A volatile and uncertain New Hampshire electorate has the five major Democratic presidential contenders squabbling and scrambling as the nation`s first primary nears.
Eight days before the balloting, Democrats are sharpening their attacks on one another, with Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton the principal target.
As recently as Friday, Clinton appeared to be moving away from the field despite the charges of marital infidelity that surfaced, unsubstantiated, in a supermarket tabloid Jan. 23.
But a second controversy, this one concerning Clinton`s draft status during the Vietnam War, cropped up Thursday in a Wall Street Journal story.
The account, which charged that Clinton maneuvered to avoid the draft in 1969, appears to have heightened voter concerns about the Arkansan`s credibility.
Clinton has characterized the story as ”recycled,” and insists strongly that he did nothing improper in dealing with the draft.
But there is a pervasive sense among Clinton`s rivals and some of his backers that the governor`s principal selling point-that the Southern moderate is the party`s best hope for beating President Bush-has been diminished.
A Boston Globe/WBZ-TV poll released Sunday indicates that the state`s voters are increasingly disaffected with Clinton, and generally less than certain about their preferences.
”Voters are flipping around like fish on the deck of a boat,” said Tad Devine, a senior aide to Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey.
Until recent days, Clinton had been holding his opposition at bay, drawing large crowds while piling up endorsements and campaign dollars.
But the Boston Globe poll indicates that Clinton`s support is eroding, and that former Massachusetts Sen. Paul Tsongas is the main beneficiary of the slippage.
The polling, conducted Feb. 7, 8 and 9, showed Clinton holding a 28-25 lead over Tsongas, who has been campaigning across New Hampshire for 10 months.
Kerrey is third at 12 percent, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin got 10 percent, and former California Gov. Jerry Brown drew 6 percent.
Fifteen percent of those surveyed were undecided, and New York Gov. Mario Cuomo was named by 2 percent, though he is not on the New Hampshire ballot. The same Globe poll showed Bush with a 58-28 percent edge over conservative pundit Patrick Buchanan.
Among Democrats, there is a pervasive sense that voters are still shopping for a candidate.
In the Globe poll, only 21 percent of those asked said they were ”very satisfied” with the current Democratic field.
Amid all the polling data, the atmosphere of the Democratic campaign has taken on a rough and sometimes personal feel.
Over the weekend, Kerrey, a Medal of Honor winner in Vietnam, campaigned with Georgia secretary of state Max Cleland, who lost both legs and his right arm in that war.
Cleland and Kerrey were insistent that the Georgian`s endorsement was unrelated to Clinton.
But the former head of the Veterans Administration sent a strong message in introducing Kerrey at a weekend rally in Bedford.
”Bob Kerrey was tested and he was not found wanting,” said Cleland.
”This young man knows what it`s like to fight to be free or die trying.”
Harkin, meanwhile, intensified the campaign in a series of radio ads citing Tsongas, Clinton and Kerrey as ”weak Democrats.”
Harkin`s ad accuses his rivals of maneuvering ”to send your jobs abroad” through their support of a Bush-backed trade agreement with Mexico.
Kerrey dismissed Harkin`s argument as ”bull,” noting that the Iowan had earlier voted for a number of so-called ”fast track” agreements with Canada and Uruguay.
Tsongas, increasingly emboldened by his poll figures, swiped at Harkin for the ad and mocked his slow-starting campaign.
”I`d like to thank Sen. Harkin for mentioning the three people ahead of him,” Tsongas told reporters.
Clinton was out of the state over the weekend.
