Clinton also said he had done what he could to counter allegations made last month of extramarital affairs and Vietnam War draft-dodging.

"The hit that I took in this election is nothing compared to the hits the people of New Hampshire are taking each day," he said.

And his campaign aides said they look forward to running nationally against frontrunner Tsongas, whose appeal may be limited outside the Northeast.

"It's now a two-person race," said George Burno, co-chair of the Clinton campaign here.

"We'll go to Maine...but then the campaign moves to the South-Bill Clinton's turf," Burno said.

But late last night, the second tier of Democratic hopefuls were still battling it out for third-place.

Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, addressing an exuberant audience at the Sheraton Wayfarer in Bedford, assured his supporters that he was committed to continuing his campaign.

"We may not quite be golden yet, but bronze ain't bad," he said.

Kerrey's campaign aides and supporters agreed that their candidate's third place finish was important in the upcoming race.

"Tsongas has had the local advantage, and Clinton has dominated the press coverage," said campaign manager Tadd Levine. "We'll continue to build not only for the nomination but also the general election."

Attacking Bush's health care, economic and educational policies, Kerrey expressed confidence about winning the Democratic nomination and the general election.

"It breaks my heart to see what Bush has done to this country," said Kerrey, strongly New Hampshire Primaries 1992

With 97% of precincts reporting, returns show Paul Tsongas as the Democratic winner and George Bush as the Republican winner in the New Hampshire primaries.

Democratic Party Candidate  Votes  Percentage  Delegate s Jerry Brown  12,784  9%  0 Bill Clinton  38,365  26%  9 Mario Cuomo  5,128  3%  0 Tom Harkin  15,569  11%  0 Bob Kerrey  17,085  12%  0 Tom Laughlin  2,069  1%  0 Ralph Nader  2,445  2%  0 Paul Tsongas  50,903  34%  9 Others  3,499  2%  0

Republican Party Candidate  Votes  Percentage  Delegate s Patrick Buchanan  59,426  41%  9 George Bush  83,415  57%  14 Others  2,754  2%  0 Source: The Associated Press criticizing the president's last term."Buchanan may have bloodied his nose, but we'regoing to knock him out in November '92."

At his campaign celebration in Manchester, IowaSen. Tom Harkin said that his fourth-place finishwas a big victory for an underdog candidate.