Character counts

In the final days before Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation primary, polls suggested that about half of New Hampshire voters planned to base their decision upon the candidates’ positions on specific issues, about half upon the less tangible question of character.

Both Vice President Al Gore’s narrow win over former Sen. Bill Bradley and Sen. John McCain’s double-digit romp over Gov. George W. Bush make races that once seemed like foregone conclusions suddenly interesting. The handful of smallish primaries between now and March’s decisive Super Tuesday take on new importance. The smallest differences on issues will become magnified. And character will count more than ever.

The character question is especially true for the former front-runners, Gore and Bush. Both campaigns are trying mightily to make a trend seem like a fluke. Both, not by coincidence, are making increasing use of the word “insurgent” to describe the opposition.

Neither Sen. Bradley nor Sen. McCain are anything close to being insurgents. Both represent the core values of their respective parties, both have held high office with distinction, both have demonstrated an ability to think independently, but hardly an obsession. To label either of these candidates insurgents, with the connotation of lunatic fringe wackiness, is a misuse of language and an attempt to trivialize the electoral process. That should make thoughtful voters wary.

To his credit, Mr. Gore responded to Sen. Bradley’s strong effort with words of congratulations and a commitment to more debates. That willingness to go toe-to-toe with a worthy opponent demonstrates character.

But backers of Gov. Bush should be concerned about how their candidate has handled defeat. Up until the polls closed Tuesday, New Hampshire was, in Gov. Bush’s view, America at its best. Afterwards, the governor clearly implied that New Hampshire was a state of cranks with a long history of casting irrelevant votes. The comparison made to Pat Buchanan’s 1996 victory is absurd — the isolationist Buchanan, never elected to anything, won by 1 percent in a state still remembering recession. Sen. McCain is serving his third term in the Senate and won by 14 percent in an economic boom. Moreover, he won by campaigning tirelessly and by speaking his mind. That’s character. Gov. Bush must answer with something more than pouting.