With time running out, NH voters searching for best choice

New Hampshire Union Leader

Feb. 9--In one of the longest, most crowded campaigns ever, New Hampshire Democratic primary voters are struggling to make up their minds less than 48 hours before the polls open.

While candidates crisscrossed the state Saturday giving speeches, shaking hands and posing for selfies, many in the electorate were still going back and forth over the choice of who is best to take on President Donald Trump this fall.

Justin Chappell of Peterborough, a disability rights activist, hoped face-to-face meetings with the candidates would seal the deal for him.

'"Who will go out of their way to make a personal connection?" he asked. "Which one wants to earn my vote?"

Former Democratic Party Chairman Kathy Sullivan of Manchester said she agonized for months before settling on her candidate, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

"More than any other primary I can remember, this one has more voters with real anxiety about which way to go," Sullivan said. "I think it's because they view the stakes as so high. They don't feel we can afford to get this wrong."

Sensing this, several of the candidates sharpened their attacks in the final days. Much of that assault was aimed at the surging hopeful in this race, former South Bend, Ind. mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign debuted a new digital ad mocking Buttigieg's tenure as mayor of Indiana's fourth largest city.

"We're electing a president," the narrator says. "What you've done matters."

"When President Obama called on him, Joe Biden helped lead the passage of the Affordable Care Act. And when park-goers called on Pete Buttigieg, he installed decorative lights under bridges, giving citizens of South Bend colorfully illuminated rivers."

Buttigieg national press secretary Chris Meagher blasted Biden's ad as desperate.

"While Washington politics trivializes what goes on in communities like South Bend, South Bend residents who now have better jobs, rising income and new life in their city don't think their lives are a Washington politician's punchline," Meagher said.

"Pete's on-the-ground experience as mayor, turning around a Midwestern industrial city, is exactly why he is running for president. The vice president's decision to run this ad speaks more to where he currently stands in this race than it does about Pete's perspective as a mayor and veteran."

During an interview, Democratic primary rival and California billionaire Tom Steyer said Buttigieg's nomination could all-but-deliver a second term to Trump.

"He spent two or three years as an analyst at McKinsey. That is not enough to take down Donald Trump on the debate stage," Steyer said of Buttigieg.

"This race has become harder in the last six days. We keep acting like this is the beauty pageant and whoever gets picked, wins. Forget about it," Steyer said. "If we nominate somebody who can't win in November, we have only ourselves to blame. We can win this. We have to win this."

Meanwhile, 2016 primary winner and favorite Bernie Sanders, 78, largely ignored his primary rivals Saturday and poked fun at himself as the oldest in the field.

If elected, Sanders vowed his cabinet would "look like America."

"I guarantee there will be one white, old guy -- that's me," Sanders quipped. "I expect there will not be a lot of older white guys."

Jody Hall drove an hour from Ashfield, Mass., to see Buttigieg, 38, at Keene State College Saturday morning. While she liked his energy, she is wary about his age.

"My issue with him is his youth and inexperience," Hall said.

Brian Clark, from Westmoreland, was more positive about Buttigieg's youth but still undecided after a feisty debate Friday night.

"He's obviously the frontrunner, seeing all the attacks he took," Clark said.

Actor Michael J. Fox, who has Canadian and American citizenship, endorsed Buttigieg in Keene. He recalled giving wife and actress Tracy Pollan his first impression of candidate Barack Obama in 2008.

"I've just met the next president of the United States," Fox said. "I felt the same way when I saw Pete."

Buttigieg told voters he has the steady temperament to go up against a mercurial incumbent.

"Aren't you ready to put that chaos behind us?" Buttigieg asked the crowd. "I am the candidate best prepared to beat Donald Trump."

"I'm not here for the so-called strength of the loudmouth guy at the end of the bar," Buttigieg said. "I'm here for the strength of someone like Michael J. Fox."

In Manchester, Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren repeated Sanders' argument that only a massive turnout can win in November and insisted she has built that foundation.

"The only way we're going to make this better is to use this Democratic primary to build a grassroots movement," Warren said. "We're going to build not an America of the past, but an America of the future."

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who reported she has raised $2 million since Friday night's debate, told a forum on abortion rights in Concord that she would push for a federal law to enshrine the Roe vs. Wade decision.

"I am going to be able to take it to the people on this," Klobuchar said.

New York City entrepreneur Andrew Yang told the same group he favors 18-year term limits for judges and is open to increasing the size of the Supreme Court.

"We should not have to rely on Ruth Bader Ginsburg (86 years old) being Superwoman and make sure we scrub any doorknob that she touches," Yang said.

Deni O'Leary of New Boston, who voted for the Libertarian Party ticket of Gary Johnson and William Weld in 2016, is in active search of a candidate.

"I like Klobuchar the most (among Democrats), I hadn't heard a lot about her until recently," O'Leary said.

"I like the fact that she tries to work with others. I don't think Bernie or Elizabeth Warren can do that. We've had too much of politicians not working with others already."

A Republican challenger to Trump, Weld made final pitches at four events, including two Manchester diners.

"The big thing is it's the time for everyone in the country to think about whether we want to go down this path that's being charted for us," Weld said.

"I'm not talking about free trade; I'm talking about ceding power to a man that needs to be constantly praised and believes a free press and an independent judiciary are the enemy of the people. Those are the words of dictators and autocrats across the world."

To Sheri Maloney of New Boston, an undecided voter who came to see Weld, her decision will start with an instinctive call.

"It comes down to a gut reaction at first; is this person genuine? Only then would I consider their policies," Maloney said.

"I consider myself as a true moderate, fiscally conservative and socially liberal. I'm looking for someone who can end our entanglements in foreign wars and speak to me on human rights."

Trump returns to make his closing argument Monday night, appearing with Vice President Mike Pence at a SNHU Arena rally.

Mark Matarazzo, a stagehand who lives in the Gonic neighborhood of Rochester, voted for Bernie Sanders in 2016 but is conflicted this year. Health insurance is his biggest issue.

He has long been a fan of Warren and likes New York businessman Yang too.

Matarazzo said he might not make a decision until the last minute.

"A lot of the time, I don't have somebody (in mind) walking into the booth," he said.

Union Leader Reporter Josie Grove and correspondents Damien Fisher, Andrew Sylvia and Kimberley Haas contributed to this report.

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