phone banks used to get out the vote yesterday will be used to contact supporters who will marshall donors to the senator's cause. There will be a mass mailing, and appeals from McCain's web site. On February 10th and 11th, there will be several fund-raisers in Washington, D.C., and New Jersey.

Still, for one night, the struggle faded into the background. Even the money started to right itself. About 10 p.m., McCain spokesman Howard Opinsky came into the press room to tell reporters that donations to McCain's Web site had totalled $14,000 in the 90 minutes following his victory.

''We are painfully aware that we are running against the best-funded presidential candidate in all of history,'' spokesperson Todd Harris said.

''But tonight gives us great reason for optimism, because it proves that the message is more important than the money and that organization is more important than inevitability.''