Gore, Bradley emphasize Iowa merely the beginning of long processBy Mike Ferullo/CNN
January 25, 2000
Web posted at: 1:28 a.m. EST (0628 GMT)
DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) - Vice President Al Gore emphasized Monday that his win in Iowa's Democratic caucuses was merely the beginning of a long battle as his opponent, former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, promised to continue the struggle for the nomination well into the election year.
An exuberant vice president appeared in general election mode Monday night as he greeted a packed house of supporters in a building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
"Thank you for the biggest victory in the history of the contested caucuses here in Iowa," Gore told his cheering supporters. "My message to you this evening is very simple: We've just begun to fight."
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Vice President Al Gore
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An undaunted Bradley congratulated Gore for a strong showing, but promised supporters he'll "be seeing a lot of him in the coming weeks."
"Tonight is not the end -- it is just the beginning," Bradley said on CNN. "I'm also trying to do this in a different way, and that takes time. I'm proud of where we are tonight."
Gore commended Bradley as a "good person and tough competitor," and said he was looking forward to another tough fight with the former New Jersey senator as the campaign moves on to next week's New Hampshire primary.
"I'm going to go to New Hampshire understanding very well that this race and the first primary in New Hampshire are very different," the vice president said. "I don't think there's any such thing as a so-called bounce. That race must be won on its own terms."
Gore also took a stab at his Republican opponents, charging that both Texas Gov. George W. Bush and publisher Steve Forbes have proposed "irresponsible tax schemes" that would be harmful to the country.
Bradley, whose deficit in Iowa polls widened in recent days, pumped as much as $2 million into his Hawkeye State effort and spent most of the month here. His campaign did reach its modest goal of 31 percent, the same amount Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy received in Iowa during his ultimately unsuccessful bid to unseat incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter in 1980.
"Running for president requires humility and confidence," Bradley told his supporters. "Tonight I have a little more humility, but no less confidence that I can win and do the job."
He thanked the voters of Iowa "who gave me their warmth even on the coldest of mornings," but nonetheless seemed eager to move on to New Hampshire. He had long complained about being against Gore's "entrenched power" in Iowa.
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Former Sen. Bill Bradley
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"Considering where we started, we've done extraordinary well," Bradley said. "We've brought so many people into the process, so many young people that are out there today. In the college precincts, we won big."
But senior citizens appeared to overwhelmingly respond to Gore's argument that Bradley would jeopardize Medicare by failing to shore up the program. The vice president took 75 percent of votes among those concerned most about senior's programs.
Regardless of the outcome, Bradley says he has enough campaign cash for vigorous fights in New Hampshire as well as the grouping of state primaries on March 7, which has referred to as "the first national primary." That primary includes both New York and California, two delagate-rich states.
When asked about Bradley's private reaction to the results as they we first coming in, Bradley campaign spokesman Eric Hauser replied, "He's feeling pretty good, he feels like he fought hard."
The former New York Knick basketball star couldn't resist just one sports analogy before departing for the Granite State.
"It ’s a long season. I've been knocked on the hardwood before and lost games," Bradley said. "What I've learned is you reach back to the values you learned years ago."
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