NEW HAMPSHIRE WEEKLY / POLITICAL DIARY / LAURA A. KIERNAN

A feisty Alexander warns his opponents

By Laura A. Kiernan, Globe Correspondent, March 14, 1999

Laura Kiernan can be reached by e-mail at kierna(at sign)globe.com

"If I get hammered again, I'm going to defend myself," Alexander told reporters. The weekend before the 1996 primary, both Bob Dole (in a pitch made by then governor Stephen Merrill\ and Steve Forbes attacked Alexander on taxes, and he didn't respond. Alexander, who finished third, was also dissing current polls that say George W. (Bush, that is) has the nomination in the bag. The line was this: It's too early to coronate somebody who's basically riding high solely on his last name.

Standing before a giant American flag, Alexander was pointedly on message -- improve the public schools, lower taxes and improve the national defense. He says he has more experience and a better New Hampshire organization than his GOP rivals. Co-chairs of the New Hampshire Alexander campaign, Seacoast businessman Bill Cahill and Executive Councilor Bernie Streeter of Nashua, were on hand in Derry along with Concord lawyer and political strategist Tom Rath, a senior adviser. Standing in the back of the room, arms folded, sizing up the performance, was Manchester ad man Pat Griffin, who is Alexander's national media adviser.

Meanwhile, one of those well-known names, Elizabeth Dole, offered New Hampshire television viewers a half hour of inspirational themes last week in paid air time following the announcement in Iowa of her presidential exploratory committee. It sounded to us like the same rhetoric about "calling America to her better nature" that left people looking for more after her much ballyhooed debut in Manchester last month. It's one thing to have a powerful last name and pre-game excitment, said one veteran political operative, but you've also got to have something to say.

Carney says that he hasn't seen Governor George W. Bush -- or George "Dubya," as the son of the former president is called on the Internet -- since inauguration day and that his client down that way is the Lieutenant Governor Rick Perry. Carney was political director in the Bush White House, worked on the 1992 Bush campaign, and now spends 200 days a year on the road for his New Hampshire-based consulting company, Norway Hill Associates, working with politicians and businesses around the country.

According to Carney, the "No. 1 hot commodity" in the New Hampshire presidential primary, the one any GOP candidate wants in their camp, the one insiders call "The Big Dog," is US Senator Judd Gregg. He has campaign experience, an unrivaled field organization and enough contacts to find a town chairman for his candidate in every nook and cranny from Pelham to Pittsburg. Says Carney, "If I was George Bush, I'd be on my knees praying every night that he comes with me."

Gregg himself jokingly told reporters he feels like a priest in the confessional, counseling wannabe presidents who want to talk about their strengths and weaknesses. He has met with George W., had several conversations with Elizabeth Dole, plans to meet again with Lamar Alexander and more. But says Gregg's chief of staff Joel Maiola, "It's going to be a while before anything is finalized."

Let's face it though, Gregg's ties to the Bush family run very deep. As a freshman congressman, Gregg ran Bush's New Hampshire field operation in the 1980 presidential primary, assembling a crew of young campaign workers including George W.'s brother Neil Bush, Will Abbott of Holderness who later spent years laying groundwork for Bush through a group called Fund for America's Future, and Maiola. Gregg was with Bush through the 1992 loss to then Arkansas governor Bill Clinton. In 1996, Gregg was on board with then US senator Bob Dole, and had a very good relationship with Dole and his wife -- which just adds another layer of complication to the endorsement task.

And two words from Maiola about polls that already have George W. on a cakewalk to the GOP nomination: "Total danger." New Hampshire voters, Maiola says, hear that stuff and "see red in their eyes and say 'Let me talk to them.' "

Among those on the Dole side are Claira P. Monier, executive director of the New Hampshire Housing Authority, former House member and former Hillsborough county commissioner Toni Pappas, Dover lawyer Alec Koromilas and state Representative Fran Wendelboe of New Hampton. Former Healthsource CEO Donna Lencki, who helped organize a breakfast for Dole in Bedford this year, says she's "likely" to support her. "What she brings is a fresh look at the Republican agenda and image," Lencki said.

Still a question mark, but high up on the list of activists for GOP candidates to court, is Barbara Russell of Dover, the state committee's vice chairman who is not shy about warning the GOP to pay more attention to women. Insiders think Russell is a prime candidate for a role in the Dole campaign, but she says for now she's staying put.

"It's a tough decision," says Russell, who would have to quit her party job to join a campaign.

Forbes, who wants to ax the current federal tax code for a flat tax, will be at the State House for a press conference on Tuesday, they say to make a major announcement on taxes. He will then be making the rounds at various St. Patrick's Day events Wednesday. Forbes, who is fighting for room on the conservative side of the huge GOP presidential field, spent time between elections solidifying his position as a social conservative. Peter Robbio, who ran Buchanan's 1996 New Hampshire campaign, will do the same for Forbes this time around: Patti Humphrey, wife of former US senator Gordon Humphrey, is assembling the campaign organization, state Senator Mary Brown of Chichester has signed on, and longtime GOP activist and consultant Paul Young will be northeast campaign director.

Bradley hopes to raise $25 million to get his message out to the country -- which may seem like a hefty sum except that The Washington Post reports that Bradley's competition, Vice President Al Gore, plans to raise $55 million.

Money doesn't always talk. Consider Steve Forbes. He passed on federal matching funds so he could avoid caps on spending and then proceeded to spend $32 million of his own money -- $4 million in Iowa, according to the Post's numbers. Word is he has promised his kids he won't go quite that far this time around.

"Where have you been?" Shaheen asked Gardner Goldsmith, who said he writes for a paper called the Local Shopper. "None of the above is not an option."

This is the "Just Say No" approach that some stalwarts in the State House still want to try as the response to the Supreme Court ruling ordering the state to change the way it pays for schools by April 1. The Libertarian party is advocating the same position in a radio ad. Said Shaheen, stonewalling the court is out.

"If we take no action we will not be able to fund our schools,' Shaheen said, because the mechanism for collecting the cash will be illegal once the deadline passes.