GORE ATTACKS IN FIRST DEBATE.

Byline: Michael Kranish The Boston Globe

The first side-by-side matchup of the Democratic presidential candidates erupted Wednesday night over the cost of former Sen. Bill Bradley's health care plan, which Vice President Al Gore charged would bust the budget and ``shred the social safety net.''

Bradley, who has climbed in the polls partly by offering a broader health care plan than Gore, briefly and indignantly rebuffed Gore's attack.

``We each have our own experts,'' Bradley said during the nationally televised forum, broadcast from the campus of Dartmouth College. ``I dispute the cost figure that Al has used.''

It was one of the few open disagreements - and even fewer moments of discord - on an evening when both candidates, through their answers to voter questions, mostly underscored how similar they are in temperament, ideology and outlook.

Bradley has said his health program will cost $650 billion over 10 years, while Gore quoted a study that said it would cost $1.4 trillion. Gore has proposed a program covering all children, while Bradley has proposed providing insurance to 95 percent of Americans. Bradley has called the vice president's proposal too cautious during a time of prosperity and budget surpluses.

The two also drew dividing lines on a few other issues, with Gore clearly determined to draw contrasts with Bradley, whose campaign - only months ago just a blip in the polls - now threatens to surge past the vice president's in New Hampshire, which holds the nation's earliest primary election.

Gore, for example, said he disagreed with Bradley on whether to provide tax dollars to help pay for private education. Bradley has supported some pilot programs for trying out the concept of vouchers. ``I think (it) was a mistake,'' said Gore, noting that he and Bradley have disagreed for 18 years on the issue.

The candidates largely agreed in substance on other issues, such as mental health and campaign-finance reform, as they responded to questions from citizens screened by the forum sponsors, Dartmouth and CNN. But the encounter provided an outline of the campaign to come in the three months before New Hampshire holds its primary, as the two men portrayed themselves as having different paths to reach similar goals.

At the outset, Gore's strategy was clear: He wanted to distance himself from President Clinton and accuse Bradley of making budget-busting proposals.

When a questioner vaguely asked about scandals in the Clinton-Gore administration, the vice president interpreted it as a reference to President Clinton's sexual relationship with former intern Monica Lewinsky and the subsequent impeachment trial.

``I understand the disappointment and anger that you feel toward President Clinton,'' Gore said. ``I felt it myself. I also feel that the American people want to move on, focus on the future and not the past. He is my friend. I took an oath under the Constitution to serve through thick and thin.''

The answer seemed significant because Gore has tended recently to try to dismiss such questions, saying that the country has ``Clinton-fatigue fatigue.''

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Photo: (color) Presidential hopeful Bill Bradley, left, and Vice President Al Gore square off Tuesday in the New Hampshire primary campaign.

John Mottern/Associated Press