Portsmouth Herald
2/22/96  Pg. A1
PRIMARY AFTERSHOCKS MANY
BUCHANAN'S VICTORY DISMAYS OPPONENTS  
By Susan Maddocks, Herald Staff  

   It was clear New Hampshire voters really dug the pitchforks, the
one-liners and the hard line on abortion, NAFTA and GATT. But not everyone
was chorusing ``Go Pat Go'' on the foggy day after.
   A couple of local clergy members and residents expressed dismay that
commentator Pat Buchanan was ushered in as the Republican top dog, besting
Sen. Bob Dole and the be-checkered Lamar Alexander in Tuesday's primary.
   A local radio announcer joked she would begin firing off resumes to Canada
in the hopes of splitting town.
   Radio announcer ``Lori D.'' of WHEB-FM quipped yesterday morning about
buying some land in Canada after she saw Buchanan sweep to victory.
   During her 10 a.m.-2 p.m. show, she said becoming an expatriate was
gaining appeal in her mind.
   ``I was taking an informal poll on the radio the day before, and I was
being really fair,'' she said yesterday, after her show. ``At first it looked
like Buchanan was winning (in that poll), but then Bill Clinton pulled ahead,
and I felt pretty good about that.''
   She added, ``I said if Buchanan won, I'd have to move to Canada.''
   On a more serious note, Rabbi David Mark of Temple Israel said the victory
was just plain frightening.
   ``I think we're all kind of surprised,'' he said.
   ``This is a very serious thing. He is clearly the darling of the religious
right and The Union Leader,'' Mark said. ``The most outrageous thing he said
was that God is an American. The last I checked, I didn't think God belonged
to one country.''
   Although Buchanan wraps himself in religious dogma, Mark said he finds the
man to be ``ruthless and hateful.'' And Mark was very nervous about mixing
politics and religion.
   ``Anytime you combine religion and politics you get a Northern Ireland, a
Lebanon or even the West Bank,'' Mark said.
   The Rev. Arthur Hilson of the New Hope Baptist Church concurred.
   ``If you want to talk about what is morally right, you can do that without
wrapping us in a cloak'' of biblical themes, Hilson said. ``God is love. God
goes beyond'' politics and the election.
   Surprise was the reaction felt by Mr. and Mrs. Peter Roman, visiting the
Seacoast from Minnesota. ``We were pretty sure Dole would take it,'' she
said, as she sat in Karen's Restaurant in Portsmouth. She added that the
first-in-the-nation primary probably ``didn't mean that much,'' as far as
predicting the way the rest of the country would vote. Among her Republican
friends, it is Dole who will get the votes, she said.
   Nineteen-year-old John Weare of Portsmouth said for his first primary,
this was an eye-opener. ``I was very surprised,'' he said. ``I thought it
would be Dole or Lamar.''
   Weare voted for Alexander. As for Buchanan, Weare said, ``I think he's
kind of a bigot.''
   Buchanan planned to march forward to Super Tuesday riding the crest of the
victory here.