ormer governor John Sununu 's endorsement last week of Gordon Humphrey 's run for the GOP nomination for governor is not deterring another potential candidate for the corner office, former attorney general Jeffrey Howard. ''My intention is to run,'' Howard told us. And it seems a safe bet that Howard could expect to have the backing of another former New Hampshire governor, his good friend Stephen Merrill.
''I am raising funds, increasing support'' and continuing to speak at taxpayer meetings and local gatherings, Howard said. He has maintained a low-key profile, while Humphrey, who has said he will make his run official in April, has been sending out press releases, updating his Web page and supervising a campaign staff.
Sununu called Howard ''a good friend'' but said his endorsement was influenced by Humphrey's experience as a US senator from 1979-1990. Humphrey has been out of state politics since 1992, after he served one term as a state senator, and played no decision-making role in the most dominant, and vexing, state political issue, education financing. Asked about this, Sununu said, ''It might have been a great advantage to the senator not to have been tainted by some of the foolishness that has come out of the State House.''
Howard was attorney general while the school case was in court, but he has never held an elected office (he was appointed to the state's top law enforcement job and served under Merrill for four years). But, Howard said, in his case, ''I think not having been a politician could end up being a plus in this situation,'' adding he believes solving the education funding crisis will require ''fresh ideas.''
To be sure, one of those ideas will not be an income tax, which Howard said he is against because it would hurt the state's ability to attract new businesses, and keep them here.
One-time favorite is looking for money
Patrick J. Buchanan, the winner (in case you've forgotten) of the 1996 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, will be back in state for a fund-raiser on March 30. Buchanan, who is trying to persuade the Reform Party to nominate him this time, will be on a tour through New England leading up to the party's Maine convention on April 1.
Shelly Uscinski, who is running the ''Buchanan Reform'' office in Manchester, says his supporters are concentrating on acquiring the 3,000 signatures needed to get Buchanan on the state ballot as the Reform Party candidate, if he gets the party nomination.
As to the Reform Party here, the state chairman, Daron Libby, who had insisted it should stay out of presidential politics until its summer convention, has resigned in the wake of the departure of Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura from the party, as has the vice chairman, Dennis Mounce , of Manchester. John Talbott, the party's spokesman here who had accused the Buchananites of plotting a takeover, is now acting state chairman. Talbott is actively supporting Arizona Senator John McCain for the Reform Party's presidential nomination, and he said things are ''healthier'' now that people are open about where they stand in terms of presidential candidates.
Talbott says the state party will continue to work on getting 10,000 signatures by this summer so that the entire Reform Party slate can be on the New Hampshire ballot in the fall - not just the presidential nominee.
Democrats pick their delegates
Democrats, being democratic, couldn't make it easy when they chose their delegates to the party's national convention in Los Angeles in August. The Republicans just let the campaigns pick their favorite people. Not so the Dems. They have to have a secret-ballot election in each of the two congressional districts, and the 14 delegates have to be evenly divided. Based on the primary outcome, Vice President Al Gore got eight delegates and former New Jersey senator Bill Bradley got six.
From the 1st District, representing Gore the winners are Donna Soucy of Manchester, Marlene Dechane of Barrington, state Senator Lou D'Allesandro and former executive councilor Jim Normand, both of Manchester. Delegates for Bradley from the 1st District are Randy Benthien of Goffstown, Marilyn Hoffman of Londonderry and Ann Remus of Bedford.
From the 2d District, the Gore delegates are Michael Colby and Robert Werner, both of Concord, Jennifer Hanlon of Londonderry and Gloria Powell of Nashua. For Bradley, the delegates are Mary Rauh of Sunapee, Bill Siroty of Amherst and Christopher Sullivan of Concord.
No ulterior motives for trip, says Duprey
New Hampshire's Republican Party chairman, Steve Duprey, did go to South Carolina last weekend to check out the GOP primary, but he is dissing all the talk that his plan was to schmooze with McCain's team from New Hampshire because he wants their support for a national party post. ''I just played tourist,'' said Duprey, who added that he checked in with both the Bush and McCain camps.
The rumor was (and still is) that Duprey, who did not endorse a candidate during primary season, wants to be elected to the Republican National Committee. The committeeman and committeewoman from New Hampshire are chosen by the 17 delegates to the GOP convention designated by the primary results: 10 for McCain, five for Texas Governor George W. Bush and two for magazine heir Steve Forbes.
