Republican George W. Bush's strategists are just worrying about meeting high expectations in Iowa. Thirty-seven percent would make it a good victory, Bush said Friday.

Bradley had hoped for a "January surprise" by getting close to Gore in Iowa's leadoff caucuses. He has devoted most of his campaign time to the state and has spent heavily on television advertising. But there are signs he's having trouble making the race close.

Polls in recent days have given Vice President Gore leads of anywhere from 15 to 20 percentage points with a little more than a week until the Jan. 24 caucuses. The vice president felt confident enough to send out a fund-raising letter that said "we feel real good about our prospects."

"Polls don't amount to a hill of beans," Gore said at a campaign stop in Concord, N.H.

Bradley, on the other hand, has hired a satellite truck to beam his Iowa interviews to New Hampshire, where the polls look better for him. He's adding a trip back there next week, one aide said, just days before the Iowa voting.

The campaign said the moves do not suggest a change in strategy, only that Bradley wants to keep his focus on both states and avoid putting too many eggs in an Iowa basket.

Bush, armed with record amounts of money and lofty poll standings, was hardly worried about losing. But he spent Friday seeking to lower expectations for his margin.

"I hope to do as well as any Republican's done in a crowded field, which is 37 percent," he said. Most polls have shown Bush under 50 percent in Iowa, while publisher Steve Forbes is around 20 percent. Some longtime caucus-watchers have wondered aloud if Bush's backers have the passion to show up on a chilly January night, and Bush was taking nothing for granted.

"It's one thing to say they're for me; it's another thing to show up," Bush said. "I'm very aware of how a caucus system works, as is our organization."

Forbes, at a rally in Pella, Iowa, said he's counting on undecided voters to swing his way.

"I think we're going to show this is an open race, that voters are not going to be corralled like cattle into a coronation conducted by the Republican insiders," he said Friday evening.

Iowa Republican Chairman Richard Schwarm, a Bush backer and adviser, said conservative candidates are especially capable of a surprise because they appeal to social and religious conservatives who are sometimes passionate about their politics.

"For them, voting is a religious duty, not just a civic duty," said Schwarm.

On the Democratic side, Bradley was running into a Gore organizational effort in high gear.

Mark Smith, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor, said union phone banks will call 30,000 members -- many more than once -- before the caucuses. In addition, 1,300 packages have been mailed to local union offices with personalized letters to 150,000 union members.

Voting at Iowa's Democratic caucuses is projected at about 100,000, making the importance of an organized turnout obvious.

"The Gore campaign and the Bradley campaign took vastly different approaches in Iowa," said Gore spokesman Chris Lehane. But that wasn't necessarily by choice.

While Bradley has built a campaign organization of his own, he lacks a natural organizational structure like labor. Gore also is getting a boost from Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, who filmed campaign commercials that are now flooding the state.

Harkin is occasionally controversial but is very popular among the Democratic activists who will attend precinct caucuses. He's virtually turned his organization over to Gore.

Bradley has built a campaign organization of his own, but he lacks a natural organizational base like labor.

"It's tough," said Dan Lucas, who runs the Bradley caucus campaign. "They've got a base, they've always had a base. We came in here with zero and had to build from there."

Faced with that opposition, Bradley was giving new attention to New Hampshire, where polls are far better for him. A senior campaign aide said Bradley would break off the Iowa campaign trail for a day next week to head back to New Hampshire.

Bush is the overwhelming favorite on the Republican side, but he's facing a well-organized and -financed challenge from Forbes. Conservatives Gary Bauer and Alan Keyes also motivate social conservatives.

"I think that for mainstream candidates there's always some falloff from the polling," said Schwarm. "You would expect a Forbes or a Bauer or a Keyes to perform better than the polling."