Johnson Men Seek N.H. Write-In

MANCHESTER, N.H., Feb. 11--"There is no tougher job in the world than being President of the United States," reads a large, multi-pictured, mustard-colored, campaign brochure "and never has it been tougher than it is now."

The brochure, entitled "A Strong Man In A Tough Job," continues, "he [the President] must follow the responsible course, enduring the wailings of the peaceniks and those who would surrender. He must be a man of strength and President Johnson is."

Across New Hampshire during the next four weeks, nearly 2000 "neighborhood coordinators" are expected to urge the state's 87,000 Democrats and 127,000 Independents to write-in "Lyndon B. Johnson" on their March 12 presidential primary ballots.

The neighborhood coordinators, the campaign brochure, and the widely-publicized and controversial "Johnson pledge card" are part of the "New Hampshire Citizens for Johnson" write-in campaign. It is attempting to hold the Granite State's 1968 National Democratic convention delegates to LBJ despite the challenge of Sen. Eugene J. McCarthy (D.-Minn.). The President's name is not permitted on the primary ballot because he hasn't announced he will be a candidate for re-election in 1968.

Conceived last Spring, the write-in campaign was organized last summer by three leading Granite State Democrats, Sen. Thomas J. McIntyre. Gov. John W. King, and former Federal bureau director Bernard Boutin, now an executive at Sanders Associates, a leading defense contracting company in Nashua. Though Boutin and King deny any connection, the movement to "Draft RFK in '68" began a few weeks prior to the first "serious" planning meetings in the LBJ campaign. The Draft Kennedy movement has since been absorbed in the McCarthy campaign.

Boutin, now Johnson's campaign chairman, sees apathy as the chief problem in attempting a write-in effort for an incumbent president. To combat apathy and to "educate the electorate," Boutin came up with the pledge card (which pledges the voter to "support President LBJ." It would "give the individual voter a personal identification with the President...and give us a good listing of the real Democratic voters in the State," Boutin explained.

To obtain the pledges, Boutin decided personal contact "in a way never seen before" was needed. The neighborhood coordinators who are responsible for visiting 35 to 50 families each were conceived to meet the need. In addition to getting pledges, they are "responsible to see that the Democratic and Independent voters in this area go to the polls," will provide transportation to the polls, and a babysitting service too.