PLYMOUTH, N.H.
THANKS to Sexgate, there seems to be an Elizabeth Dole boomlet building in New Hampshire, the state with the 2000 campaigns first presidential primary.
Its time for a woman because the men have done such a bad job, grumps Dave Proulx as he stands in the Plymouth, N.H., florists shop hes turning into a collectibles store featuring kitchy bears.
Proulx, 55, isnt exactly a feminist. Hes the kind of crusty, independent whom analysts track every four years, hunting trends. Independents in New Hampshire can vote in either partys primary.
I think they ought to all be shot, including Clinton, for spending $40 million on this, fumes Proulx, who wishes Sexgate would just go away and be Hillarys problem.
He voted for Clinton last time (Im sorry to admit it). What about Veep Al Gore? Im not impressed.
A few shops down, Carol Dunn ponders the weirdness of listening to her fourth-grade son debate Sexgates impact on Chelsea Clinton with four young pals while shes driving their car pool.
I would seriously look at Elizabeth Dole – I think we need a change, says Dunn, a political independent who runs a funkily stylish dress shop.
Ex-New Yorker Phil Harte, a hydrologist, brought toddler son J.T. to get his Knicks play suit autographed by Democrat Bill Bradley in Concord, N.H. – but he, too, has Dole on his mind.
I think it would be good, after the past scandal maybe, to get a woman in office, says Harte, whos a Republican.
Is that because he thinks women dont fool around – or at least not with interns half their age? Elizabeth Dole wouldnt, he says emphatically.
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A few days of talking to New Hampshire voters means finding disgust with everything to do with Washington and Sexgate – even among some Democrats.
Plymouth sixth-grade teacher Gerald Jontarz, 47, a Democrat-leaning independent, voted for Clinton and likes Gore for 2000, but he cant bear the thought that Clinton may get away with lying,
Its despicable. To lie to the people that way has to be the biggest crime. Id like him to admit his guilt. That would mean a lot to me, says Jontarz.
I wouldnt lie to a judge the way he did if I was having an affair. Nor would any of my friends – Ive asked them. We would have told the truth to a judge.
To longtime Democratic activist Wayne King, 43 (his partys losing 1994 gubernatorial candidate), that anger is a warning sign for Democrats. Some Dems gloat that Sexgate is destroying the GOP and dragging its poll ratings down to the Watergate level, but he doubts it.
The polls really dont reflect the dynamics of whats going on. People are mad, but they wont turn it against one political party. Theyll want people of integrity of either party. Thats why Liddy Dole looks good, King says.
Underneath the anger at Republicans, there is a feeling that when this thing ends, people want to have a clean break. We just need a fresh start.
Which is why King and wife Alice are trying to recruit every Democrat they know for Bill Bradley.
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Of course Bradleys skinny hopes for upsetting Gore for the 2000 Democratic nod rest on the hope that America wants a real break with everything to do with Clinton – including his heir apparent.
Gores people shrug it off, but after Bradleys first trip to New Hampshire this week, the Veep may want to pay a bit more attention because, on his first stops, Bradley seemed to be connecting.
As Bradley admits, the big question is bucks – the estimated $20 million it will take to mount a real challenge to Gore.