Manchester Hotel Center of Nation's First GOP Primary

MANCHESTER, N.H.--All eyes this weekend were focused on New Hampshire, site of yesterday's first-in-the-nation primary. But in Manchester, all eyes were focused on one popular downtown hotel.

The Center of New Hampshire Holiday Inn, built in 1984 on the site of an abandoned retail outlet, housed hundreds of members of the press, in addition to the staff of two Republican candidates.

And with journalists, candidates and voters all converging upon this Elm Street hotel during the most heated primary in memory, there were bound to be some fireworks.

"It's a nightmare on Elm Street," candidate Morry Taylor told The Crimson. "I've got to fight off the media every time I turn my head."

Some 75 percent of the hotels' 250 rooms were rented to the press and to staff members of the Dole and Buchanan campaigns.

Over the weekend, each candidate visited the hotel at least once, whether to appear at the specially-constructed C-SPAN studio, to take part in the Bisquick Pancake Flipping Contest Monday or to join with 400 others in the hotel's conference room to celebrate Dole's second place finish.

"It's a zoo," said Rooms and Division Manager Kimberly Roy. "We've got political junkies of every variety here."

The hotel hired additional waitresses and security staff to accommodate the influx of politicos in the hotel, and Roy admitted the hotel raised its rates to cover increased expenses. "We operate on the laws of supply and demand," she said.

Heavily favored candidates were not the only ones who flocked to the Holiday Inn, which is located within 20 miles of half of New Hampshire voters, in search of free media coverage.

Robert E. Haines, one of 22 candidates listed on the Republican presidential ballot, stumped for votes at the hotel, as did a man who identified himself as "The D. Scusting." Mr. Scusting wore a black rubber boot atop his head, in addition to a leopard skin costume, and claimed he had the endorsement of Elvis, former President Richard M. Nixon, and deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.

Scusting promised "to do nothing much" if elected.

Dan Brady, a member of the New Hampshire Citizens Action League taped a tail to his backside, painted whiskers on his face and regaled voters with stories about "fat cats" who feast on political campaigns.

The purpose of Brady's demonstration was to draw attention to the "corrupting influence of big money in American politics," he said.

Democrats from colleges across New England held signs outside the hotel to show support for President Clinton. The president was challenged by 21 minor candidates but he expects a tougher fight in November.

Seth Hanson '98, president of the Harvard College Democrats, carried signs because "this is the meat and potatoes of the campaign season.

Members of the media took advantage of the hotel's two lounges, where they gathered each night to compare notes.