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For supporters who watched the first two debates with a mixture of fear and frustration, Bush offered hope Monday night. And yet the two-term Texas governor acknowledged with his new game plan that his old one wasn't working.

He also underscored the threat posed by John McCain, elevating his insurgent candidacy by clashing with the Arizona senator on taxes and campaign finance reform. McCain has opened a slight lead over Bush in New Hampshire polls, though he still trails by wide margins in other states.

"I think the folks around the governor finally loosened up a little bit and let him be himself," said Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, a Bush ally.

"I think Bush was a little more confident; he didn't have that deer-in-the-headlights look," said Dennis Goldford, political science professor at Drake University in Des Moines. "But his campaign is still a folksy, common-sense affair rather than a hardened policy-wonk sort of thing. McCain was much more substantive."

Bush came into his first two presidential debates with relatively low expectations. Leading in polls, endorsements and fund-raising, analysts said his main goal was to survive without a major gaffe.

Mere survival was not good enough this time. Republican leaders and Bush supporters were disappointed with his performances, saying he seemed uncomfortable and, at times, unpresidential. Heavily programmed, the governor stuck close to his standard speech rhetoric in the first two debates, and seemed flustered when caught off guard.

Preparing for Monday night's debate, advisers told Bush that his performances were not up to par. But they assured him he had plenty of time to get better.

They urged him to talk more about the details of his tax, education and military plans; they figured that would help quell questions about the depth of his intelligence and keep Bush on familiar terrain.

He also was advised to draw sharper contrasts between himself and his GOP rivals, and to attack Vice President Al Gore.

Bush heeded the advice.

"The surest way to get rid of the (federal budget) surplus is to elect (Bill) Bradley and Gore," he said of the two Democratic presidential candidates. Attacking the pair is a surefire way to court Republican voters who tell pollsters they doubt whether Bush is willing to fight for conservative principles.

Bush clashed with conservative Gary Bauer over trade. "Wait a minute," he admonished the former Reagan administration official, who tried to cut him off. Bush argued that trading with China would help Iowa farmers.

"It gives them another agreement to break," said Bauer.

Bested, Bush could only shake his head in disgust.

The most revealing exchange was with McCain, who has made political reform the centerpiece of his campaign. Bush wants to cut taxes by $483 billion over five years, and suggested that McCain isn't making tax cuts a priority.

"If you want to get ride of pork in Washington, stop feeding the hog," Bush said in a well-rehearsed line.

McCain fired back with a challenge: He and Bush should swear off unregulated "soft money" donations in the campaign. Bush seemed to dodge the issue at first. Pressed, he argued that Democrats and their labor union backers would continue spending soft money at the peril of Republicans.

"I think that's unilateral disarmament," Bush said, drawing applause for a line of reasoning many GOP activists agree with.

In another sign of that the rivalry is growing, aides for McCain and Bush called reporters during the 90-minute debate to attack.

Ridge, the Pennsylvania governor, said Bush had learned the lessons of two previous debates.

"He was able to demonstrate his conservative principles on certain matters, his passion, his humor, his candor," Ridge said. "I think it's like everything else, people learn as they grow."