Bradley, Gore meet in last debate before primary MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Bill Bradley attacked Al Gore in biting, personal terms last night, questioning his commitment to abortion rights and likening his tactics to Richard Nixon. ''If you're going to talk about a higher standard you're going to need to live by them,'' the vice president rebutted in campaign debate. Gore criticized former Sen. Bradley for voting for Republican spending cuts in 1981, and said, ''I just don't see how you can vote for Ronald Reagan's budget cuts and then campaign like Robert Kennedy.'' Bradley shot back instantly: ''When Al accuses me of negative campaigning, that reminds me of the story about Richard Nixon, the kind of politician who would chop down a tree, then stand on the stump and give a speech about conservation.'' The 60-minute debate marked an abrupt change in campaign tactics by Bradley, whom aides said in advance was poised to carry the fight to the vice president for the first time in their battle for the Democratic presidential nomination. The two men squabbled through 60 televised minutes as they met for the first time since Gore's runaway victory on Monday night in the Iowa caucuses - and the final time before New Hampshire holds the first primary next Tuesday. It was the second half of a debate doubleheader. The GOP contenders met for 90 minutes on the same stage earlier in the evening. The polls say New Hampshire is a toss-up, and New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, who supports the vice president, said yesterday the Democratic race is ''very close - it could go either way.'' At the same time, victory is more important politically for Bradley, given his drubbing in Iowa. Gore used one question to underscore his political partnership with President Clinton. ''People are tired of the whole discussion about the president's personal mistake,'' he said. ''They think that by and large he has been a great president in turning this economy around. ''You know, the Clinton-Gore administration has ended the deepest recession since the 1930s, when New Hampshire was losing 10,000 jobs a year,'' he said. Foreign policy came up briefly, when Gore was asked whether the administration had been forceful enough in trying to end the Russian attack on Chechnya. He noted that Russia has 20,000 nuclear warheads that can be retargeted toward the United States at any time. ''We live in a world where we need to make our points as forcefully as possible,'' he said. The two men also revisited their campaign-long debate over health care - Gore attacking Bradley's plan, Bradley defending it - but it seemed that whatever the issue, one or the other used it to bludgeon his rival for negative campaigning. ''I wonder whether - if you're running a campaign that is saying untrue things - whether you'll be able to be a president that gets people's trust,'' Bradley said at one point. ''Look, Bill, we have had some heated disagreements in this campaign. Let's keep it to the substances of the issues. I haven't accused you of lying,'' Gore responded. Asked by moderator Judy Woodruff whether he was guilty of campaign distortions, Gore said no, then said that Bradley ''is the only one who has been forced by the media to apologize for negative attacks.'' Gore also said that Bradley had resurrected the issue of Willie Horton, a racially-tinged subject that Republicans used to attack Michael Dukakis in the 1988 campaign. ''So if you're going to talk about a higher standard you're going to need to live by them,'' he said. Abortion came up in the context of a Bradley question to Gore about first lady Hillary Clinton and her New York Senate race. ''I always supported Roe v. Wade. I have always supported a woman's right to choose,'' the vice president said. Bradley quickly noted that while in Congress, Gore had an 84 percent right to life voting record. ''People can evolve but your campaign shouldn't go around and say you've always been for the right to choose but the record shows you have not.'' Gore: ''I have always supported a woman's right to choose and I support it today.'' Bradley: ''That's not true.'' Gore said the only exception was in the case of government funding for Medicaid mothers, although he said he had since changed his view. ''You still didn't answer the question. Whether consistency on fundamental issues of principle is relevant. I think they are,'' Bradley said. A voting record review by NARAL, which advocates abortion rights, says that Gore ''frequently voted in favor of restrictions on the right to choose, particularly on public funding for abortion.'' The two Democratic rivals also clashed sharply about negative campaign advertising. ''You know better. You know better, but you continue to do what you know is untrue,'' Bradley said. ''There has never been a time in this campaign that I have said something that I know to be untrue. There's never been a time when I said something that was untrue,'' Gore said. Nor did the tone improve after the two men left their debate podiums. ''I think that Al will have to go a long way to demonstrate that what he said tonight was true -- that is that he has not lied in this campaign,'' said Bradley. Gov. Shaheen, who backs Gore, said, ''I think Bradley got personal in a way tonight that make me uncomfortable. Bradley essentially called Al Gore a liar tonight and that's pretty personal.'' Originally on page 7A in the 1-27-2000 issue of the Daily.