The Michigan Daily- Friday, February 21, 1992 - Page 5
Kerrey made an appeal to unemployed voters.
"I don't believe that George Bush knows
what a job is to most people," Kerrey said. "I
really believe that the President thinks that un-
employment is a thing you use to get rid of
inflation."
Tsongas, explaining his fiscally-conserva-
tive approach, spoke against a middle class tax
cut in favor of a more pro-business approach.
"Ninety-seven cents a day. I don't want to
give you a tax cut, I want to give you a job,"
Tsongas said. "I don't see how you can claim to
be pro-employment and anti-business at the
same time."
But some voters were cynical about the can-
didates' ability to find an economic cure.
"The kids today,
they're left with a
mess, and I don't . ..
know how to fix it,
and the politicians r
don'teither," said
Bob Pidgeon of
S o u t h °
Lyneboro.
I've been in
theworkforce
for 20 years,
and I've
never seen
anything like
this.
"I think,
they're all
politicians,
and I doubt
that they'll
do any-
by Andrew Levy
Daily Campaign Issues Reporter
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Most Americans
watch presidential campaigns from an easy chair,
allowing the news anchors to analyze issues
while the events that will shape the future of the
nation flicker across the television screen in the
form of sound bites and tracking polls.
In New Hampshire, things are done a little
differently.
In most places, the reality of the modern
political campaign forces candidates to rush
through umpteen states in four days - giving
voters little opportunity to make personal con-
tact. But in New Hampshire, the presidential
candidates sweep into the state to participate in
one of the last vestiges of one-on-one, issue-
based campaigning.
On the Saturday before the primary, Presi-
dentGeorgeBush was making his final campaign
swing through the state. A group of onlookers
braved the freezing wind chill to meet the presi-
* dent in a crowded airport hangar in Nashua.
"I want to see what the president is going to
say, see ifhemakes sense," said Sean McGeough,
a student at Daniel Webster College, just up the
road from the airport.
McGeough said he wanted to judge for him-
self whether the president was sincere about the
issues, particularly health care.
"I'm a Democrat, but I like Bush a lot," he
said. "If I like what he says today, I'll vote for
him. If not, Clinton gets my vote."
New Hampshire, political pundits say, has a
mind of its own - at least when it comes to
electing the President of the United States.
McGeough is typical of the average New
Hampshire voter. Whereas voters in other states
have to rely on what they read in the paper or
sound bites they hear on the evening news, New
Hampshire voters often take advantage of the
opportunity to see the candidates speak in per-
son before making their decision.
"Who can do the most for me?" asked Dave
Quealey, a resident of nearby Kittery, Maine.
Quealey attended a Paul Tsongas rally in Ports-
mouth the day before the primary to decide if
Tsongas was the candidate for him.
"Well, I don't think any of them have any
solutions to the problems," Quealey said. "But
my decision will be based on Will my life be
better off because of who's elected. And my
kids."
Tsongas finished first in the Democratic
race with 35 percent of the vote. His theme:
"I'm not running for Santa Claus, I'm run-
ning for president," apparently hit home with
voters who said they were tired of false prom-
ises and lies.
"I'm basing my vote on the fact that Tsongas
calls things as they are," said Charles Griffin, a
Portsmouth resident who labeled the campaign
a "dogfight."
Bob Caswell, a Gorham, Maine, resident,
agreed.
"I was listening to a commentator who said
that Tsongas' support was an enigma," Caswell
said. "But he's a straight shooter - like Harry
Truman.
The former Massachusetts senator has made
concrete policy proposals - including an 82-
page documenttitled "A Call toEconomic Arms"
in which he outlines his plan for recovery
With the exception of Brown, Pidgeon said
he thought the candidates are wary of discussing
that issue for fear of scaring away voters.
"I don't see anybody talking about that be-
cause people don't want to hear it," Pidgeon
said. "They don't really say anything."
Tsongas supporter Jill Goldthwait said she
also sees the economy as the major issue of the
campaign.
"I have a feeling that a lot of people put
health care at the top of the list, but I say the
economy, because if not for financial problems,
health care wouldn't be the issue that it is,"
Goldthwait said.
But even people who didn't see any new
thinking in the candidates' financial proposals
said they still based their vote on how well they
thought their candidate could manage the
economy.
"I don't think Bush's plan is going to work,"
said Dover resident Wilma Sowerby, who cast
her vote for the President. "But the man's expe-
rience - he belongs in there. The other guys are
Johnny-come-latelys with no experience to speak
of."
Paul Seaver, another Dover resident who
voted for Bush, said, "Both parties try to say
they're going to cut the deficit, they're going to
create jobs, they're going to do this or that -
they aren't going to do anything," he said. "I
think the rest of the people aren't going to solve
a problem that's been there for years.
"(Bush) is just a figurehead - he's a puppet.
Let's keep the President and flush the people
underneath him," Seaver said.
Clinton supporter Greg Norris, from Durham,
said he voted for someone he thought would do
well in November and as president.
"I'm not sure about his plan, but he seemed
to appreciate the complexity of the economic
issues and exhibited leadership qualities that
will help him deal with Congress," Norris said.
