This past January the state of New Hampshire, having a population of less than 2 million, was in the midst of its quadrennial Presidential Primary moment when it exerts more power and influence than any other state in the union.

Having been an activist for several years now, and even before becoming one, I always scoffed at the New Hampshire Primary. It was a circus where a conservative state gets to say who the rest of the country should have as a leader. It just smacked of silliness and excessive power. Of course, that impression hasn't changed much . . . However, I have discovered what a gold mine this time is for activists. Now that I work as the Associate Coordinator for New Hampshire Peace Action I have now seen the light. This is the place to be if you want to influence the election or just get your cause into the media.

You didn't always see it reported in the major media, but New Hampshire Peace Action was extremely active during the primary challenging Presidential candidates, hosting Denis Halliday, former head of the "Oil for Food" program in Iraq, including a press conference, and sending out a voters' guide comparing Al Gore's and Bill Bradley's voting record on peace Issues. (You can thank Lois Booth for getting that mailing out.)

In the first week of January we sponsored Denis Halliday coming to New Hampshire in an attempt make the sanctions an issue of debate. (This was primarily organized by Sean Donahue.) He met with concerned citizens at the Dover and Hanover Friends Meeting Houses, the Kendal at Hanover retirement community, and the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Concord. Halliday was also our main speaker at a press conference (held at the Legislative Office Building in Concord) where we denounced the current sanctions policy and demanded that the candidates address the issue. The event was covered by more than a half dozen media outlets, especially TV and radio.

After Halliday left I finally found the time to take the anti-sanctions message directly to the Presidential candidates. I have to admit right up front, I'm new to the concept of bird dogging. In fact, I didn't even know what that term meant until last year. Bird dogging means you follow the candidate(s) around, ask questions, protest, and do everything you can to get your issue either before the candidate or into the media spotlight. Of course, I had already done things like that in the past, and I knew I would enjoy doing it again, I just didn't know there was a label for it.

My first efforts were a failure, but ultimately a good learning experience. Senator McCain was speaking before the legislature at the State House, right across from the NH Peace Action's office. When he exited the building I was waiting for him at his campaign bus, the "Straight Talk Express," holding a sign that read, "A former US Army Intel. Analyst wants to know why YOU support the genocidal Iraq policy." The state police officers around him saw me and immediately tried to veer him away from where I was standing. But McCain would have none of that. He walked directly towards me, smiled, shook my hand and said something along the lines of, "Thank you for your opinion sir."

I responded back, "I hope you will address this important issue in your campaign sir." And that was the end of it. He got on his bus and I walked away feeling deflated. No one from the media interviewed me and the exchange with McCain wasn't exactly substantial. I knew that I played the situation wrong.

That night Senator McCain spoke at the Hooksett Town Library so I had an opportunity to make up for my mistakes that morning. I was prepared this time with several handouts, including quotes from Scott Ritter, the former chief UNSCOM weapons inspector to Iraq who is against the sanctions policy and is highly respected by McCain.

The town meeting was packed as McCain went through his regular campaign speech. Finally, he started to take questions from the audience. I didn't raise my hand because I wasn't ready. By the time I had my thoughts organized half the room had their hand raised. McCain never called on me. Another learned tactic: raise your hand immediately before everyone else gets their courage up.

The meeting ended and again I felt deflated for not having confronted the candidate. But as I walked out I realized that McCain wasn't leaving. He was shaking hands with people and speaking with the media. I still had time. On a whim I decided to wait for him at his bus. And did I wait. I stood behind the Hooksett Library for at least a half hour as various staff members and even ABC news anchorman Ted Koppel got on the McCain bus. It was after 10 p.m. when McCain exited the back door of the library. This time I was ready. I stretched my hand out, shook Senator McCain's hand and then handed him several pages of quotes and statistics on the current sanctions policy. I said something like, "I don't want to ask you a question now Mr. McCain, but I hope you'll take a look at these articles. I'll catch up with you later in the week when I can ask you a question in public."

McCain smiled, with just the touch of a frown I believe, and responded, "I don't doubt for a moment that I'll see you again."

That was the end of exchange number two, but it was certainly not the last time Senator McCain would hear from me.

A week or so later McCain spoke at the Kingston Town Hall. The media were all there, including CNN, ABC News and numerous others. This time I was ready and I was going to do everything right.

McCain entered the meeting hall and walked down the left side of the room. I couldn't believe my luck because I had an aisle seat and he would have to shake hands with me before going up to the podium. The exchange was brief, but we did shake hands and I said directly to him, "I hope you'll answer my questions tonight Senator.' McCain said nothing and proceeded to shake hands with others as he walked towards the front.

McCain did his stump speech again with little variation from the first time I heard him speak. When he finished I was ready. My raised my hand up within a second of his last sentence. Others in the room obviously knew the same tactic, but it looked like my chances of being called on were pretty good. After two or three people spoke he finally called on me and the microphone was brought over to where I was standing.

The exchange went along something like this:

"Senator McCain, I want to thank you for taking my question because you know what I'm going to ask you about," I said.

