Paperless voting machines, absentee and mail-in ballots, media interference, redrawn districts, thrown out Democratic registrations in Nevada, millions of first-time voters, a race too close to call, a potentially failing electoral college, calls for election monitors-a hell of a storm is expected to touch down on Nov. 2.

The forecast is as much based on the fact that we've not corrected any of the problems identified in 2000 as it is on any of the more publicly discussed factors listed above. As Elizabeth Garrett, director of the University of Southern California-Caltech Center on Law and Politics, noted in a recent New York Times article, "If it happens one time, it's an anomaly; a second time, and it's clear there are real problems."

The world is watching. The best you can do now is prepare and do your part.

the race for the White House

by Brian Gregg

Every four years in the United States of America, political animals emerge from their dens to goggle at two would-be alpha males duking it out over who will lead the world's only superpower.* If we're to be something more than domesticated primates, where is the evidence of our evolution from the primitive age of fear and bloodshed to a more human epoch in which we actually try to be good to people?

Things have gotten so distorted through the fun-house mirror of the mainline national media and its pretense to objectivity that some people feel compelled to ignore the obvious. The human species is diverging along two distinct evolutionary paths: those who believe George Bush should prolong his reign of error as the rightful leader of the "free world" (Homo neoconicus stultificatus) and those who believe that the so-called president is mentally and psychologically unfit for the highest office in the land (Homo sapiens desperatus).

While stultificatus gazes in admiration at the "war president" wrapping himself in the flag and pounding his chest, desperatus sees that Bush's re-election-or whatever horrors Rove and the uber-puppeteers to whom he answers will unleash if JFK II wins-would spell the beginning of the end of Empire America.

To help you sift through their priorities and see at least some shreds of humanity where appropriate, check out this sampler of where the two candidates stand on the issues. It's more or less accurate, but far from complete.

terrorism

George Bush: Championed passage of so-called USA Patriot Act; initially opposed creation of Homeland Security Department; initially opposed creation of 9/11 Commission and frequently balked at its requests for White House documents; asserts that the United States has right to defend itself against terrorism with pre-emptive and unilateral military action; likes to play dress-up as a pilot and for some reason calls the United States "the Homeland"

John Kerry: Supported so-called USA Patriot Act, but says Attorney General John Ashcroft has enforced the law at the expense of civil liberties; advocates multilateral approach to fighting international terrorism; asserts that Bush "took his eye off the ball" when his administration switched military attention from Afghanistan to Iraq; supports implementation of all recommendations of the 9/11 Commission; talks tough, yet appears to recognize at least some parts of the Constitution

Iraq

Bush: Asserts that Iraq is a central front in the so-called "War on Terror" and that a pre-emptive war against Iraq was necessary to reduce a possible threat of nuclear attack on the United States; after rapid U.S.-led military conquest of the predominantly disarmed country, based on debunked claims of said threat, now faces fierce insurgency; says the United States must "stay the course"; supported trial of Hussein by Iraqis with international advisors

Kerry: After voting for the September 2002 Congressional authorization of the use of force in Iraq, now says he was misled by inaccurate intelligence; proposes increasing U.S. military by 40,000 people; supports trial of deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein before joint Iraqi and international war crimes tribunal; essentially, Bush Lite with late-arriving Deaniac rhetorical flourishes-can you say Johnson?

jobs

Bush: 2.2 million jobs lost in his term; first president since Herbert Hoover to oversee net job loss in office; proposes $500 million fund to educate and train highly skilled workers; proposes creation of $3,000 re-employment accounts to help the unemployed cover job search expenses; says cutting federal regulations will create jobs by easing paperwork burdens on small businesses; supports "opportunity zones" to give tax breaks on new economic development in needy areas; doesn't support raising the minimum wage by much; his job is backed by people who need not lose sleep over losing their jobs, as well as by mega-corporations

