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Morning News

Iowa Caucuses: Voters Gave the Night to the Front-Runners Before Candidates Head to New Hampshire

Aired January 25, 2000 - 10:09 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Iowa is now getting back to normal today after weeks of nonstop presidential campaigning. With virtually all of the precincts reporting now, George W. Bush won the Republican caucuses; you see he pulled in 41 percent of vote. Steve Forbes showed strong with 30 percent, there. Alan Keyes impressed many observers by coming in with a strong finish in third place with 14 percent. After that, it was Gary Bauer with nine percent; John McCain, who didn't campaign here in this state, with five percent; and Orrin Hatch coming in last with one percent.

Now, turning to the Democrats. Al Gore easily defeated Bill Bradley. You can see there the numbers: 63 percent to 35 percent for Gore, with only two percent uncommitted here in Iowa.

CNN's Frank Sesno now takes a closer look at these results.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(APPLAUSE)

FRANK SESNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iowa caucus-goers gave the night to the front-runners: George W. Bush for the Republicans, with the strongest finish in GOP caucus history here.

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And tonight also marks the beginning of the end of the Clinton era.

(APPLAUSE)

SESNO: Democrat Al Gore scored an even bigger victory, a record in Iowa's contested primaries, a nearly two-to-one margin over rival Bill Bradley.

AL GORE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My message to you this evening is very simple: We've just begun to fight.

(APPLAUSE)

SESNO: For Gore, hopes now of momentum and an early dispatch of the Bradley insurgency. In fact, Gore spoke as if the nomination were already his, barely mentioning his Democratic rival.

GORE: The irresponsible, risky tax give-away schemes that both George W. Bush and Steve Forbes were proposing would be harmful to our economy and harmful to the people of this country.

(APPLAUSE)

We've just begun to fight to preserve our prosperity.

(APPLAUSE)

SESNO: For his part, Bradley, the former basketball hero, says the game isn't over yet.

BILL BRADLEY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tonight, I have a little more humility but no less confidence that I can win and do the job.

(APPLAUSE)

SESNO: But it is a sharp setback for Bradley. After pumping more than $2 million and enormous time into the state, a far cry from the outright victory his campaign once hoped for.

BRADLEY: What I'm trying to do takes time.

SESNO: So all eyes are on New Hampshire's primary a week from now. Acknowledging the odds, aides say Bradley is sharpening his message and his ads.

STEVE FORBES (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a great night.

SESNO; For some of Iowa's also-rans, a loss can sound a lot like a win. Republican Steve Forbes got nearly a third of vote, finishing better than any second-place Republican in the state's caucus history. He claims he's the true conservative alternative to Bush.

FORBES: This was a campaign of principle and ideas, and your faith has been vindicated tonight, and thank you very much.

(APPLAUSE)

SESNO: Even the number-three Republican was boasting. Alan Keyes, with a small-but-respectable showing, promised to carry his passionate anti-abortion, pro-prayer, conservative message onward.

From the caucus polls, some things to keep in mind as the campaign proceeds: Bradley did much better among Democrats who disapprove of the president, and Bradley's expected to use Clinton fatigue as a weapon in New Hampshire. George W. Bush got a solid chunk of religious conservatives, suggesting that wing of the party can live with him.

But it's not over yet. New Hampshire is partial to political mavericks and fertile ground for Bradley and a man who didn't even campaign in Iowa: Republican John McCain.

Frank Sesno, CNN, Des Moines, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE) TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

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