hough he is no longer a candidate there is an important reason why John McCain was able to play the mischievous jester who for a time snatched George W. Bush's scepter during the Republican primaries. The reason is unbelievably simple: Customer service.
This was brought home by my journalism students at Simmons College. Their assignment was to cover the New Hampshire primary, making their own arrangements to find an event where a candidate spoke.
McCain was not the first choice of most of the students. But in the end more students covered him than any other candidate. Three examples why are provided below by members of my opinion writing class:
Ellen Coppinger: ''I originally called Al Gore's campaign office to find out where he would be during the New Hampshire primaries. I found that the people at his campaign office were very rude and cold and didn't want to offer me information on where Al Gore would be during the weekend.
''Governor George Bush's office couldn't give out the governor's schedule. Bill Bradley's events were three hours from Boston. Finally, I called John McCain's headquarters. They couldn't tell me for sure where he would be but tried their best to tell me where I could look to find him. They took my number and told me if they found out anything they would let me know. (The Manchester Union Leader later told her that McCain would be at the Hudson Chamber of Commerce. A friend drove her there.).
''McCain's committee was setting up the function room,'' she said. ''I explained to them who I was and asked if I would be able to stand in the back during this event. They said they would make a spot for me to stand in the back with the media. The Harvard Republicans were there, and they were telling me how much John McCain had made himself accessible compared to the other candidates. During the middle of dinner, I walked up to the front where McCain was sitting, shook his hand, and got my picture taken with him.
Bridget Paradis: ''Searching the Web, we discovered that McCain was the only candidate with a set agenda. But we did not want to see McCain, so I made a few telephone calls, after which I decided to see McCain after all.
''I telephoned the Gore campaign headquarters for the fifth time in two weeks. At 7 p.m., the office had not yet received his agenda for the next day. They referred me to the Nashua office, which tried referring me back to headquarters. [The Nashua office] tried telling me about Tipper's events.
''I telephoned Bradley's New Hampshire headquarters. His agenda was not out yet for the next day. The operator said, `It's like hitting a moving target.' She was more informal and personable, but more discouraging than helpful. From previous calls to Bush campaign offices, I did not bother trying.
''I telephoned McCain's New Hampshire headquarters for the first time. A perky but tired sounding woman answered. I asked if McCain was still appearing at the Windham and Derry town hall meetings the next day.
''She said, `He's been booked for weeks. He'll definitely be there. Will you be joining us?' Of course, I replied and asked if the event was open to all supporters. `Everybody can come. Bring all your friends.'''
Sara Munoz: ''Feeling that I had really gotten nowhere (after several previous tries) with Gore, I decided to call Bradley's headquarters. When I called, I didn't even get a human being to answer the telephone. All I heard was a voice message asking me for a fax number they could send information to. And so I decided to continue trying my luck with Gore.
''That night I called back three times. All three times I felt like I was getting the run-around. I left voice messages. I spoke to people. I complained. I even asked them how they expected us to write a story about Gore if we couldn't even get the information we needed. They had no answer to my question. Yet they did ask me if I could attend an event in Manchester, an event Gore wasn't even going to be at.
''By this point I was frustrated and decided to change candidates and go with McCain. I got on the Internet, went to his Web page, and in a couple of minutes I had his entire schedule. I ended up being one of the 350 attendees in Derry at his 113th town hall meeting. And out of the approximately 10 people who were able to ask him questions, I was one of them.''
Derrick Z. Jackson is a Globe columnist.
