Clinton Backers Canvas N.H.

Several busloads of Boston and Cambridge Clinton supporters campaigned in New Hampshire on Saturday in a final drive to sway undecided voters in the Granite State.

Students from Harvard and other Boston schools as well as area residents volunteered their time to pass out leaflets to nearly all houses in the city of Manchester.

The leaflets contained Clinton's general philosophy on the economy and the country, said Adam L. Cohen `96, a member of the Harvard-Radcliffe College Democrats, a sponsor of the day-long outing.

Reaching the Undecided

"The point of this is to reach those people who are undecided. There are still a lot of them," said Cohen.

"New Hampshire has been a consistently Republican state. It would be almost a coup for Clinton to get it," said Cohen.

About 10 Harvard undergraduates and graduate students, along with 100 others, went door-to-door, placing leaflets in doors of residential houses.

Harvard College Democrats President David Bunker said that New Hampshire residents are used to personal appeals on behalf of candidates.

"The state is small enough that you can actually do it," he said. "There's a real chance for Democrats to win for the first time here, I think, since LBJ in 1964."

The Harvard Democrats have increased their activity in the weeks leading up to the election.

The club in "phone-banking," telephoning voters to identify Clinton supporters and sway independents, and getting visibility by carrying signs around campus.

HDC also plans to make another campaign drive in New Hampshire two Saturdays from now.

Nancy Sullivan, a volunteer working at Clinton-Gore headquarters in Boston, said that people were supportive of and enthusiastic about the visit.

"There were a lot of people honking and cheering and waving at us when they saw the Clinton signs in the bus windows," Sullivan said.

"I think it's important to be visible. We want to remind people to please get out and vote and make yourself heard," she said.

Trip Deemed Successful

Democrats who made the trip felt it was successful in its aim.

"It sounds like we have a really good chance of getting New Hampshire," said Cohen.

Cohen said there is no reason to campaign in Massachusetts, where polls show Governor Clinton holds a nearly 20-point lead over President Bush.

In New Hampshire, however, voter surveys continue to give Bush a slight lead over Clinton.