By Ann Scales, Globe Staff, 1/25/2000

ES MOINES - As he was preparing to roll into New Hampshire today, Al Gore said, ''My message is very simple and clear. We've just begun to fight.''

IOWA CAUCUS RESULTS Republican 97% of precincts reporting Bush 41% Forbes 30% Keyes 14% Bauer 9% McCain 5% Hatch 1% Democrats 98% of precincts reporting Gore 63% Bradley 35% Percentages will not necessarily add to 100. MORE COVERAGE FROM THE GLOBE Bush, Gore wrap up Iowa The votes tell the contentment Lesson of Iowa: Counterattack quickly Candidates have one goal remaining: closing the deal Tight-three way race in New Hampshire envisioned Gore plays it cool and girds for battle Hatch to announce he's quitting race Small-town USA sees big time turnout at polls On the road in N.H., McCain dismisses Iowa Sharing quarters, but ever so briefly EARLIER NEWS Gore, Bush easy winners of Iowa caucuses Voters say Bush best choice on moral values, can win in November Democrats: Iowa picks fighter Gore over Bradley's fresh start Republicans: Bush aims to use caucus victory to set up showdown with McCain Fiery Keyes gets strong caucus support Down-home politics shape Iowa Iowa's only the first step in picking nominee With a final flury, candidates focus on turnout Former president waits nervously as son competes in Iowa caucuses After Iowa: On to New Hampshire ABOUT THE CAUCUSES How Iowa caucuses work Why they are important ABOUT IOWA Population: 2.85 million. Registered voters: 1.8 million -- 36 percent unaffiliated, 32 percent Republican, 31 percent Democrat. Percentage of voters attending GOP caucuses in 1996: 17 percent. Race: 97 percent white. 2 percent black. 1 percent Asian. 2 percent Hispanic origin. Median age: 36.3. Median household income: $33,877. Poverty rate: 9.4 percent. Unemployment rate: 2.7 percent. Abortions: 9.8 per 1,000 women in 1995, compared with the national average of 22.9 per 1,000. 1996 vote: 50 percent Clinton; 40 percent Dole; 9 percent Perot. Average life span: 77 years, compared with the U.S. average of 75. Housing: Just over 72 percent of Iowans own their own homes, national average 66.3 percent. Crime rate: 3,816 victims per 100,000 people in 1997, vs. national average of 4,923. Tax burden: On a per-person basis, Iowa paid $4,530 in federal taxes in 1997 and got back $4,661 in federal spending.

The vice president was the victor in last night's Iowa caucuses, but throughout the day he was playing down expectations of a big win over Bill Bradley in the Democratic contest while also looking ahead to the next big battle in New Hampshire, where he faces a tougher fight with the former New Jersey senator.

In an interview with the Globe last night in his eighth-floor suite at Hotel Fort Des Moines, Gore said he understands that New Hampshire is very different from Iowa and has a tradition of rejecting the front-runner.

''The people of Iowa have given us what is projected to be a very big victory and for that I'm grateful,'' Gore said. ''But I understand better than anybody, I think, that the New Hampshire primary must be won on its own terms. And that is what I am going to try to do.''

After it was clear Gore had won in Iowa, he telephoned New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen, who was hosting a party for his supporters, to let her know he was on his way. He was scheduled to leave Iowa after midnight for the first primary state.

''The last week of the New Hampshire primary starts for me tomorrow morning at dawn'' Gore said. '' I will hit the ground running.''

Asked about a new ad Bradley is launching, Gore did not respond directly. ''I will never attack Senator Bradley personally. I think he made a mistake by doing that here in Iowa, because people don't expect it, and they don't like it. But he has to decide how to run his own campaign.''

Despite polls in Iowa showing Gore ahead by a 2-to-1 margin, the vice president campaigned throughout the day.

And though exuding confidence from the moment he emerged from his Cedar Rapids hotel yesterday morning to board his campaign bus without a coat or gloves despite sub-zero temperatures, he said, ''I'm not counting my chickens before they're hatched.''

Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts said yesterday that a Gore win in Iowa would give the vice president energy going into New Hampshire but would not necessarily translate into votes.

''There's going to be no sense of triumph,'' said Kerry, who has been campaigning for Gore. ''New Hampshire is a new race. This is here, and New Hampshire is New Hampshire.''

In recent days, the biggest worry for the Gore campaign has been voter complacency, given his large lead in the polls. He took pains to remind his audiences, ''Don't believe the polls.''

Gore also made clear that he was trying to rebuild bridges he burned in Iowa during his first campaign in 1988, when he criticized the state's outsized influence in the presidential race. ''I've learned my lesson. I have been building bridges as fast as I know how to.''

But hours before the caucuses began, Gore, who in recent days has been talking about his ''imperfections'' and ''shortcomings'' without elaboration, was facing questions about past marijuana use. Asked by a reporter at the the Iowa Machine Shed, the Davenport diner, whether he had smoked pot on a daily basis, he answered ''no.''

''When I came back from Vietnam, yes, but not to that extent,'' he said. ''This is something I dealt with a long time ago. It's old news.''

Though Gore previously acknowledged smoking marijuana up until 1972, he denied a claim by John Wernecke, who worked with Gore at the Nashville Tennessean, that he smoked every day until he ran for Congress in 1976.