Grass Roots: 2one Year in the Life of the New Hampshire Presidential Primary

Duncan's sympathetic narrative follows a handful of campaign volunteers in New Hampshire's Cheshire County during the year leading up to and including Presidential Primary Day 1988. He describes what prompted each of these grass-rooters to become involved in politics, how they chose a candidate to support and the tasks they performed throughout the hectic 12 months. The candidates, among them Jack Kemp, Pat Robertson and Paul Simon, are seen in close-up as they fumblingly launch themselves in living-room chats, on street corners and in workplaces. But Duncan, national press secretary for the Dukakis presidential campaign, mainly traces the emotional peaks and troughs of the volunteers as they perform their foot-soldier drudgeries. Bush and Dukakis, of course, prevailed in the February 16 voting; and the primary's amazing record remains unblemished: no one wins the White House who doesn't first win in New Hampshire. Duncan has supplied a rare warmhearted look at the electoral process. Photos. Author tour. (Feb.)