Talking politics

Northern migration

by Seth Gitell

The last time we checked, the Gore campaign effort in New Hampshire was in disarray (see "Under Suspicion," News and Features, September 1). As of Labor Day, the campaign had no state director in New Hampshire and did not even know whether it intended to compete in New Hampshire. Now that situation seems to have turned around. Gore campaign staffer Scott Sebastian is directing the vice-president's efforts, and the polls have Gore and George W. Bush even.

The energized Gore effort in New Hampshire has been drawing Massachusetts politicians northward. City Councilor Mike Ross of Boston brought a group of 20 up to New Hampshire to knock on doors on behalf of Gore. State Representative Jarrett Barrios is doing the same later this month, and so is Somerville mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay.

"New Hampshire . . . is one of only two swing states in New England where we feel we can make a big difference," says Barrios. "It's going to go down to the wire, not just in New Hampshire but nationally."

The participation of Massachusetts Democrats in New Hampshire is nothing new: the Kennedys helped create the statewide Democratic organization before JFK's 1960 presidential campaign. Ray Buckley, the volunteer political coordinator of Gore's New Hampshire campaign and the vice-chair of the state's Democratic Party, says Massachusetts volunteers are always welcome in the Granite State.