ho cares if New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation presidential primary is Feb. 1 instead of Feb. 8? The average voter? Doubtful. But there was wailing in political quarters from New Hampshire to Iowa last week when Secretary of State Bill Gardner surprised everybody, and shocked a few, with his official and, he insists, set-in-stone announcement that the Big Day would be Feb. 1, 2000 - not Feb. 8 as many politicos had banked on. The brouhaha that followed just seemed like another good reason to reform the entire primary system. And some insiders think the flap might ultimately hurt New Hampshire's ongoing battle to hold on to first place in the primary lineup.
Gardner says he was just following the letter of the law, which says the primary has to be seven days before any other similar contest. Delaware Republicans were saying they might hold their event on Feb. 8, or maybe on the 15th, so Gardner says he decided to cover his bases and go with Feb. 1. Sounds good, but one of the other great preliminary rounds of the presidential bouts, the Iowa caucuses, is scheduled for Jan. 31. Iowa cried foul, saying plans had been made based on the Feb. 8 date - a date Gardner said he never confirmed. Iowa will have to back up because its law says it has to be a week before New Hampshire.
Logistics, namely hotel and meeting space, are now the crisis in both states. Sean O'Kane, general manager of the Center of New Hampshire/Holiday Inn in Manchester, was on hand to hear Gardner's announcement. Television networks had booked their rooms assuming the primary would be Feb. 8 and a political convention for college students, scheduled for mid-January 2000, might have to make some adjustments. ''I'm going to go back and start tap dancing,'' said O'Kane as he headed out of Gardner's office.
Parties are forced to make adjustment
There was a lot of hand wringing in Republican and Democratic circles as a result of Gardner's decision. Each national party has its own tangled web of rules about who can set a primary when. Now both sides from New Hampshire will have to plead for exceptions - which insiders feel they'll probably get. So what's the problem?
It may be that bigwigs from the national committees will be thinking about all this uproar when they sit down in the next few months to talk about how to change the now out-of-whack primary system (right now, so many states have jammed their primaries on top of each other that the entire process of choosing presidential nominees will be over by mid-March). One Democratic insider commented that Gardner's abrupt and unexpected announcement (the Iowa GOP chairman got the word from CNN) wasn't a great way to ''win friends and influence people.''
''What I'm concerned about is that we might look flighty and unpredictible in how we do this,'' said Republican National Commitee member Tom Rath. Observers worry that if other state officials are upset about how the date was chosen, it could come back and haunt New Hampshire, which already has, as one person put it, a reputation as a ''prima donna'' among other states.
But Gardner, who has been setting presidential primary dates for almost 25 years, says he has heard all that before, and survived. ''The bottom line is we are determined to preserve our tradition,'' Gardner said.
Democratic council checks out situation
The Democratic Leadership Council, which in the 1980s forged the ''centrist'' Democrat philosophy that launched Bill Clinton into the White House, is trying to revitalize its New Hampshire presence. Last week, the council's president, Al From , was in state making the rounds, including a reception in Concord and meetings with Governor Jeanne Shaheen and the House minority leader, Peter Burling. Former state party chairman Jeffrey Woodburn said the DLC helped the party shed its ''liberal'' image, which many people believed was ''out of touch'' with the electorate. The ''new Democrats'' took on the consensus-building, moderate approach - the hallmark of Shaheen's governing style.
But Woodburn, who helped organize the DLC event, said there had been a ''resurgence of the left'' as the Claremont education financing lawsuit turned into a high-pitched battle for an income tax, which many high-visibility Democrats support - except, of course, for Shaheen. ''I for one want to move the party beyond that issue,'' Woodburn said, adding that the DLC would be a forum for doing that.
Meanwhile there was a new guy on the block at the DLC reception. The cosponsor of the event was Manchester native Jonathan Foster, an investment banker in New York who has been involved with the DLC ''for a while'' and said he was a ''big financial supporter'' of Shaheen.
So, what's he up to? Reached at his office at Lazard Freres, Foster, 38, said he has thought about moving back to New Hampshire with his family but has no definite plans. He has considered ''running for something,'' but nothing's up with that either, he said.
''There's no secret agenda here,'' said Foster.
Political memories are made of this
If you have political knick-knacks and other paraphernalia hanging around your house, the Library & Archives of New Hampshire's Political History wants to talk. The library is taking donations of political memorabilia either for preservation (this is history, after all) and possibly for display in the ''Every Vote Counts'' exhibit scheduled to open to the public on Oct. 30 in Nashua at the Hunt Memorial Building, a historic landmark. The exhibit, part of which was on display in Washington at the Smithsonian Festival, includes buttons, posters, pictures and other treasures from 50 years of presidential primaries. If you have something to part with, call 271-2397. After two weeks in Nashua, ''Every Vote Counts'' will be on display in other areas around the state.
If you have nothing but money to give, there's a fund-raiser ($25 a head) for the Hunt Building, which used to be the city library, on Oct. 29 in Nashua.
AARP to candidates: Better get specific
The American Association of Retired Persons served notice in Concord last week that it will make its most aggressive effort ever to get presidential candidates to be specific on AARP's top issues: Social Security, Medicare, long-term care and consumer protection in managed health-care plans. In New Hampshire, AARP has about 185,000 members, about 60 percent of the population over 50 years of age. And this is an age group that candidates will have to answer to. AARP says nearly 70 percent of registered voters over 65 cast a ballot in 1996, double the rate for 18- to 24-year-olds.
It's the aging, and huge, baby boomer population that AARP says can be a powerful force in pinning down presidential candidates on these issues. ''It's short-sighted to say these are senior issues,'' said Molly Daniels, director of AARP/ VOTE. ''They are family issues.''
GOP ex-lawmaker supports Bradley
SHORT TAKES: New Hampshire Hospital Association president Mike Hill of Concord, a former Republican lawmaker and deputy House speaker, has signed on with Democrat Bill Bradley 's presidential campaign ... There's talk that Gordon MacDonald, who was running former vice president Dan Quayle 's New Hampshire operation, will be signing on with Gordon Humphrey, who is considering running for governor. MacDonald was on Humphrey's staff during Humphrey's two terms in the US Senate. He said Humphrey is a friend and political mentor, adding, ''I strongly support him and if he runs I want to help in every way I can.'' ... The state Democratic Party will be holding its candidates' school and activist training sessions on Oct. 16 at Bow High School. A mere $10 will get you breakfast, lunch and info on how to be a politician, or help one, according to the party's grass-roots task force coordinator, Rob Werner of Concord ... The GOP will be holding similar sessions on Nov. 6. More details to come ... And for your political calender this week: Vice President Al Gore will be at his Dover presidential campaign headquarters today and in Pembroke and Manchester Monday speaking to teachers and schoolchildren ... His rival for the Democratic nomination, former New Jersey senator Bill Bradley, will be in New Hampshire Thursday to deliver a major speech on ''work and families'' ... On the GOP side, presidential candidate Elizabeth Dole will at the Center of New Hampshire Monday for the annual dinner sponsored by the Federation of Republican Women ... Magazine heir Steve Forbes will be traveling through the North Country this week, and will deliver a foreign policy speech Monday at Bretton Woods ... and Arizona Senator John McCain will be back in the state Thursday for the American Lung Association dinner in Bedford.
Got a tip or a comment from the campaign trail, state government or town hall? The Political Diary wants to hear from you at: Political Diary, Boston Globe/New Hampshire Weekly, 1650 Elm St., Manchester, NH 03301, or by e-mail at Kiernan@globe.com. Please include home and work telephone numbers.
