CS
6
student coordinator Bill Shein, "students
want someone who's gonna be straight
with them." Two doors down the street is
the tidier headquarters of Mike Dukakis.
An issue of The New Yorker graces one
table, and volunteers seem more analytical
than ardent. Pamela Druckerman, a fresh-
man at Colgate who has worked as a con-
gressional page, says she supports Dukakis
because, "He didn't say, 'I want world
peace and total disarmament in two years
or less'." Maura Donlan, a 1987 Holy Cross
graduate who coordinates New Hampshire
student activities for Dukakis, says stu-
dents attracted to the campaign are "ideal-
istic but not kind of blinded by it."
Party officials say that the Kemp and
Gephardt campaigns boast particularly
well-organized student efforts. But the stu-
dents who man them couldn't be less alike.
Gephardt's campaign attracts bluff jocks
who don't mind sleeping in the office.
"Bethany College! No. 1 party school!"
shouted one, heading off to knock on Man-
chester doors. Kemp draws better-coiffed
conservative Republican activists, who
tend to be more polite. At Dartmouth,
Kemp asked an enthusiastic crowd where
they were when he was playing football.
"We weren't born yet, sir," answered a
respectful supporter.
Hart's believers: But the award for most-
dedicated belongs to supporters of Gary
Hart, whose ghostlike presence hovers
over the state. After Hart pulled out, Brian
Moser, a graduating MIT senior who had
been working for Hart, spent the summer
considering offers from Joe Biden, Dukakis
and Simon. Instead, he helped form "Stu-
dents for a New Democracy," recruited 120
students in Massachusetts and New Hamp-
shire and organized a demonstration at the
Nov. 21 New Hampshire State Democratic
Convention that may have helped per-
suade Hart to re-enter the race.
Student support swept Hart into an up-
set victory over Walter Mondale in 1984.
But this time the road is considerably
rougher. New Hampshire coordinator
Greg Lebel concedes that Hart has fewer
students working for him this time "be-
cause we didn't have time to lay the
groundwork to bring them." Hart still
draws crowds at colleges, but the questions
about his private life are still coming-not
to mention the by-now-common tasteless
jokes. Moser insists, though, that college
students don't care about Hart's private
life: "The sexual revolution is not shocking
to us." Ironically, Hart has more youth
appeal than Al Gore, the youngest candi-
date in the field, who has been hurt by his
wife Tipper's crusade to put warning labels
on dirty rock albums. Gore's campaign has
been reduced to mailing campaign bro-
chures headlined, "Tipper Gore: 'The Most
Misunderstood Woman In America'.
TIMOTHY NOAH in New Hampshire
Honesty Counts: A Newsweek Poll
B y an overwhelming margin, students say they expect to vote in the 1988
election, but only one in 10 expects to campaign for any candidate. Their
approval of Ronald Reagan's performance as president has fallen from 66 to 51
percent in two years. They rate honesty as the quality they are looking for most in a
president. And nearly one in four admit that they have already done something in
their lives that they wouldn't want reported if they were running for office.
In politics today, do you consider
yourself a Republican, Democrat
or Independent?
Republican
Democrat
Independent
COLLEGE
1969
24%
32%_
44%
COLLEGE
1987
36%
29%;
35%
47%
46%
31%
26%
23%
19%
Thoughtful and well informed
Steady and dependable
Strong and forceful
Cares about the less fortunate
Excites and inspires people
Has a fresh approach
How would you describe your po-
litical beliefs-extremely conserva-
tive, fairly conservative, middle of
the road, fairly liberal or extremely
liberal?
At this stage in your life, do you
think there is anything that you have
already done in your personal life,
schoolwork or such, that you would
worry about having reported if you
were a candidate for high office?
Yes 22% No 75%
Is it your impression that college
students today are more politically
active, less politically active or
about as politically active as they
were a few years ago?
Extremely
conservative
Fairly conservative
Middle of the road
Fairly liberal
Extremely liberal
2%
19%
24%
41%
11%
2%
25%
40%
29%
3%
Looking ahead for the next few
years, which political party do you
think would be more likely to keep
the United States out of World War
III-the Republican Party or the
Democratic Party?
47%
26%'
22%
Less politically active
More politically active
About the same
Democratic
Republican
COLLEGE NATIONAL
1987 1987
43% 39%
30% 29%
Which political party-the Repub-
lican or the Democratic-will do a
better job of keeping the country
prosperous?
Republican
Democratic
45% 38%
34% 37%"
Do you plan to register so you can
vote in the 1988 elections, or not?
66% Now registered
26% Plan to register
8% Not registered and do not plan to
How likely is it that you will vote in
the November 1988 general election
for president-very likely,
fairly likely, not too likely or
not at all likely?
Very likely 77% Not too likely 3%
Fairlylikely 15% Not at all likely 5%
If your state has a primary election
for president, how likely is it that
you will vote in the primary-very
likely, fairly likely, not too likely,
or not at all likely?
Very likely 48% Nottoolikely 13%
Fairly likely 28% Not at all likely 10 %
Do you expect to campaign actively
in behalf of any candidate for
president in the 1988 primaries or
general elections?
Some people say that close scruti-
ny of political candidates by news
organizations is not worth it, be-
cause it discourages too many good
people from running. Other peo-
ple saythat press scrutiny is worth it
because it lets voters really know
who is and is not personally quali-
fied to be president. Which comes
closer to your opinion?
Worth it
Not worth it
54% 59%
40% 32%
Yes 9%
No 80%
What qualities do you consider
most important for the person who
will be elected president in 1988?
65% Honest/ethical
60% Can get things done
50% Understands the
needs of real people
For this NEWSWEEK ONe CAMP'US Poll, The Gallup Organiza-
tion conducted 542 face-to-face interviews with college stu-
dents on 100 campuses nationwide during the period Nov. 2-
13,1987. The final sample composition was statistically
adjusted to conform to known distributions of full-time stu-
dents by race, sex and class. The sampling tolerance for find-
ings based on the total sample is plus or minus 6 points.
"Don't know" responses are eliminated. (The NEWSWEEK ON
CAMPus Poll © 1988 by NEWSWEEK, Inc.)
24 NEWSWEEKONCAMPUS
MARCH 1988