Inside baseball? Maybe. But the RNC plays a role in the fate of New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary, which may be more under attack than ever. And that beefs up the importance of the New Hampshire committee member's job as chief protector.
The current committeeman, Concord lawyer Tom Rath, a Bush supporter, was not saying a thing about talk that Duprey wanted his seat. The national committeewoman, by the way, is Executive Councilor Ruth Griffin, an early Bush supporter.
A few more figures from the primary
Just a little more leftover detail from the Feb. 1 New Hampshire presidential primary. According to the final official numbers from the secretary of state's office, a total of 396,385 people voted, which comes to 51 percent of the state's registered voters. That included 60 percent of registered Republicans, 54 percent of registered Democrats and 39 percent of registered independents. Of those independents, who were considered a crucial block in this year's primary, 69,451 voted Republican and 42,512 voted Democratic.
In terms of sheer numbers, it was the biggest turnout ever in a presidential primary. Some people, however, aren't happy. David Diamond, from The Real Democracy Project in Dover, says his group boycotted the primary altogether. He believes that voting in an election controlled by ''big money'' is simply validating a corrupt system. Diamond points out that only 43 percent of the state's 920,000 eligible voters cast a ballot in the primary.
Diamond got some notable help in a primary day protest in Dover from novelist Carolyn Chute(of ''The Beans of Egypt, Maine'' and other works), who for years has run an anti-big business crusade called the 2nd Maine Militia from her home in an isolated area of western Maine. Diamond said he met up with Chute last spring when the two were on a bus ride to Philadelphia for a rally for convicted murder Mumia Abu-Jamal, who is trying to get his convicton for shooting a policeman overturned. Diamond said it was Chute's idea that the Democracy Project propose a $100 cap on campaign contributions.
Now that the primary is over, Diamond says, he is going back to his day job, as a psychologist.
Dump trash, learn about a candidate
When the selectmen in the little town of Newton (hard by the Massachusetts border, population 4,200 or so) voted to ban politicking at the local dump last month, they got hauled into court. Town officials said campaigning amid the garbage bags was becoming a safety issue as gabby candidates moved freely among the cars, handing out fliers to drivers waiting to pull up to the trash hoppers and recycling bins. The candidates impeded the free flow of trash, traffic got backed up and there were some complaints, according to Deborah Elia, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. She is up for reelection on March 14 along with board member Mary Marshall.
But local resident Robert Dezmelyk, who has served as assistant town moderator, filed a complaint in Rockingham County Superior Court that said the ban violated the candidates' right to free speech. Newton does not have a town center (it burned down in the late 1800s ) and there is no place for politicians to go but to the transfer station, as it is politely known, if they want to press the flesh, Dezmelyk said. ''This is a tiny town and the dump is it,'' he said.
The small-town dustup ended with an out-of-court settlement. The town agreed to designate a campaign zone at the dump's exit where candidates can set up shop. Dezmelyk says that's OK with him.
Learn to apply spin, and other skills
For all you would-be politicians and campaign operatives out there, the 17th annual National Campaign Training Seminar and Trade Show is looking for visitors to its May extravaganza in Washington, D.C. For $365 per person, you can spend three glorious days soaking up all kinds of advice on everything from how to come up with a winning strategy to how to look good on the campaign trail, how to ask for money (an absolutely critical skill for any pol), and how to carry out political damage control (a.k.a. spin). The seminar is sponsored by Campaigns & Elections Magazine, which is published by Congressional Quarterly, the country's largest nonpartisan governmental reporting service.
Two locals head west to plug for Bradley
Short takes: Mark Longabaugh and Sue Calegari, who both played top roles in Bradley's campaign here, are now in Washington state, where Bradley's lagging campaign is focusing all its energies ... Civil rights activist Morris Dees, the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, will be the guest speaker March 19 at an event in Concord sponsored by Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. Registration for tickets closes on March 11.
The diary will be on vacation next week. We'll be back March 5.
Got a tip or a comment from the campaign trail, state government or town hall? The Political Diary wants to hear from you at: The Boston globe/New Hampshire Weekly, 1650 Elm St., Manchester, NH 03101, or by e-mail at Kiernan@globe.com. Please include home and work telephone numbers.
