By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist, 2/2/2000

ill Clinton wasn't on the ballot yesterday, but he lost big all the same.

NEW HAMPSHIRE RESULTS Republican 98% of precincts reporting McCain 49% Bush 31% Forbes 13% Keyes 6% Bauer 1% Democrats 98% of precincts reporting Gore 52% Bradley 47% Percentages will not necessarily add to 100. FROM THE GLOBE Democrats fight to a close finish Independents turn GOP contest Contrarians speak up, leaders get wake up call Arizona senator has found strength in his weaknesses Independent voters say character was key to decision Why they voted the way they did Result no setback for Bush backer Cellucci Primary shows off NBC synergy Independents seen taking up the insurgents' fight Bauer, Keyes unbowed as they vow to soldier on Forbes hopes to make it a three-way race Bush campaign says it's ready to move on In Granite State diner, a final helping of politics First primary settled, campaigns mull new tactics On campaign trail, it's a frantic pace Vow of tenacity keeps Bradley's spirits high, focus keen For vice president's campaign, no letup in asking for votes NECN VIDEO Forbes praises McCain win, asks for more support Keyes will stay in race, despite big N.H. loss Gore wins the Democratic N.H. primary over Bradley Bradley greets voters at polls Will Bradley triumph? Turnout heavy in Granite State Can McCain pull off a victory? Gore makes a last minute effort These video clips are viewed using RealPlayer. Get RealPlayer | Help EARLIER COVERAGE Gore wins close race among Democrats McCain savors big win over Bush in GOP race True to tradition, N.H. tests front-runners McCain impressed voters as straight shooter GOP voters happier with candidates than in '96 Independents say character was key to vote Granite State voters have their say N.H. Secretary of State again predicts high turnout Keys to reading the New Hampshire returns Bradley, McCain win Dixville Notch, Hart's Location

In 1992, New Hampshire Democrats fell for Clinton's denial of the affair he had conspired with Gennifer Flowers to cover up and rescued his campaign with a strong second-place finish in the primary. They kept Clinton alive, and we all know what followed - corruption, scandals, obstruction of justice, impeachment. But yesterday, the Democrats redeemed themselves. After his big win in Iowa and Clinton's lavish praise in the State of the Union address, Al Gore was riding high. He expected New Hampshire to send him into overdrive. Instead it sent him sprawling.

Whatever Bill Bradley thought before last week, he knows now that there is no running a kinder, gentler campaign for president. Especially not against Al Gore, who once described his political M.O. as ''rip[ping] the lungs out of anybody who's in the race.'' Gore and his people were nasty these last few days - when Senator Bob Kerrey, a Medal of Honor recipient who lost a leg in Vietnam, showed up to campaign for Bradley, Gore's goons splattered mud at him and taunted him with ''Cripple!'' They will grow nastier still.

Bradley won't stoop to their level, and perhaps that will spell his ultimate defeat. But if he keeps asking the question that he should have raised from the start - ''How can we believe that you will tell the truth as president if you won't tell the truth as a candidate?'' - he will help voters stay focused on the real stakes in this election: More Clintonism vs. something cleaner.

Those are the stakes on the Republican side, too. John McCain won big not because New Hampshire swooned for his campaign finance ''reform,'' but because it loved the idea of voting for someone who seems to be everything Clinton/Gore are not: honorable, principled, incorruptible. Then again, it didn't hurt that McCain spent far more time in the Granite State than any other candidate - 65 days since last March. That's an advantage he won't have in South Carolina, the next battleground.

There has only ever been one argument for George W. Bush's campaign: his electability. Yesterday that electability took a blow to the solar plexus. Bush is still the favorite - the GOP establishment is behind him and he has $35 million in the bank. One more such loss, though, and all bets are off.

Jeff Jacoby is a Globe columnist.