NEW YORK -- Former Sen. Bill Bradley plunged into what could be his last day of campaigning Monday, preaching his reformist message while admitting he needed good results Tuesday to stay in the Democratic presidential race.

Shrugging off all talk that he was doomed to fail in the slew of primaries and caucuses Tuesday, Bradley started the day off early greeting commuters at the Manhattan side of the Staten Island ferry.

Bracing himself against a chilly breeze, and some commuters who were less than happy to have their path blocked by the candidate and his entourage, Bradley shook hands and urged people to vote for him.

His underdog status was clear, with some commuters stopping to offer Bradley sympathy and support in his fight.

"Beat Al Gore, buddy," said one man, referring to the vice president who is Bradley's sole rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Nathaniel White, 30, urged the former New York Knicks basketball star to keep up the fight. "Keep hitting jumpers from the corner," he told Bradley. "You've got our support in the hip-hop community."

ASKS FOR PARENTS' VOTES

"Bradley knows he needs that support and much more, and on his next stop at the Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice he made another plea for votes -- even though the average person in his audience wasn't old enough to vote.

"Would you please tell all your parents to vote for me," Bradley asked the high school students after he promised to come speak at their commencement.

Bradley, who is trailing badly in polls ahead of the Super Tuesday vote which will elect more than half of the Democratic delegates needed for the nomination, admitted he needed to score some wins.

"We have to win several states tomorrow," he said in a television interview after his speech. He cited Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts and Missouri as states he could win.

"I don't write off New York as a possibility," he said.

Political observers have been predicting Gore will beat Bradley in each of the contests Tuesday, forcing Bradley to pull out.

A Reuters/MSNBC poll released Monday found Vice President Al Gore leading Bradley by huge margins in California, Ohio and New York.

SOUNDS WISTFUL

Bradley sounded almost wistful on a CBS Morning Show interview as he described the effect his candidacy has had on presidential politics, raising the issues of health, gun control and campaign finance reform.

"I think that the Democratic Party has moved in a direction that I've pushed it over the last year," Bradley said. "I'm pleased about that, but of course having the party move in the direction is not the same as leading the party as the candidate and the president of the United States."

Later, when asked in the Bronx about reports that aides were already working on a concession speech, Bradley said: "Nobody prepares speeches for me. Especially a speech that would be so personal."

He repeated what has become a mantra over the past few days -- "remember Harry Truman" -- a reference to the man who confounded the pollsters with his 1948 presidential victory.

Bradley's spokesman Eric Hauser said the campaign was not yet over.

"We're going to fight like hell for every vote today and tomorrow and see how it goes," he said. "Our only focus right now is tomorrow. That's our focus -- doing as well as we can and winning as many votes as we can."