MORE TUESDAY COVERAGE Candidates tweak message for New Hampshire terrain Candidates charge onto N.H. airwaves Bradley appeals to independent New Hampshire voters Republicans look for spirited contest in N.H. Abortion issue dogs McCain in New Hampshire Caucuses over, presidential candidates flee to New Hampshire Tax issue boosts Forbes coming into New Hampshire Snow keeps Keyes from campaigning in N.H. Ad accuses McCain of working to cover up live POW data

The Granite State is dramatically different: The voters, the issues, the balloting, even the makeup of the presidential field.

"What a difference a day makes," said Republican Steve Forbes, who finished a strong second in Iowa and hopes to improve his dismal New Hampshire poll numbers before the state's primary next Tuesday. "This state is a different arena for many reasons."

Let us count the ways:

• Iowa was a caucus, a grass-roots straw poll that rewards candidates willing to invest huge amounts of time and money. The system blessed Monday night's establishment candidate, Texas Gov. George W. Bush. New Hampshire is a traditional primary; voter loyalties can switch on a dime, making the weeklong campaign here potentially more volatile.

• Few self-described independent voters participated in Iowa's party-run caucuses. In New Hampshire, there are more independents than Democrats or Republicans, and the independents can vote in either primary.

• Iowa Republicans lean much more to the right, with 34 percent of voters Monday night telling pollsters they were "very conservative." Half as many New Hampshire Republicans labeled themselves that way in 1996. That means a moderate message may play better in New Hampshire.

• Democrats never had much of a race in Iowa. Gore led former New Jersey senator Bill Bradley by wide margins for months. In New Hampshire, Bradley has given Gore a tough fight -- though he has fallen slightly behind recently and was roughed up in Iowa.

• The Republican race in Iowa boiled down to Bush and Forbes. In New Hampshire, the wild card is John McCain. He skipped Iowa and has concentrated on the first primary state. The Arizona senator holds a slight lead over Bush in polls of GOP voters.

The candidates are tweaking their messages for the new landscape.

Now that McCain is back in the picture, Bush plans to criticize his rival's education plans. School issues play particularly well to a moderate electorate.

McCain is airing ads that portray him as the most fit to be commander-in-chief, part of a broader strategy to quietly raise doubts about Bush's readiness.

Mindful of the dramatic improvements in New Hampshire's economy since 1992, Gore has begun asking the question, "Are you better off than you were seven years ago? The answer is clearly yes." Bradley's advisers keep promising to capitalize on New Hampshire's independent nature by attacking Gore's so-called "old politics."

The results are anybody's guess.

On the Republican side, the questions are whether Forbes can make an impact and, if so, does he hurt Bush or McCain?

Forbes said Bush is vulnerable to a conservative challenge, pointing to entrance polls showing that Iowans tended to back Forbes if taxes or abortion were their top concerns. "I think we're going to have a dramatic three-way race in New Hampshire," Forbes said in a telephone interview.

The Bush and McCain camps said Forbes hit his high-water mark in Iowa, and won't be a threat next week.

Flying overnight from Iowa to New Hampshire, Bush said in an interview that he and McCain are getting large percentages of the GOP vote in polls. "That doesn't leave a lot of the vote left to carve up," he said.

McCain's top strategist, John Weaver, said there are too few conservatives to help Forbes in New Hampshire. "There is only limited growth room for someone who campaigns that far hard right," he said.

McCain may be the big loser if Forbes does well. Analysts say the conservative millionaire could siphon from McCain those voters who don't like Bush or who are looking for a political outsider.

Dave Carney, a New Hampshire Republican consultant who is not tied to any campaign, said Bush's Iowa win burnished his image as the most electable Republican. "I think of lot of people who had been flirting with McCain will return to Bush," he said.

A small but influential percentage of New Hampshire's' independent voters may determine the race. They swing between Democrats and Republicans each election but have been moving toward the GOP -- mostly to McCain -- in recent weeks.

Robin Marra, pollster at Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire, says 36 percent of independents a month ago had planned to vote in the GOP primary. The figure rose to 52 percent by late January.

"I think that Iowa will further push independents to the Republican side," he said.

But that doesn't necessarily mean McCain will continue to benefit. If the new terrain includes a revitalized Forbes, some independents may peel off to him. That would help the Texas governor, too.