he buzz in New Hampshire political circles isn't so much that Bob Smith has abdicated the Republican Party. It's the fact that his much ballyhooed announcement effectively launched the race for the GOP nomination to his coveted US Senate seat, next up for grabs in 2002. Smith isn't saying whether he will run as an independent, and he was testy with reporters last week who asked the question. ''You guys just don't understand,'' Smith said during a telephone conference call. ''I'm seeking the presidency and I am not looking beyond 2000.''
Maybe Smith's not, but you can be sure other people are. Former congressman Bill Zeliff of Jackson says he's ''absolutely'' considering a run for the GOP nomination. Other GOP names that pop up include Cabletron board member Craig Benson and former governor Stephen Merrill, but at the top of the list is 1st District Representative John E. Sununu. He has maintained a workmanlike profile during his two terms in the House, but he has the name ID - thanks to his high-visibility dad - to rank him as the most formidable contender, and the guy most likely to get the GOP nod if he wants it. (Sound familiar?) On the Democratic side, it's widely viewed that Governor Jeanne Shaheen wants the Senate job.
For his part, Zeliff - who gave up his seat in Congress to run for governor and then lost the nomination to conservative Ovide Lamontagne - wasn't being shy about adding his name to the Senate list. ''We are very interested in taking a very good look at it,'' said Zeliff the other night, as he mingled with guests at Executive Councilor Ray Burton's modest farmhouse in Bath at what is known to Burton's friends as ''The Annual.''
Who's Who attend
Burton's big bash
The veteran councilor's down home soiree got its start 30 years ago. It's become a fixture on the North Country political/ social calender each summer - and a fund-raiser for Burton, who has been on the council for more than two decades. About 150 or so politicians, businessmen, legislators, friends (and this reporter) found their way through the white clapboard village and across the Bath Village covered bridge to Burton's place, snuggled up in a clearing off a long dirt road.
Since this is primary season, the party did draw one relative of a presidential candidate: Wally Forbes, a cousin of GOP hopeful Steve Forbes, came up from New York with Joe Turco, a former Burton intern now a lawyer in the Big Apple. Burton, by the way, is supporting Lamar Alexander(as is Zeliff). But mostly it was a local crowd, the new and the familiar ones, as Burton said, who weave their way in and out of the political scene around these parts of New Hampshire.
Milling around in the crowd on Burton's lawn were state Senator Ned Gordon of Bristol (whose name comes up as a possible candidate for governor); state Representative Brien Ward, a Littleton Republican whose mother, Kay Ward, was an influential House member; former state senator Jim Rubens(who is expected to run for governor and seems to be everywhere these days); Lancaster realtor Peter Powell, son of the late governor Wesley Powell, and state legislators Maxwell Sargent of Hillsborough, Carolyn Virtue of Loudon and John Cobb of Woodsville, as well as Henry Mock of Jackson, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and former law enforcement chief at the state Fish and Game Department.
The ever gregarious Burton, wearing a red-striped shirt and a ''Burton for Certain'' baseball cap (a slogan coined during his successful run for sophomore class vice president at Plymouth State), attended to the guests, took snapshots and gave a brief speech. ''It's my land, my place and I'm the only one who does any talking here,'' he joked. His mother, Natalie Burton, served up the brown bread and coffee cake; the minister from the Bath Congregational Church (where Ray Burton is the organist) and the church auxiliary dished out the baked beans, sliced ham and salads. The Strawberry Farm Band headed up by Tom Rappa, a part-time district court judge and lawyer in nearby Woodsville, provided the entertainment, as they have done for more than 20 years.
As for how much money he raised, Burton said he was, well, uncertain. His fiscal agent, for the ''Friends of Ray Burton'' committee, took the checks and bills that were collected at the start of the food line. ''I kept enough cash to pay the orchestra,'' Burton said.
North Country span
bears Burton name
District 1, Burton's territory, is the northernmost reach of the state, Coos and Grafton counties. It includes two-thirds of the state's land - from Laconia to Hart's Location - but just a third of the population. His attention to his constituents is unrivaled, and his supply of campaign tchotchke (key chains, trash bags, magnets and combs included) is famous.
The most important part of his job as one of five executive councilors, for which he gets paid $10,262 a year? He says it's making and approving nominees to influential commissions, who can then help his district. (He also earns $9,500 a year as a part-time county commissioner.)
This weekend, Burton was expected to get his place in a part of North Country history. The old Bath-Haverhill covered bridge across the Ammonoosuc River, which had been the oldest covered bridge in use in America, will be closed after 170 years and replaced by a new steel bridge downstream. The new span will be officially named ''The Raymond S. Burton Bridge.'' Burton planned to join a parade to mark the occasion, and, as has been a tradition of sorts for new bridges here, Burton's vintage 1955 Cadillac limousine is expected to be the first car to go across.
''I don't seek that stuff,'' Burton said of all the honor. ''I just like to get the job done.''
Kasich visits dump,
then dumps his run
Maybe it was his campaign visit to the Northfield dump last weekend that convinced Ohio Representative John Kasich that it was time to bail out of contention for the GOP nomination for president. Amidst the bails of paper, an abandoned plaid sofa, heaps of empty milk cartons and glass, Kasich gamely went about handing out fliers and trying to make small talk with something less than a handful of people, as one reporter and two campaign aides watched. It wasn't easy.
''I've never campaigned in a dump before,'' said Kasich, who seemed skeptical that this was a tried and true tactic for reaching New Hampshire voters. Calling himself a ''grass-roots guy,'' Kasich said, ''I'd go anywhere to advance my cause.''
Several days later, back in his home state, Kasich announced he was dropping out and going with George W. Bush. His advisers said the decision was ''under review'' during his trip here last week, his 10th. So, was the attention to Kasich during his trips here a waste of time? No way, says Bruce Berke, who led the effort here. ''John Kasich is a person people can relate to and look to for leadership.''
The Ohio congressman, who won't be seeking reelection to Congress either, will be back in New Hampshire for a ''thank you'' tour at the end of the month.
August's a picnic,
and more, for Gore
Vice President Al Gore will be in New Hampshire Thursday, and the word is he may use a canoe trip on the Connecticut River as a backdrop for an announcement on the environment, one of his favorite topics. He will be at the Rockingham Democrats' beach party Friday and back in state on Aug. 8 to picnic with the party faithful in Laconia and Hopkinton.
Davidson's team
s hapes up in Nashua
In Nashua, former Democratic state senator Mary Nelson has signed on with Mayor Don Davidson 's reelection campaign, along with longtime Republican activist Bobbi Hantz. (This is a nonpartisan election.) Also on board with Davidson is another Democrat, former Nashua mayor Maurice Arel, who will be the campaign's finance chairman.
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