Kerry: Asserts that his economic plan will create three million jobs in 500 days; wants to end tax break for companies that outsource jobs overseas and cut taxes for businesses that provide U.S. jobs; supports more substantial enforcement of trade agreements; backed by major labor groups including AFL-CIO, United Auto Workers, International Association of Fire Fighters, and International Brotherhood of Police Officers; despite plan to raise the minimum wage over several years, still enjoys backing by some mega-corporations

tax cuts

Bush: Advocated for and signed $1.35 trillion tax cut package in 2001; wants to accelerate reduction schedule and make cuts permanent; study by Citizens for Tax Justice and Children's Defense Fund says by 2010, 51.8 percent of the benefit of these cuts will flow to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans, whom he has famously referred to as "my base"

Kerry: Proposes repeal of tax cuts for those making more than $200,000 per year; pledges not to raise taxes on those making less than this amount; says he will eliminate "corporate welfare" tax loopholes; read his lips...

deficit

Bush: Record federal deficits created during Bush's term in office; projected $521 billion deficit this year; his 2005 budget projects that this number can be reduced by half in five years; wants Congress to severely limit discretionary spending increases on everything but defense and homeland security; long story short: starve the beast of the welfare state, feed the beast of the military-industrial complex

Kerry: Asserts that his economic plan will cut federal deficit in half in four years, funded partially by repeal of tax cuts for those making over $200,000 per year; proposes $50 billion bailout package for deficit-laden states; good luck balancing those numbers, buddy

Social Security

Bush: Supports optional privatized personal retirement accounts for younger workers, who would earn a higher return in exchange for smaller Social Security benefits upon retirement; putting money in the market instead of the Treasury sounds good until you think about it for a while

Kerry: Opposes privatization; supports allowing retirees from private companies option of retaining traditional periodic pension payments instead of a cheaper lump sum; leans toward the "security" side of Social Security

health care

Bush: More Americans lack health insurance now than at the beginning of Bush's presidency; championed passage of prescription drug benefit for seniors; supported introduction of medical savings accounts; opposes medical marijuana

Kerry: Supports giving all Americans access to the same health insurance program available to federal employees; proposes health insurance tax credits for small businesses, subsidized premiums for the unemployed, catastrophic claim assistance to private companies and insurers in exchange for reduced premiums, fully financed health care for veterans, expansion of state health programs to cover all children, and scientific review of medical marijuana; party on, John

environment

Bush: Withdrew from Kyoto treaty that aimed to reduce global warming; backed off campaign pledge to regulate industrial carbon dioxide emissions; loosened regulations requiring increased pollution controls for expanding older factories; accelerated logging operations on public woodlands; plans to clean up and convert 450,000 industrial sites into park land; supports oil drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge and an Alaskan natural gas pipeline; supports market approach to capping emissions of acid-rain-causing gases and interstate pollution; supports spending cuts for clean water projects and environmental health research; supports hydrogen fuel cell development; oh yeah, there was that thing about loosening standards for arsenic in drinking water

Kerry: Says that Kyoto treaty was "flawed," and would fix it; opposes oil drilling in Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge; supports increased vehicle fuel efficiency standards; proposes development of alternative and renewable energy to generate electricity; supports higher environmental standards for private companies that use public land; intends to become independent of Middle East oil within 10 years

education

Bush: Supports private school tuition vouchers; championed so-called No Child Left Behind Act, a major retooling of federal primary and secondary education programs that ties funding to progress on standardized performance test for students and teachers; proposes increases in spending for poor school districts, disabled children, and Pell Grants for college tuition; proposes cuts in vocational training, family literacy, arts and dropout prevention programs; says really dumb stuff like "is our children learning?"

