Candidates prepare for N.H. primary

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Amidst the buzz of enthusiastic volunteers at Paul Tsongas' headquarters on Saturday, a small child cautiously made his way to the center of New Hampshire's political attention to get the autograph of the dour Paul Tsongas. Tsongas, like any politician, knelt down and gave an autograph to the boy. But unlike almost any candidate to come through this political testing ground, he was autographing an 80-page policy manual. Ten months ago, when Tsongas was the only Democrat brave enough to challenge then popular President Bush, pundits laughed at this Greek from Massachusetts who was not running on slick advertisements or good looks, but on 80 pages of economic policy. Yet as the New Hampshire primary approaches, neither his approach nor his policy has changed, but droves of people are asking him to sign his Call to Economic Arms policy manual. Tsongas, now the Democratic front-runner in Tuesday's primary, summed up his position in a speech to his volunteers in Manchester Friday. "Vision and economic truth are important," he said. "And TV, money, and endorsements are not." Peter Fidler, a sophomore from Cornell University who joined four of his classmates in driving to Manchester to support Tsongas, said he supports Tsongas because he is the only one with a real economic plan. "[I am] not supporting a movie star for president," he added on the way to a street corner to cheer for Tsongas for the national media. On the Democratic side of the political fence, many of the differences between the candidates were showcased at a fundraising dinner Friday night where all the candidates, except for Tsongas, addressed the New Hampshire Democratic Party. Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, a Vietnam War hero, was greeted by a huge standing ovation as he took the podium and proceeded to wow the crowd with some of the best one-liners of the campaign. On health care: "George Bush still believes that all you have to do to see a doctor in the country is to schedule a round of golf." On Vice President Dan Quayle: "Dan Quayle was born on third base and thought he kicked a field goal." Despite his jokes, the state of the Kerrey campaign is no laughing matter, for this expected contender has yet to catch fire and now is battling Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa for third place in the polls. NBC correspondent and University Trustee Andrea Mitchell said Saturday while editing her newscast that when she saw Kerrey Friday night, it was "the first time in quite a while he gave the type of speech he is capable of doing." She added that Kerrey's poor showing is due to his "inability to connect with the people" in the past weeks. Fighting Kerrey is Harkin, who has been scrambling to finish a respectable third in order to prove his ability to win was not limited to his home state of Iowa. Going on the offense, Harkin brought his wife and two kids onto the podium at the Democratic dinner Friday night, seemingly to affirm subtly his solid family footing in the face of the controversy surrounding Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton's reported infidelity. Harkin said he "felt at home" in New Hampshire because of the "people with strong values and strong families." Sounding a different message than Harkin's traditional Democratic line was former California Gov. Jerry Brown, who tried to rally support for his insurgent, anti-incumbent campaign by calling for voters to "wake up and take [America] back." But the most effective and intense insurgent campaign is on the Republican side with conservative challenger Pat Buchanan's "America First" campaign. Buchanan, who is rising steadily in the polls against President Bush, has hit a responsive chord with some New Hampshire voters, moving them to almost fanatical support. In a gym decorated with the required red, white, and blue, a crowd of over 1200 people at Daniel Webster College in Nashua erupted in near deafening, spontaneous cheers with every shot Buchanan fired at Bush. At one point, Buchanan's conservative devotees broke into a cheer of "Read my lips. No second term," sending a clear message to Bush, who, feeling the heat, came up to New Hampshire Saturday with his "Terminator," Arnold Schwarzenegger, to secure support. Buchanan may not win the Republican primary on Tuesday, but his race has mobilized a bloc of conservative voters serious about change in their party and unafraid to admit it. As Buchanan pollster and University professor Frank Luntz said, "People who are voting for Buchanan are glad to be doing it."

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