Portsmouth Herald
RAN 2/21/96 Pg. A3
SEACOAST DECIDES IN VOTING BOOTHS
MANY VOTERS PROCRASTINATE UNTIL THE BALLOT     
By Liane Evans 
Herald Staff
    Disenchanted by the blitz of negative advertising before New Hampshire's
primary, and perhaps puzzled by the selection of Republican candidates, many
voters throughout the Seacoast yesterday remained undecided until the very
last minute.
   ``I made up my mind in the booth,'' said Pat Aquizap, 63, who ended up
marking the box next to Lamar Alexander's name. ``I've been agonizing over
this for weeks. I read the ballot 10 times before I marked him down.''
   Like many Granite Staters who voted in yesterday's primary, Aquizap's vote
was more of a preventive measure than a hearty endorsement of the candidate
she selected.
   ``I don't want (Pat) Buchanan to get in there. I don't want him leading my
country or representing me,'' she said after voting at Hampton Town Hall.
``And I don't want Dole, either. I'm not happy with any of them. I'm looking
for vision. But people with vision are 
too smart to go into politics.''
   Richard and Josephine Laskey, also of Hampton, decided at the last minute
to vote for Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar.
   ``The debate did it,'' Laskey said. ``I'm tired of the mudslinging and he
was the only one who showed integrity and honesty. He was the only
straight-shooter.''
   Josephine Laskey said they knew Lugar wouldn't win in New Hampshire, but
hoped enough votes here would keep him in the race. 
   Ron Vermeersch, 58, an airline pilot from Hampton, chose Lugar for the
same reason.
   ``I wanted him to remain in the race,'' said Vermeersch, who said he made
his final decision when he took the ballot. ``I like his ideas and if I don't
vote for him, he's out.''
   Twenty-nine-year-old Elizabeth Kimmel of Portsmouth voted for Steve Forbes
``as a protest vote to Pat Buchanan.''
   ``I decided in the booth,'' she said.
   Hampton resident Ronald Lambert, 46, voted for Alexander.
   ``Anybody but Dole,'' said the retired military man. ``I could have gone
for Lugar, but Alexander has the best chance of stopping Dole.''
   A large number of Republicans and independents interviewed yesterday voted
for Dole, albeit reluctantly.
   In Exeter, Siram Todd, a 67-year-old retired marine biologist, made a
last-minute lukewarm decision for Dole.
   ``I just decided as I entered the Town Hall,'' he said. ``He seemed to be
the best of the lot.''
   ``I don't think we have a real strong candidate,'' said Hampton resident
Jim Pender, 55, who chose Dole. ``Dole's lost some vigor, vim and fire, but
he's the best out there. He's got the most experience. That's what we need
now.''
   Elizabeth Dole, who has campaigned vigorously for her husband, was at the
Exeter Town Hall around noon, greeting voters with her smile and Southern
twang.
   Of those interviewed, more said they voted for Dole than for Buchanan.
Those who chose the political commentator mentioned his ideas on trade and
keeping jobs in America.
   Eighty-eight-year-old Beryl Burbank, helped into Exeter Town Hall by her
son Phil, said she could have tossed a coin, but decided upon Buchanan.
   ``I hope he can slap somebody's face and stand up to them,'' she said.
   Jim Clements, 44, of Stratham, who campaigned for Buchanan at Exeter Town
Hall, said he was not the least concerned about allegations that Buchanan's
campaign co-chairman, who has taken a leave of absence, had associated with
white supremacy groups.
   ``One of his other co-chairmen is a rabbi,'' he said.
   Still, Clements said people were afraid to admit they supported Buchanan.
   ``I don't know why,'' he said.
   Many Democrats came out yesterday to support the president. Several Exeter
AREA High School students stood with Clinton/Gore signs in front of Town
Hall. At times they shouted, ``Four more years!''
   ``I gave it to Clinton; he's gonna win it,'' said a 75-year-old Exeter man
who refused to give his name. ``His morals are low but that doesn't say
anything about the presidency.'' The man added that Clinton's policy on gays
in the military is ``terrible.''
   Portsmouth resident Steve Little, 47, gave the president his vote in part
because of his perception of the Republicans.
   ``I mistrust people who have an angry, (ticked)-off attitude ... that
surliness of, `I know I'm right,' '' Little said.
   Rosalyn Cotter, 53, an Exeter Democrat, voted for Clinton.
   ``He's had a bumbling presidency, but at times he gets his act together,''
she said. ``He's probably not the best president we've had, but he's not the
worst, either.''
   Cotter, however, said she wished she'd changed her registration to 
Republican only to take the candidates down a peg by writing in someone else.
   Poll workers reported a steady stream of voters throughout most of the
day.
   ``It's been constant,'' said Jackie Weatherspoon, a League of Women Voters
spokesperson who stood at a table at the Exeter Town Hall entrance and helped
people register.
   Barbara Steuk, also with LWV, said many people registered yesterday for
the first time, including a lot of 18-year-olds.
   Eighteen-year-old Sean Ryan of Hampton voted for the first time. He chose
Alexander.
   ``Dole is a little old,'' Ryan said. ``Buchanan I don't like. Taylor I
can't agree with at all, and Forbes has some problems I don't agree with.''