Portsmouth Herald
GRAMM MIXES CHOWDER, POLITICS IN PORTSMOUTH CAMPAIGN STOP
STRESSES BUDGET WOES, PROMISES TO USE LINE-ITEM VETO   
By Susan Maddocks, Herald Staff, 01/04/95,A3 
>    PORTSMOUTH - A thick helping of Texas was served up with piping bowls of
> chowder yesterday afternoon when Texas Sen. Phil Gramm breezed into a
> riverside diner wearing a wide grin and a camel overcoat.
>    Offering a firm grip to every hand in the joint, Gramm, a candidate for
> the Republican presidential nomination, enthusiastically bellowed from the
> gut a hearty how-do - Texas style - to hungry New Englanders wolfing down
> lunch at Geno's Chowder and Sandwich Shop.
>    ``How are you?'' he asked with his trademark twang. ``Nice to see ya.''
>    Having shaken the hand of all gathered at the eight-table eatery, he sat
> down at a long table occupied by seven supporters, employees from Sprague
> Energy.
>    ``Welcome to the white New Hampshire,'' said restaurant owner Evelyn
> Marconi, making reference to the nor' easter outside.
>    Ordering a big bowl of clam chowder, Gramm gulped down lunch as he made
> his pitch to become the next president of the United States.
>    ``If we don't do something about the deficit, Evelyn's little
> granddaughter ... what is her name Evelyn? ... her granddaughter Emily
> Elizabeth will have to pay (over $100,000) in her share of the debt,'' Gramm
> said. He termed the way Washington spends money as 
> ``financial suicide'' and vowed to ``stop the spending spree'' if elected
> president.
>    He further promised to use the line item veto on any budget too high. ``I
> would use it to stop the whole hog,'' he said.
>    If he failed to balance the budget in four years he vowed he would forgo a
> second run for the office.
>    He further described his candidacy as being marked by a ``bright light of
> distinction between President Clinton and Phil Gramm.'' He said he is trying
> to keep money in the hands of working folk rather than spend it on federal
> programs.
>    Describing his own humble beginnings in a blue-collar family hobbled by
> financial constraints, Gramm said he understood the plight of those who have
> to scrimp and save to pay the bills.
>    Having risen to make a brief speech, he answered a few questions and
> headed out the door for Bangor, Maine.
>    But long before he arrived, many of those assembled were already
> convinced.
>    ``I'm supporting him,'' said Brian Habacivch, a manager for Sprague
> Energy. ``Gramm has promised to balance the budget in four years ... Gramm is
> willing to take on that issue ... and I think he has enough salt to do it.''