By David Nyhan, Globe Columnist, 2/2/2000

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- John McCain, take a bow. Take two bows.

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

Because you took about everything else. And gave Texas Governor George W. Bush a shellacking so thorough that he left town a whittled-down and sorely whipped frontrunner, propped up by handlers and endorsers worrying bigtime about their man's stomach, chin, and heart.

It is still hard to envision McCain capturing the GOP nomination; his gut-busting assault on Big Money and the corruption of business-as-usual in Washington terrifies Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and the business lobbyists who control the GOP's Washington apparatus. McCain's huge win enters the pantheon of New Hampshire verdicts past. It ratifies New Hampshire's status as the primary primary; nowhere else can a distant underdog grab the frontrunner by the lapels and rattle his dental work.

The Democratic race ended like a bar brawl spilling into the parking lot. Bill Bradley's practice of politics-as-a-higher-calling collapsed along with his poll numbers till he morphed into Stone Cold Bill Bradley, Destroyer of Reputations. Bradley's raw and rugged attacks on Al Gore lacerated the VP's hide.

No matter what happens to Bradley down the primary road, his bitter taunts will live on in the fall as staples of GOP attack ads. Prominent Democrats, sniffing Bush's vulnerability in November, realize they have a leak in their own boat. Bradley's tattoo of Gore will get worse before it gets better, and the improving odds of Democrats recapturing the US House will suffer.

Mr. High-Minded New Politics resuscitated his New Hampshire campaign by turning to the kind of slash-and-gash style he professed to eschew. Bill Bradley as The Undertaker chills the projections of Democratic office-seekers convinced they'll have to run in November on a ticket headed by Gore. The high turnout and maverick tendencies of the late-deciding and late-registering independent voters lifted both Bradley and McCain, but lifted McCain higher.

New Hampshire rewarded the warrior who lost five and a half years to the Hanoi Hilton and emerged here as a Biblical prophet excoriating the money-changers in the temple. We have rugged races ahead in both parties, but last night belonged to the gallant, high-road crusade mounted by John McCain.

David Nyhan is Globe columnist.