By DAN TUOHY

New Hampshire Union Leader
Friday, Dec. 14, 2007

MANCHESTER – One presidential candidate called 9/11 "an inside job." Others pledged to abolish the Internal Revenue Service, increase the minimum wage to $10, and fight global warming by unplugging clothes dryers.

The boldest of the presidential hopefuls, lesser-known candidates with less to lose, aired their ideas for a better America in a forum last night in Manchester.

Richard "Mad Dog" Caligiuri doesn't have a computer or a cell phone. But he's got ideas. Running for President, he said, was simply the best way to express them.

His platform? "Ah, geez," he said in an interview, looking momentarily stumped. "To protect individual rights."

After toiling in the shadows of the well-heeled campaigns, this was their night to shine. Manchester Community Access Media broadcast the forum, which will be aired on C-SPAN. The forum, sponsored by the New Hampshire Political Library, drew four Democratic candidates and six Republican candidates, the cast representing 11 states.

The candidates engaged in a serious discussion of taxes, terrorism, immigration, religion and global warming. They often clashed with the "major" candidates' campaign messages. At times, though, their positions were not all that different.

Republican Hugh Cort emphasized the importance of a strong military and keeping troops in Iraq. "I want to challenge Ron Paul to a debate," he said in a shot at a "major" GOP candidate. "He wants to lose the war in Iraq."

Democrat Henry Hewes called for raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour.

Democrat Caroline Killeen, better known in New Hampshire as the "Hemp Lady," promised to make Dennis Kucinich her running mate. She is making global warming, what she calls global genocide, one of her priorities this Primary.

Democrat Michael Skok warned the country is losing its moral compass. "We are fast becoming a Godless nation," he said.

The Democrats were Caligiuri of Wilkinsburg, Pa., Hewes of New York City, Killeen of Castleton, N.Y., and Skok of Cheektowaga, N.Y. The Republicans were Cort of Birmingham, Ala., H. Neal Fendig, Jr. of St. Simons, Ga., Daniel Gilbert of Arden, N.C., Albert Howard of Ann Arbor, Mich., James Mitchell, Jr. of Lindenhurst, Ill., and Cornelius Edward O'Connor. Jack Barnes, a Republican state senator from Raymond, N.H., also appeared as a vice presidential candidate.

A couple of the lesser-known candidates were unable to make the event because of the snowstorm. There are 42 candidates on the New Hampshire Primary ballot on Jan. 8. The most number of candidates was in 1992, when there were 63.

Secretary of State William Gardner said the forum for lesser-known candidates is important to underscore the tradition of the first-in-the-nation primary and the state as a proving ground for all the candidates, whether their campaigns have millions of dollars or just a couple of dollars.

"We as a state have tried to keep the American dream alive -- that anyone can grow up to become President," Gardner said. "That dream, that anyone has a chance, we feel very strong about that."

The candidates described their time campaigning in New Hampshire a fortification of their belief in democracy. Cort recalled getting personal escorts around the state, from assistance from county chairmen to one of the state's senior Republican Party officials.

Killeen, wearing snow pants, is on the New Hampshire Primary ballot for her fourth time. Why bother, at 81, to campaign?

"When I was growing up," she said afterward, in between bites of a sandwich, "everyone was so proud to be an American. I'm still proud."

The Republican candidates deplored the country's fiscal health. O'Connor called for closing corporate loopholes and raising taxes on the rich. Cort said Republicans deserve some of the blame for the national deficit.

"They spent worse than drunken sailors, except drunken sailors spend their own money," Cort said.

"Thank you," chimed in Mitchell, a Navy veteran with a well-timed sense of humor.