Kerry: Opposes private school tuition vouchers; proposes $4,000 per year college tuition tax credit; proposes high school community service program to provide credits equal to in-state public university tuition in exchange for two years of national service; supported No Child Left Behind but says too much focus is placed on student performance tests; demonstrates evidence of having experienced education first-hand

death penalty

Bush: Had nation's highest execution rate as governor of Texas, including executions of those who committed offenses as juveniles; supported expansion of federal death penalty; first federal executions since 1963 occurred during his presidency; pretty much likes to fry people and be smug about it

Kerry: Supports only for "cases of real international and domestic terrorism"; would be most anti-death penalty president in half a century, according to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty; has something like a conscience, if possible for a professional politician

abortion

Bush: Believes abortion should be available only in cases of rape, incest or danger to the woman's life; signed ban on so-called partial birth abortions; said he would not use anti-choice litmus test for federal judge appointments; believes he is guided by God on this and most other issues

Kerry: Says that while he personally opposes abortion, it should remain legal; would use pro-choice litmus test for U.S. Supreme Court nominees; targeted by anti-choice Catholic bishops

gay rights

Bush: Supports Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage; continued Clinton "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the military; pretends never to have watched Queer Eye (OK, that's not true, but did choke on a pretzel watching football or something)

Kerry: Supports civil unions; opposes gay marriage and attempt to ban it by constitutional amendment; supports ban on workplace discrimination; supports expanded protection against hate crimes; supports open declarations of sexual orientation in the military; seems to regard gay people as deserving something dangerously close to equal rights (marriage, shmarriage)

*Also possibly on the ballot in New Hampshire: independent candidate Ralph Nader

sources: USA Today, New York Times; candidate Web sites and public statements

on the Web:

www.johnkerry.com

www.georgewbush.com

www.votenader.org

pollsters say:

too close to call

the race for the corner office

by Karen Marzloff

John Lynch earned his stripes as CEO of Knoll, a national furniture maker, running his own consulting company in Manchester; and serving as chairman of the state university system board of trustees until this past spring. Incumbent Craig Benson earned his purse as co-founder of Cabletron Systems, a computer networking company that became Enterasys Networks before moving last year to Andover, Mass. Lynch has taken on the governor nearly dollar for dollar, so far spending $1.3 million of his own money, while Benson has spent $1.43 million of his own, in a spree that brings New Hampshire politics to a new threshold. Both men oppose an income or sales tax, and support the widening of the southern portion of Interstate 93. So what makes these candidates different from each other?

Lynch's priorities are education, jobs and expanding access to health care. He's been pitching voters a balanced budget and a solution to the school funding question-which includes a repeal of the statewide property tax. He'd also like to repeal the new insurance law known as SB 110, created to attract more competition to the state and allowing insurance companies to charge businesses based on employees' health. Bensons says the law is working, but Lynch says it's increasing rates for everyone. He's earned the endorsement of the State Troopers Association and a handful of prominent Republicans.

In Benson's favor, he's stuck by his promise to run government more like a business, for better or for worse. He's not taking a salary, and he maintains a remarkably low office budget. He's cutting spending across the board to stem speculated deficit at the end of the next two-year budget cycle. But his reputation for being ethics-challenged-illegally bulldozing sand dunes on his beachfront property; paying state "volunteers" out of his own pocket, including his Homeland Security coordinator, then shielding them from public scrutiny; hiring former Cabletron associates who were forced to quit after they'd acted unethically in awarding a state contract-continues to dog him. And he simply hasn't been that effective. Benson inherited a state with low taxes, low poverty rates and low unemployment. Yet the state's dropping in its ranking as a high-tech leader and still doesn't have a reasonable proposal for school funding, and Benson himself has alienated lawmakers in his own party. His big accomplishments-like, the laptop initiative and the importation of Canadian pharmaceuticals-haven't gone very far. However, there's the fact that no modern-day governor has failed to win a second two-year term if he or she wanted it.

A fourth and final debate between the two is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 26 in Nashua.

-Karen Marzloff

source: a Concord Monitor poll of 600 voters completed OOct. 17 by Research 2000 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

the race for U.S. House, First District

by Matt Kanner

Justin Nadeau, democratic challenger, defeated three other democrats to win the primary nomination. He is running against the first-term incumbent, republican Jeb Bradley.