"I sure do," McCain responded.

"Scott Ritter, the former chief UNSCOM weapons inspector to Iraq and proud former US Marine Intelligence Officer, a man I'm told you highly respect, has said that the sanctions on Iraq are a moral stain on the character of the United States. I myself am former US Army Intelligence and I share Ritter's outrage.

"You said at an earlier town meeting that Saddam Hussein was the biggest foreign policy problem facing the US. You also said that it was immoral for US planes to bomb Kosovo from 15,000 feet because they couldn't distinguish between civilians and military targets at that altitude. Given the fact that Denis Halliday, the former head of the "Oil for Food" program, quit in protest and calls the sanctions genocide, and given the fact that even UNICEF, an official arm of the United Nations, admits that the sanctions on Iraq kill 250 children each and every day, would you please explain your position on the current Iraq sanctions policy?"

I knew that all the TV crews were recording this event and I was nervous so I sat down when I was finished. Another lesson learned, don't sit down until you've heard the candidate's response because you might need to say something or ask another question.

I don't have the best recollection of what Sen. McCain said, but it basically came down to how important it was to stand up to Saddam and that he thought I was misinformed about Scott Ritter, that he was actually in favor of the sanctions policy.

The microphone went to the next person asking a question and McCain moved on. He had weaseled out of answering my question and had refuted the very articles I had given him a week earlier which clearly stated that Scott Ritter did not support the sanctions policy.

When the meeting was over I was approached by four separate reporters all wanting to know more about my challenge to Sen. McCain. When I was done talking to them I went over to one of McCain's aides and gave him more copies of articles about Iraq, including the same one I had given him before clearly stating Ritter's position, plus a video tape of Denis Halliday speaking in Concord against the sanctions.

These three encounters were not the only attempts made to challenge the candidates.

One night I braved a cold night outside of Salem High School where Al Gore was speaking; I held a sign that demanded to know why he supported the sanctions policy. Because I wasn't "invited" (this was supposed to be a "public" event), I was unable to go inside and meet with Gore. On another night, Arnie Alpert, from the American Friends Service Committee and also a member of NHPA, did get a chance to ask Gore about the sanctions policy, but Gore's response was the typical, 'It's too bad the children are dying, but we can't do anything unless Saddam complies with the UN.'

Several activists from Cambridge, Massachusetts from a group called Mobilization for Survival joined me a few days before the election and we attended several events in southern New Hampshire. McCain was challenged twice more to address the sanctions issue and to meet with Scott Ritter to discuss alternatives. Al Gore was confronted at Keene State College. And last but not least, George W. was confronted at the end of a Travis Tritt benefit concert when he left the building to get on his campaign bus. The activists from Mobilization for Survival pulled out a banner that read, "Sanctions Help Saddam," and began chanting the same slogan. We didn't know it at the time, but C-SPAN ran the entire incident live and we're told that several Congressional aides in DC were watching.

The ultimate result of NHPA's primary work didn't move mountains, but it was an important step on our path towards wielding more influence on the Iraq sanctions problem. Most notably, NHPA has taken a national leadership role in bringing Scott Ritter's opposition to the sanctions to the forefront.

Ritter is indeed a controversial man and most people think that he favors the sanctions. While we might disagree with some of his beliefs, we believe it's important to emphasize the fact that a conservative proud former Marine such as Ritter believes that the sanctions are immoral and ineffective.

In late January, while I was bird dogging the candidates, we issued a challenge to the Presidential candidates to meet with Ritter to discuss alternative methods of dealing with Iraq. While the story didn't run in New Hampshire, other media sources did pick up the story, including the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and at least one English language newspaper in Middle East. The story may have gone further, we're not sure.

More recently, we were the driving force behind a Congressional briefing which will be held on May 3 when Scott Ritter, Denis Halliday and Hans von Sponeck, Halliday's replacement as the head of the "Oil for Food" program who also quit in protest, will all speak out against the sanctions policy. This event will surely lead to extensive media coverage, here in New Hampshire as well as throughout the US and even the world. We're asking all our members to please contact Reps. Bass and Sununu and ask them to attend the May 3 briefing and to oppose the sanctions.

In preparation for the briefing we've arranged for Ritter to visit New Hampshire to be our main speaker at a press conference in Concord on Friday April 28. We also have him scheduled to speak on New Hampshire Public Radio's morning show The Exchange (April 28) and Boston Public Radio's nationally syndicated show The Connection (April 27). The Portsmouth Herald has also promised to do a major article on our work with Ritter. We're working on getting even more media coverage which we hope to organize in the weeks ahead. Beyond the issue of getting media attention, we're also working on having Scott Ritter meet personally with Rep. Bass and Rep. Sununu.

Stay tuned for more details, especially in the near future as we get closer to Scott Ritter's visit to New Hampshire and our May 3 briefing in Washington, DC. We realize how tough the odds are, but there is hope that we can sway the likes of Charlie Bass and John Sununu, especially with a man like Scott Ritter telling them that the policy is ineffective and immoral.