Gore's spokesman said Bradley's daily comments were sounding more and more like the Republicans' "standard attack lines," and he wondered aloud if the former senator was planning to leave the Democratic Party.

"The watchword is attack, deny, distort," Bradley said of Gore. "It's the old politics that says the ends justify the means, any means to win an election and the end is holding power and not exercising power to do good."

At a college rally, Bradley told about 500 students that he will continue to underscore his differences with Gore as the two head into the big round of primary elections March 7.

"It's a campaign about differences," said Bradley, though his comments about Gore focused on political style more than policy issues.

He told his audience at the University of Maryland that the nation's political climate has shifted "in the last decade." President Clinton and Gore have led the government for most of that period.

"Partisanship and negative campaigning have driven people further and further away," Bradley said. "In 1991, Al Gore told his hometown newspaper that in order to win an election you have to rip your opponent's lungs out and then move on."

He accused Gore of "relentlessly negative" campaigning, and said "I'm trying to be direct with people."

Gore spokesman Chris Lehane had a different reading.

"Over the last two weeks, Senator Bradley has been mimicking and amplifying the Republican National Committee's standard attack lines. He has flirted with leaving the Democratic Party, and he appears to be following in that direction," Lehane said.

He defended Gore's recent comments, saying the vice president has merely pointed out Bradley flaws.

After Iowa and New Hampshire, the campaign's focus has now shifted to giant media markets including New York and California, which are part of the March 7 lineup.

Both Gore and Bradley have begun to sharpen their distinctions, developing sound-bite stump themes aimed beyond the audience showing up at campaign events.

"It requires a national campaign that is more media oriented," Bradley said. "This is a campaign not just about me, but it's also a campaign about him. It's a campaign about differences."

The two men have been campaigning relentlessly since long before Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, in which Gore handed Bradley his second consecutive defeat. But now they are being forced to dash from coast to coast.

Both are taking time off this weekend, and it's likely they'll huddle with aides to shape a strategy for the crucial next month.

As Bradley has become more personal in his criticism, the vice president has responded by arguing that Bradley is being driven by desperation after losing in Iowa and New Hampshire.

On Friday, Bradley aides distributed a transcript of a television program on which former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson said Gore traded his support for the Gulf War a decade ago for a prominent speaking role in the Senate debate.

In his remarks at the Maryland event, Bradley said New Hampshire students had been intimidated from voting, suggesting while not directly charging that the Gore camp was behind it. He said state officials warned students their aid could be threatened by voter registration changes.

"That kind of voter intimidation would be illegal if it involved African-Americans," Bradley said. "This is a serious. serious issue."