AD WATCH: Pressing a point against former senator Bill Bradley, Vice President [Al] Gore is running a TV ad in Iowa highlighting Gore's support for, and Bradley's vote against, flood relief in 1993. In the ad, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, calls Gore "the only Democratic candidate for president who helped make sure that Iowa got the help we desperately needed after those floods." A radio version also is airing. Bradley's campaign says he supported the major flood relief bill in 1993, but opposed a Harkin amendment to provide additional funding because it was "too broad and not targeted to the people who needed it most." -- Martha T. Moore

* The moderate Republican Leadership Council, which includes many supporters of presidential front-runner George W. Bush, is spending $100,000 on TV ads criticizing fellow GOP presidential contender Steve Forbes for running an ad attacking Bush. "Steve Forbes' attack ad distorts the truth," says the new 30-second RLC ad. It begins airing today in Iowa and Monday in New Hampshire. At issue is a Forbes ad about Bush's record on tax cuts. The RLC ran an earlier ad in November warning Forbes against making attacks as he did in 1996 against candidate Bob Dole.