N.H. voters divided as Republican convention nears
New Hampshire Democrats have received much attention this year, hosting the first-in-the-nation presidential primary in January, and then reveling six months later at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, where US Senator John Kerry, of Massachusetts, accepted the party's nomination.
The fanfare has caused some grumbling among Republicans in the Granite State -- long known for its allegiance to the Grand Old Party, but where voters, particularly in the southern tier, have been increasingly favoring moderate candidates. New Hampshire is one of more than a dozen states that both parties believe could determine the November election.
''It's been a little frustrating listening to the empty promises and the flip-flopping of John Kerry," said Al Letizio Jr., president of a food sales and marketing firm in Windham, who is a member of the Bush-Cheney '04 New Hampshire Small Business Leadership Team. But he added, ''I think the tables will turn very shortly," and Bush will bask in more positive attention at the Republican convention.
Letizio is among dozens of New Hampshire residents headed to New York for the convention as delegates or guests. The state has 32 delegates. The party activists hope to capitalize on the convention, which is being held tomorrow through Thursday Sept. 2, to build broader support for Bush. State Representative Gail Barry, president of the Greater Manchester Federated Republican Women, is hosting a 300-person party at the Puritan Conference Center in Manchester on Thursday night when Bush delivers his speech.
Richard Ashooh, a first-time delegate from Bedford who is vice president of homeland security for
''It's a campaign that's definitely being waged on a personal front," Ashooh said, with lots of knocking on doors, phone calling, and house parties.
It's a strategy that is also being used by Democrats to push Kerry's candidacy. On Aug. 19 Kerry held one of his ''front porch visits" in Derry, talking to supporters and undecided voters. Kathleen Strand, a spokeswoman for the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said Republicans are focusing on negative campaigning because Bush lacks a message and a plan.
''When Democrats went to Boston, they focused on John Kerry and John Edwards's plan to build a stronger America," she said.
New Hampshire has had a fickle relationship with the Bush family. Four years ago, George W. Bush lost the Republican primary to US Senator John McCain, of Arizona, but won the state in the general election, although by 7,211 votes. His father, George H.W. Bush, had similar ups and downs. He won a needed primary in 1988 and the state's four electoral college votes in the general election, but four years later, the state went for Bill Clinton.
Today, likely voters are split, with 50 percent favoring Kerry and 45 percent favoring Bush, according to the most recent poll by the Survey Center at the University of New Hampshire, conducted a few weeks before the Democratic National Convention. Throw into the mix Ralph Nader, who received 22,198 votes in the 2000 election, and 47 percent favor Kerry, followed by 43 percent for Bush and 4 percent for Nader.
