"The real risk is doing nothing about gun control. The real risk is doing nothing about reducing child poverty. The real risk is ignoring the people who don't have health care," Bradley says.

Gore has hammered Bradley for putting forward expensive programs that will eat up every available dollar and risk the nation's prosperity.

The ad never mentions the vice president, but it is obvious from the outset that's who he is talking about. "People accuse me of offering big ideas that they say are risky," Bradley says as the ad begins.

The Gore campaign vigorously protested the new ad, saying that it implies that Gore does not support gun control, reducing child poverty and helping people get health care.

"Before Bill Bradley launches another misleading ad, he should read and understand Al Gore's record of accomplishment and vision for the future," said a statement from Gore spokesman Chris Lehane.

Both Democrats have similar ideas on health care, poverty and gun control, though in most cases Bradley would go farther and spend more.

Bradley uses the ad to say those plans are not risky but bold. And while he doesn't say that Gore disagrees with his goals, that's the implication.

On health insurance, both men want to get coverage to some of the 44 million uninsured, though Bradley would spend more and cover more of them than Gore would.

On child poverty, Bradley has laid out a $9.8 billion program, including increases in the minimum wage and expanded child care subsidies. Gore has supported similar initiatives but has not introduced a comprehensive child poverty program.

They both want tougher gun control laws, but Bradley would require registration and licensing for all handgun purchases while Gore supports less sweeping initiatives, saying a bigger plan is not politically feasible. Still, Gore's campaign notes that the Clinton-Gore administration successfully pushed for the Brady Law and fought for other new gun control measures.

Gore also released a new ad Friday, on health care. Without mentioning Bradley, it criticizes his plan to replace Medicaid for poor Americans with federal subsidies and his failure to set aside money to shore up the Medicare trust fund. "Al Gore — the only Democratic candidate who reforms health care in a way that protects seniors and working families," the ad says.

Both Bradley and Gore have released two new commercials in 24 hours.

On Thursday, both men released ads on education, an issue where Gore has had the upper hand. While Gore has laid out a full plan for improving schools, Bradley has only mentioned his ideas in pieces.

But neither of the education ads is as pointed as the new Bradley ad, which began running Friday in New Hampshire. This week, the campaign bought enough air time for a New Hampshire viewer to see the Bradley ads five or six times on Manchester TV and another five or six times on Boston stations that broadcast into southern New Hampshire. That is costing them just under $250,000.

The race for the presidential nomination is tight in New Hampshire, with recent polls putting Bradley even or slightly ahead of Gore.