Mr. Buckley responded that his candidate would have done better, too, but Kemp supporters "were watching football, grilling cheeseburgers at bowling tournaments and cleaning their guns."

L. Brent Bozell, a long-time conservative activist and Kemp supporter who serves as executive director of the Conservative Victory Committee, said: "Iowa said volumes.

"We're going to raise George Shultz's name identification to a level he never dreamed of in this campaign," said Mr. Viguerie, a Kemp supporter.

"It bugs everyone who loves and admires Jack," says Richard Viguerie, the conservative activist and Kemp supporter.

For his part, Assemblyman L. William Paxon, a longtime Kemp supporter, is taking the Congressman at his word.

Mr. Lehrman is a Kemp supporter.

Now, Mr. Smith is a successful Corpus Christi businessman and an ardent Kemp supporter.

But Kemp supporters said that his more radical economic vision might carry some appeal in tough times.

In a letter to Kemp supporters in Michigan, Ed Rollins, Mr. Kemp's political director, said, "We ask our campaign's representatives on the new temporary credentials committee to abide by the rulings of the Michigan state courts in determining what delegations to seat."