Gore, Bush claim campaign-opening victories By Mike Glover, Associated Press, 01/25/99 HUDSON, N.H. -- Fresh from victories in the first voting of the 2000 presidential campaign, Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush quickly turned their attention today to the contest in New Hampshire. Last-place finisher Orrin Hatch decided to quit the GOP race. 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. In the caucuses Monday night, Gore piled up a yawning gap over rival Bill Bradley, and Bush faced stiff competition from second-place finisher Steve Forbes. Utah Sen. Hatch, a conservative who came late to the race, took only 1 percent of the vote in the six-man Republican field and was making plans for his withdrawal announcement, a senior adviser said today. "Yesterday was 'Thank you, Iowa.' Today is 'We're ready New Hampshire,"' Bush said early this morning after an overnight flight to Manchester, N.H. Later, he told CBS' "Early Show" that Forbes "deserves credit for a strong second." "I, however, had a strong first," Bush said. An exuberant Gore, also on CBS, said today the competition from Bradley "is great. It's put wind in my sails and made it easier for me to get my keel deeper in the water, so to speak." On the Republican side, with more than 97 percent of the state's 2,142 precincts reporting, Bush had 41 percent of the vote while Forbes had 30 percent. Conservative Alan Keyes had a solid third-place showing with 14 percent. "Last night was a triumph of authentic conservative principles," Forbes said today, predicting a "dramatic three-way race" with Bush and John McCain in New Hampshire. "The Republican establishment has met its match." But a party leader, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, said Iowa was Forbes' "high water mark. He'll go down, hopefully fast, from there." Forbes has staked out more conservative positions since his 1996 loss, particularly on abortion, but the McCain camp believes that won't play as well in New Hampshire, where independent voters are a more important factor. The abortion issue came up for his rival McCain again today. Asked whether he would favor changing the abortion ban in the Republican platform to favor allowing abortion in cases of rape or incest or to save the mother's life, McCain said, "I would support the change." "That is the position of Henry Hyde who is a leader of the pro-life movement," McCain told reporters before a town hall meeting in Sunapee, N.H. He declined to say whether he would actively seek such a change. Arizona Sen. McCain, who has focused on reforming campaign fund-raising, also said he felt vindicated by the Supreme Court decision upholding limits on political contributions. "This is what the whole campaign was about, is about," McCain said. Trailing the top three was Washington activist Gary Bauer at 9 percent. McCain, who skipped Iowa to focus on New Hampshire, pulled 5 percent of the vote. Bauer admitted disappointment but said Forbes didn't emerge with enough votes to become the conservative favorite. "I still think people are looking for somebody to touch their hearts and I think we're still in the competition," Bauer said over breakfast with the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce. Among Democrats, with 98 percent of the 2,131 precincts reporting, Gore had piled up a commanding 63-35 lead over Bradley after a tough caucus campaign and was hoping for a bump heading into New Hampshire. With only 47 Democratic and 25 Republican delegates at stake in Monday's caucuses, the real prize was momentum for New Hampshire primaries Feb. 1. Gore claimed that momentum, and said his win was sweeter because Bradley had poured millions of dollars and hours of time into the hotly contested state. "Senator Bradley spent far more money and ran far more TV ads than any candidate in the history of the Iowa caucuses," said Gore. Before traveling to Hudson, Bradley conceded at a raucous campaign rally, congratulating Gore in terms that made it clear he intends to soldier on. "He's a tough opponent and I know I'll be seeing a lot of him in the coming weeks," said Bradley, who aides say plans to become more critical of the vice president. Bradley said he was satisfied with the result, considering that he started far behind and found the Democratic Party power structure lined up against him. Looking ahead to New Hampshire, Gore and Bradley were locked in a tie in Granite State polls. McCain holds a slight lead over Bush in most GOP polls there, and he hoped to sustain it even after bypassing Iowa. But Bush is planning to open a new front against McCain, arguing that he has offered bold, new education initiatives while the senator has proposed little in the way of education reform. The two had been arguing over tax cuts. Seeking to get a jump in New Hampshire, Bradley held a noisy, predawn rally at 3:30 a.m. this morning after arriving in Nashua, N.H., where he was greeted by more than 100 chanting and cheering backers. "This energy is going to carry us all the way,"' Bradley said. Forbes, meanwhile, has been a distant third in New Hampshire, but hoped his Iowa showing would improve his numbers. The New Hampshire contests are the first in a furious flurry of primary elections that could determine the presidential nominations by March 7. Among Republicans, the Iowa results gave Keyes' campaign a needed boost. He hadn't climbed out of single digits in any pre-caucus polls, but his fiery oratory drew increasingly heavy crowds in the final days. Hatch flew back to Washington after the results came in, without speaking to reporters. Hatch, who hoped to compete for the conservative vote on the strength of his four terms in the Senate, previously had said he would re-evaluate his campaign if he finished last.