Campaign Notebook

Monday’s developments:

Presidential race

Lamar Alexander accused Bob Dole of “ducking interviews” and not talking issues with New Hampshire voters. “There have been more sightings of Elvis in New Hampshire than there have been of Senator Dole,” he said in Exeter, N.H. At the time, Dole was out campaigning around New Hampshire.

Pat Buchanan said he would not allow openly gay people to work in his administration if elected. “I don’t think their lifestyle should … discredit the administration,” Buchanan told CNN in Manchester, N.H.

Bob Dole acknowledged that Buchanan had set the campaign’s agenda with his blue-collar appeal on trade issues and jobs. “I didn’t realize that jobs and trade and what makes America work would become a big issue in the last few days of this campaign … but we believe in trade, we believe in jobs,” Dole said at a computer company in Rochester, N.H.

Steve Forbes said in Manchester, N.H., that he would consider former Education Secretary Bill Bennett and former Housing Secretary Jack Kemp as running mates. Bennett is an Alexander supporter; Kemp has remained neutral.

Dick Lugar said in Manchester that he was “going to do better in New Hampshire than I did in Iowa.” The Indiana senator finished seventh out of nine in last week’s GOP caucuses. He currently places in single digits in most New Hampshire polls.

News of note

Residents of tiny Dixville Notch and Hart’s Location gave their nod to Dole by one vote over Alexander as the two hamlets opened the balloting in New Hampshire shortly after midnight last night. Dole captured 14 of the 39 votes cast in the Republican primary. Alexander had 13. Buchanan was next with 5 and Forbes had 4. Lugar and dropout Phil Gramm each had 1, along with a write-in for Colin Powell. In the Democratic primary, President Clinton got 12 votes.

With most polls showing the New Hampshire primary too close to call, GOP presidential hopefuls continued their quest for votes by air, by the sea or by a bad pancake flip. As a new Buchanan radio ad aired attacking Dole as “a desperate man,” Alexander finished his walk across the state with a 1.5-mile stretch from Portsmouth to an oceanside mall. Meanwhile, Forbes joined three lesser-known GOP candidates at a pancake flipping contest and breakfast in Manchester. Forbes’ pancake broke up in the air and fell to the ground. “I’m not used to doing it,” he explained.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., endorsed Dole. “If you take the totality of his positions, I think he has the best program for America,” he said. Specter is third former GOP presidential contender to endorse the Senate Majority Leader. Dole earlier won the backing of former California Gov. Pete Wilson and Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, both onetime rivals for the GOP nomination.

Today’s stops

Alexander: Manchester, N.H.

Buchanan: Manchester.

Dole: Manchester.

Forbes: Nashua, N.H.

Lugar: Manchester.