Kerry, Clark vie for war vote

For decades, Republicans have had a lock on the so-called national security vote, and an even tighter grip on the military, where officers favor Republicans 8 to 1, and the enlisted 3 to 1, according to Feaver. Veterans, which make up almost 15 percent of the population, have also favored the GOP. Both Kerry and Clark are counting on their own experience and on dissatisfaction with the Bush administration among veterans to shift that dynamic - not a lot, but enough to swing a few voters in key districts in November when the race for the White House could be heated.

But first they must convince New Hampshire voters like Velia Poggi, who came to hear Kerry speak fresh from his Iowa win, that they can beat their rivals. "It matters to me if they're a veteran," she says "The fact that you've put your life on the line to defend the country, that gives you a special feeling for the country."

Ms. Poggi is leaning toward Kerry. But her husband, James, a World War II vet, is undecided and looking at Clark. "Military service is all well and good, but it's not decisive," he says.

In a video biography played to a packed Town Hall audience in Manchester, General Clark almost romanticizes his military experience. In his stump speech afterward, as if to make up for his deficit of domestic experience, he focuses mostly on economic issues, jobs and fairness, and beating back the special interests. But it's when he touches on national security, that he gets the most reaction. "[George Bush] promised us a humble foreign policy," Clark says, then increases his intensity: "Instead, he's alienated our allies, lost the respect of the world community, and cost 500 brave young men and women their lives!"

That brought the hundreds supporters to their feet to cheer at the old art deco Palace Theater.

In way, it's Clark's role as the ultimate military insider - the four-star general and supreme Allied commander in Europe - that allows him to criticize the President with a touch of impunity. But he's also playing to voters as a political outsider - the man who's free of special interests and old political baggage.

While Kerry is also a highly decorated veteran, he's playing somewhat as the military hero turned outsider, regularly mentioning his opposition to the Vietnam War, and long record of fighting the Pentagon for greater veterans' rights. As a four-term Senator, he is also a political insider - a role that has not always played well here in New Hampshire.

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