So, the people of New Hampshire made their
choice. Tsongas picked up the Democratic vic-
tory, and Buchanan won a moral victory,
capturing a seemingly impossible 40 percent of
the Republican vote.,
Now the candidates have moved on to their
multi-state whirlwind tours, and they have left
New Hampshire behind.
But the candidates left a mark on New Hamp-
shire. Their personal approach was embraced by
voters numbed by four years of negative adver-
tisements and sound bites.
"I think it's been really exciting," said Uni-
versity of New Hampshire student Carolyn
Lambert. "I've been more informed because
I've been exposed to the issues. And, being in an
educational community, there's a lot more ac-
cess than where I came from."
Lambert said she isn't sure what effect New
Hampshire will have on the rest of the cam-
paign. But she was confident that the majority of
voters in the state now have the ability to make
their decision based on clear conceptions and
ideas.
"The candidates are doing a good job of
talking about the issues as opposed to propa-
ganda - well, not propaganda, but slogans,"
Lambert said.
Organizing a one-on-one campaign is rela-
tively easy in New Hampshire because it is a
small state with few voters. But as voter
apathy and cynicism invade the electoral
process, New Hampshire shines as an ex-
ample of how the process could be.
Jerry Brown has made "taking
back the process" an issue in
the campaign. Whether or not
they voted for Brown this week-
end, New Hampshire took back the
process - at least for now.
"There's been a lot of exposure,"
Durham voter Adam Gerloff said. "I feel
like the candidates have reached out to us
and made an appeal, and that's good."
Student
concerns
fall on
deaf ears
Today, the University Board of
Regents is going to transfer the
deputization of the University
police force to itself. I don't think
anybody believes otherwise.
Not the regents, who will
actually perform the act. Not
University President James
Duderstadt. Not any of the people
who have
protested this
action over Mate
the last two Matthew
years. Rennie
Nobody.
Since it's
a foregone
conclusion, I
don't want to
talk about it
here. What
has happened
over the last
two days is
not about deputization, so much as
it is about the rights of students,
something which apparently does'
not concern the regents.
I'm not talking about the
possibility of a cop shooting a
student. I'm not even talking abut
how the money used for this
endeavor could be better utilized
somewhere else. I'm talking about
students' having the chance to
voice their opinions over an issue
which will clearly affect their lives.
I cannot honestly say that I
know how most students feel about
this issue, but neither do the
regents. And they don't appear
interested in finding out.
The regents were required by
law to hold two days of public
hearings before they could deputize
their own police force. And the
regents held two days of meetings.
Three hours. No more.
The administration didn't worry
about how many people wanted to
speak; they just wanted to cover
themselves legally.
And if you wanted to speak a#:
these meetings, you had to call m
advance and state on which side f
the issue you stood.
The administration provided 35
five-minute slots for any member
of the community to speak. If you
weren't signed up for one of these
slots, then your voice didn't exist
so far as the regents were con-
cerned.
The administration will say that
giving everyone a chance to speak
is unrealistic, that the regents just
don't have that kind of time.
No time? Issues of this magni
tude come up so rarely that when'
they do, the regents should take the
time to hear everyone who wantito
speak.
If that means taking 10 hours,
take 10 hours. If the University
doesn't mean enough to them to
warrant a.10-hour investment, then
they don't deserve their jobs.
At Wednesday's hearings,
Regent Deane Baker dismissed the
crowd that was clamoring to gain
entrance to the Alumni Center by'
saying that they were the same .
people who showed up at every
other protest.
"Today, it's deputization. Next
month, it will be something else,"
Baker said.
Apparently, Baker feels that all
students' concerns can be wadded
up into a ball and thrown away.
Others pointed out that this
year's deputization protests were
considerably smaller than last
year's. This is not a sign that
students have been won over to the
idea of deputization. It is a sign that
students are tired of screaming at a.
university that is deaf to their
complaints.
Apathy breeds apathy. Many
students who marched in protest
last year no longer feel they can
make a difference. They saw how
their efforts were ignored a year,
ago by the same administrators -
who are still around today.
These students don't feel
protesting is worth the effort
anymore. They're content to go to
classes, pay tuition, and graduate.
Unless this trend changes, all.
communication between students,
and administrators will break doWn
completely. Each group will lead
lives isolated from one another, and
Pidgeon,
a Democrat,
said. "There's a real problem
in the United States. People here have had it too
good for too long, and the honeymoon seems to
be over."
individual eco-
nomic messages during rallies and meetings at
VFW halls, schools, and hotel ballrooms.
Republican Pat Buchanan preached,
"America first!" in an appeal to conservatives in
favor of placing trade restrictions on Japan and
giving aid to America before trying to support
the former Soviet Union.
President Bush touted the seven-point re-
covery plan he submitted to Congress during his
campaign trip to the Granite state.
Democratic candidates Tsongas and Bob
PHOTOS BY THE ASSOCIATED
P R E S S
Top Left A shopper at a Manchester shopping mall shows candidate Bob Kerrey who she