he issues terrain took a sharp turn toward education yesterday in the Democratic primary in New Hampshire.
Campaign workers for Vice President Al Gore distributed a report card to schools, libraries, and colleges throughout New Hampshire. Not surprisingly, Bill Bradley didn't fare so well compared with Gore.
In response, the Bradley campaign produced Representative George Miller, a California Democrat, to attest to the former New Jersey senator's commitment to bettering the public schools.
''It's too bad that Al Gore is treating education as a stunt here in terms of issuing a report card that is nothing more than a laundry list of issues that this administration has talked a great game about and has in many ways failed to deliver,'' Miller said.
The Gore campaign has been trying to shift the political dialogue to education for some time, also using surrogates to drive home their message that Gore will make the better education president. Last week, Education Secretary Richard Riley campaigned in the state, while Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland senator, stumped for Gore this week.
Business group's pitch: cut defense, help schools
If you've crossed the border into the Granite State, you've probably seen the bus with the giant letters that say ''Move Our Money.''
Now you can see the newspaper ads and hear the radio spot, too.
Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, led by Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, have launched a media campaign imploring the presidential candidates to move 10 percent of the defense budget into the education column.
''If we decrease defense spending a little, we can improve education a lot,'' said David Gardiner, a creative director at Hill, Holliday in Boston, explaining the thrust of the ad campaign.
Four full-page ads have begun running in newspapers around the state. A radio spot is running in New Hampshire and Iowa.
Alliance for mentally ill hopes to get out the vote
There's a new special interest group in New Hampshire that's hoping to make its weight felt at the ballot box Feb. 1.
The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill-New Hampshire is encouraging people with mental illness and their families to register to vote in time for the presidential primary.
Michael Cohen, the executive director, said that if every consumer of mental health services and every consumer's family registered to vote, the total would be 100,000 voters.
''This is part of the overall national anti-stigma campaign,'' Cohen said. ''Even if you have a mental illness you can still vote and the law allows you to vote. This puts mental health and mental illness issues right up front on candidates' agendas. That's what we want to have happen.''
The group has been holding meetings around the state, explaining the voter registration process, and passing out fact sheets about where the candidates stand on issues of importance to people who suffer from mental illness.