Nadeau is a small-business owner and attorney and was raised and schooled in New Hampshire, graduating from UNH in 1995. While in college, he worked as a dishwasher, janitor, gas station attendant and assistant manager of a convenience store. He went to law school in Massachusetts but currently lives in New Hampshire. His priorities include:

? Increasing the availability of affordable prescription drugs and health insurance. Nadeau supports the Small Business Health Insurance Promotion Act, which would give small businesses a 50 percent tax credit on employee health plans. He notes that his opponent voted against HR 2427, a House bill that would have made it easier to get affordable prescription drugs from Canada. Nadeau claims that Bradley's opposition to this bill stems from the enormous campaign contributions he has received from pharmaceutical and insurance companies.

? Reducing the threat of terror by stabilizing the Middle East. Nadeau believes that the removal of dictators such as Saddam Hussein, and the emphasis on security at home, is not enough to make America safe. The most important thing, he believes, is quelling unrest in the Middle East by promoting long-term peace and democracy in the region. This means encouraging diplomacy between Middle Eastern nations and offering aid to countries in need.

? Giving tax cuts to the middle class, opposing a sales or income tax and fixing the state's property tax.

Jeb Bradley is running for his second term in Congress. His hometown is Wolfeboro, where he has lived with his wife Barbara and his four children. Prior to being elected to Congress in 2002, he served for 12 years as a state representative, accruing a great deal of recognition as a moderate Republican along the way. In Congress, critics say he's faltered in his support of pro-choice and gay rights issues. His priorities include:

? Offering tax relief to small businesses and families. Bradley supported the "Jobs and Growth Tax Reconciliation Act of 2003," which provides tax relief that is intended to stimulate the economy. He claims that his votes in Congress have helped lower the tax burden on 112,000 small businesses in New Hampshire.

? Making health care more affordable and accessible. Bradley supported the "Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003," which is designed to help seniors get affordable medicine. He has also worked to improve the benefits offered to veterans and people injured in military service.

? Winning the war on terror and keeping Americans safe. Bradley is a member of the Armed Services Committee, and he has worked to properly equip our troops and to increase their pay and benefits. He is also a member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.

on the Web:

www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/nadeau/index.jsp

www.jebforcongress.com

pollsters say:

Jeb Bradley (R) 53 percent

Justin Nadeau (D) 37 percent

source: Concord Monitor poll, Oct. 17

more information at:

www. politicsnh.com

NH Secretary of State: www.sos.nh.gov/electionsnew.htm

www.nh-democrats.org

www.nhgop.org

the race for U.S. Senate

by Chris Dahlen

New Hampshire scored one of the most unlikely Senate matches in its history when Doris "Granny D" Haddock, the first-time candidate and activist for campaign finance reform, signed up literally at the deadline to run against the popular and likely unbeatable incumbent Judd Gregg.

Gregg is running for a third term as New Hampshire's senior senator. Regarded as conservative, Gregg was the only New England senator to vote in favor of advancing a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, and he is a close ally of President Bush, even serving as Bush's sparring partner in practices before the debate. Gregg also supports lower taxes, the No Child Left Behind act, and various local conservation projects. Gregg sits on several Senate committees, including the Appropriations Committee and the Budget Committee, and has brought generous funds to the state; in the Seacoast alone, his support of The Music Hall, Strawbery Banke and the new federal building at Pease earned him the endorsement of Portsmouth Mayor Evelyn Sirrell.

Most people know Haddock from the 3,200-mile walk that she undertook at age 89, to draw attention to campaign finance reform and the McCain-Feingold Bill, and campaign finance reform remains the central issue in her platform. Haddock has sworn never to take special interest money. Haddock supports an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, greater conservation efforts, and a balanced budget. Haddock would be 100 years old by the end of her term, and although she has sworn not to seek a second, her age and poor hearing may deter voters even more than her inexperience and progressive politics. But Haddock has given the democrats a nominee who's not only better than nothing, but the best "better than nothing" candidate they could have asked for: outspoken, unwavering and not afraid to stick to a campaign of ideas. Haddock is also a stellar orator, and one of the most inspiring characters in the 2004 campaign season.

The two candidates will hold their only debate Thursday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. The event will be carried by WMUR-Channel 9 and C-SPAN. Whoever wins, it's sure to be a unique event.