By Laura A. Kiernan, Globe Staff, 07/25/99

A newly formed alliance called ''Citizens for Long Term Care,'' headed by former senator David Durenberger of Minnesota, plans to make it clear to every presidential candidate who passes through New Hampshire that the country needs to ''find a better way'' to take care of those who are unable to care for themselves.

In what so far is an ''issue-less'' presidential campaign, as Durenberger called it, about character and personality, these advocates say they will confront the candidates with a demand for a national leader who will make financing long-term care a priority. They don't want to debate solutions, said Durenberger, because they don't have one. What the nonprofit group can say is that a ''tidal wave'' of the nation's 77 million baby boomers is going to need long-term care (estimates are about 40 percent of them), and that will put an even bigger strain on an already inadequate system. The average cost of a year in a nursing facility is $51,000 - and you don't qualify for federal help unless you have spent just about every penny of your own.

At a press conference with Durenberger last week in Manchester, Jennifer Iacopino of Newbury, struggling to contain her tears, made the case for reform. It was a painfully familiar story to anyone in the room who has found themselves responsible for a disabled parent.

Bills exhausted

woman's assets

Iacopino's mother, a school nurse, became confused and her memory began to fade when she was just in her 50s. She got lost for hours on what had been a routine road trip; she was found wandering in a neighbor's yard. She had been widowed years before and began to develop Alzheimer's disease.

Family help so she could stay at home and adult day care soon proved to be unworkable. Eventually, a nursing home at $6,000 a month depleted her savings after half a year. IRAs and other assets were cashed in to pay for another six months of care until she had spent everything she once had and finally qualified for federal Medicaid assistance - a program Durenberger has called an ''outdated, demeaning'' way to care for those among us who are old and disabled.

When she died last May, Iacopino's mother had $500 to her name.

''It's scary,'' said Iacopino, who is a member of the board of the New Hampshire Alzheimer's Association. She wonders about herself, her own future, and how her own children would cope.

Durenberger, a Republican who played a lead role in health care issues during 17 years in the US Senate, was vice chairman of a congressional commission that in 1990 made recommendations for financial reform of long-term care programs, but nothing happened. He says now, with the public listening to high-visibility debates in Congress about Social Security and Medicare reform, how to pay for long-term care has to be on the list.

Citizens for Long Term Care hopes to raise $1 million for its campaign, and it plans to focus its efforts on New Hampshire and Iowa, where Durenberger says personal pleas can be taken directly to the candidates.

''It was tough,'' said Iacopino, who had been reluctant to go public with her family's story. ''But I think my Mom would have liked the fact that I did it.''

In person, the guy

who's always on TV

During a brief tour through the Lydall Technical Papers in Rochester last week, millionaire magazine publisher and GOP presidential hopeful Steve Forbes wore his usual eager smile and nodded his head approvingly as company president Jim Carolan escorted him. Forbes, whose seeming shyness and lack of panache on the campaign trail is no secret, was short on small talk with employees he met (there were some awkward moments of silence). He made a hard-to-hear pitch on getting money ''out of the hands of Washington,'' and had a look on his face that said ''Can we go now?''

But employee John Reiersen of Rochester did know that Forbes had talked before about Medicare, senior citizens, Social Security and the flat tax. And he had a picture in his head of Forbes as a ''very bright guy'' who ''has worked for his money.'' He and other employes said they had seen and heard a lot of Forbes - on television.

Forbes has flooded local television stations with ads that make him look like he is already sitting in the Oval Office. According to published reports, Forbes has already spent $2.7 million on television, newspaper and radio ads in New Hampshire, Iowa, Arizona and California.

Those reports say Forbes so far has spent more money than any other presidential candidate.

Outside the plant, Forbes said his TV blitz is just part of his total effort to get out his message, along with utilizing grass-roots volunteers and his interactive Internet site.

Unfortunately for any candidate, Lydall worker Reiersen, 34, says he never votes. ''The thing is they get elected and don't listen,'' he said.

Turn to prose,

tepid or torrid

For your midsummer political reading list, two very different choices:

Former vice president Dan Quayle 's new book ''Worth Fighting For'' is essentially the conservative campaign platform he has talked about during his quest for the GOP nomination for president. He makes 10 promises, the first of which is to appoint judges who ''respect'' values he says are ''the foundation of America's greatness.'' Quayle notes that the next president will likely appoint three justices to the US Supreme Court.

Second on Quayle's list of promises is to ''defend the value of human life,'' followed by cutting taxes by 30 percent, term limits and ''taking an ax to the federal government.''

Now, if you're in the mood for something far less tame than Quayle's easy-to-read policy prose, take a look at ''Strictly for the Record'' by R. Warren Pease, a one-time prize fighter and writer for the Union Leader of Manchester whose journalism curled hair in New Hampshire political circles for years. Pease's critics have called him a ''hit man'' for the late William Loeb, which Pease denied.

In a 1987 interview with Globe reporter Bob Hohler, Pease, described as a ''controversial muckraker,'' said, ''They may not like what I write. A lot of them might even hate me, but at least they are reading me.''

Pease's book is very much his own take on a list of New Hampshire politicos and events that he covered during 30 years either with the Union Leader (he left shortly after Loeb's death) or while putting out his own publications. He doesn't hesitate to pat himself on the back for his reportorial efforts; readers can judge for themselves.

Campaigns gather

staff, supporters

Short takes: Alfredo Rodriguez has joined the Quayle staff in Manchester as a field representative. He worked for US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Texas Republican, in Washington. Quayle will be making a campaign swing through the North Country on July 31 and Aug. 1 ... Former Cabinet secretary Elizabeth Dole has signed on a leadership team in Vermont headed by former US senator Robert Stafford, former lieutenant governor Barbara Snelling and Vermont lawmaker Judith Livingston of Manchester ... Arizona Senator John McCain will be on the GOP presidential campaign trail today at the VFW posts in Portsmouth and Salem ... And, finally, Texas Governor George W. Bush will also be in the state on July 31, visiting Wolfeboro, Conway and Dover.

Got a tip or a comment from the campaign trail, state government or town hall? The Political Diary wants to hear form 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.