Students said they were shocked by conservative commentator Pat Buchanan's first place finish in the New Hampshire Republican Primary yesterday, and believe Lamar Alexander has a better chance of winning the GOP nomination.
Mark Cicirelli '96, co-vice president of the Conservative Union at Dartmouth and Alexander supporter, said he is concerned about Buchanan's finish with 27 percent of the vote.
"His protectionism and isolationism are a very radical departure from what Republicanism has been," Cicirelli said. "It's a bad direction for the party to take."
Rival candidates Alexander and Kansas Senator Bob Dole "are splitting the moderate vote right down the middle," Cicirelli said. He said Alexander "will do better as the campaign goes on."
Cicirelli said people were no longer very interested in publisher Steve Forbes, who was a short-lived "fascination" for some voters. "He was not solid," he said. "People weren't sure about him."Cicirelli and CUAD President Isaac Thorne '96 were formerly in charge of Senator Phil Gramm's campaign at Dartmouth.
Since Gramm dropped out of the race last week, both Cicirelli and Thorne have lent their support to Alexander, who placed third in yesterday's primary with 23 percent of the vote.
"Lamar Alexander is charismatic enough and photogenic enough to stand up to Clinton and beat him," Thorne said.
Regarding the other candidates, Thorne said "Bob Dole is bereft of ideas," and "Buchanan is absolutely on the losing side of history."
Chris Marston '96, who helped with the Dole campaign last term, said he was surprised and disappointed by Dole's loss. "I thought New Hampshire would vote for Dole," he said.
"A lot of people will think [Alexander] is the only person to beat Clinton because people are pretty sure Buchanan can't," Marston said.
Todd Johann '97, who has taken part in Alexander's campaign on campus, lauded Alexander as the up-and-coming candidate who has the best chance of defeating Clinton in the national election.
Buchanan's victory "can only happen in New Hampshire," Johann said. "He can't win the election, he can't win in other states. Buchanan will disappear."
Johann said Alexander is an experienced candidate with "no skeletons in his closet."
He predicted Alexander will end up in a close competition with Dole for the Republican nomination.
But Kishan Putta '96 said he voted for Buchanan in yesterday's primary. "Ever since he came to Dartmouth, I decided he was my candidate," he said.
Putta said he was unsure whether the commentator could win the national Republican nomination. But said he liked Buchanan's message of "putting American first."
Michael New '97, the student coordinator for the Alan Keyes campaign, said his candidate faired better than he expected.
Keyes came in sixth place with three percent of the Republican vote in yesterday's primary.
"If you get three percent and spend no money ... it's actually pretty good," New said.
New said he supported Keyes because he did not like any of the other candidates. He said Keyes' poor showing was not discouraging.
Dole "found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory," New said. "I'm surprised he didn't hold on."
Dole lead most opinion polls up until two weeks before the primary.
Chris Swift '98, who has been in charge of Clinton's campaign at Dartmouth, said Buchanan's message is outdated.
"Buchanan is inconsistent with where the rest of the country is right now," he said. "He's living in the 1950s."
Swift said he was more concerned about Alexander, who "would be more of a challenge for Clinton ... just because both are moderates."
"Alexander tries to paint himself as a conservative, but he's not -- he's a moderate," Swift said.
Sophie Delano '98, who was president of the Young Democrats last term, saw Buchanan's win as a plus for Clinton.
"It's hard not to smile when you're a Democrat and you see Buchanan win," she said.
Delano said Clinton would do well against Buchanan in the general election. She said she knows many students who supported Alexander for the Republican primary, but who prefer Clinton overall.
Government Professor James Murphy said he was surprised Buchanan did well in the primary.
Buchanan's success last night is "a barometer of a lot of anger and distress that might be more usefully channeled in other directions ... than immigrant bashing," he said.
A Clinton supporter, Murphy said voters should instead support "a more progressive economical agenda, empowering workers and addressing wage disparity."
Roxanne Waldner, assistant director for the Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences, said she too was surprised by Buchanan's strong showing.
"I assumed Buchanan would do well in the state," she said. "He had a fair amount of support" during the 1992 Republican primary. But Waldner said she thought Dole would clinch the New Hampshire victory.
Students who were not as intimately involved in the political scene as those working on the campaigns also said they feared a Buchanan GOP nomination.
"Buchanan is frightening," Matt Clendenny '99 said. "It's a shame he's a Republican. About ethnicity and the economy, he's clueless."
Clendenny said he would have voted for Alexander -- if he had had the time to vote.
Clendenny said if a Republican other than Alexander wins the Republican nomination, he will vote for Clinton.
"I'm disappointed that Colin Powell dropped out," he said. "If he ran, I'd probably be involved in his campaign."
Julie Moynihan '98 said she voted for Dick Lugar, who came in fifth place with 5 percent of the vote.
"Out of the Republican candidates, he was one who I thought was okay," she said. She said she would probably vote for Clinton in the general election.
Moynihan said Buchanan's win was "scary."
Brad Davis '99, who was in charge of the Forbes campaign on campus, and Sean Cunningham '97, the Dole campaign's campus coordinator, were unavailable for comment last night.
Cicirelli said the two were attending engagements in Manchester with other supporters of their respective candidates.
Cicirelli said no one at Dartmouth is involved with Buchanan's campaign. But Tom Franks '98 was a former active participant, Cicirelli said. Franks is no longer on campus, but Cicirelli declined to explain further.
