©Globe Newspaper Company 1995
©Globe Staff Photo/Mark Wilson
John Brown puffs on a cigar as he walks
past an antique shop in Derry, N.H.,
a suburban community struggling
with growth and taxes.
DERRY, N.H. -- It's still the economy.
Although the deep recession of the early '90s is over, economic sacrifice, anxiety about the future and fear for one's children are casting a shadow over family life in this middle-class commuter town.
A new poll of Derry residents by the Globe and two other news organizations shows that concern about the economy is so great that Granite Staters here list local taxes, high prices, making ends meet and low-paying jobs as their biggest personal problems. Four out of five believe government does more for the wealthy than for the middle class and more than half are ''very concerned'' about their children's job opportunities.
''My savings are gone. I have no way of putting my kids through college,'' lamented Richard DeSisto, a 41-year-old installer of heating and cooling equipment. ''They're going to grow up to a global economy. They have to be well-educated.''
DeSisto said financial worries persist even though the local economy has improved since the early part of the decade.
''I paid more to go to college in one year than I'm making in my third year of teaching,'' said Tamara Manke, a 24-year-old elementary school teacher who lives with her parents for financial reasons.
Manke and others voiced their concerns during a focus group discussion last week conducted after the poll to flesh out its results.
''We've made a lot of cutbacks in our personal lives to provide what we think is necessary for our children and their education,'' said Grace Reisdorf, a mother of three and an advocate for the local public schools. ''We've cut back on social activities we can do without. We don't go to movies.''
Three years ago, worsening economic conditions spurred New Hampshire voters to demand change from candidates seeking the presidency.
First, Republicans awarded insurgent Patrick Buchanan with an astonishing 37 percent of the vote in his challenge to President George Bush, weakening Bush's hold on the White House. Then, voters in the general election added to a nationwide call for new leadership by giving Bill Clinton a narrow statewide victory.
At the time, the campaign mantra among Clinton staffers was, ''It's the economy, stupid.'' Today, worries about the economy here not only continue to abound, but appear to run deeper than in the past.
For hanging over the day-to-day financial worries of Derry residents is a sense that the American dream -- a single-family home and a secure job -- may soon be out of reach for most ordinary citizens.
''Thank God I'm not raising a child in this country today, with the way things are,'' said Bette Brennen, a 70-year-old retiree who worries about her grandchildren and her own ability to meet the financial demands of a serious illness.
''You look at the economy, the job market and the crime rate and
you ask
yourself, 'What kind of life are we sending our children into?' '' said Henry
Funke, a 53-year-old mechanical engineer.
In numerous visits to New Hampshire, leading Republican contenders have touted their support for a balanced federal budget, changes in the nation's welfare system and new curbs on legal and illegal immigration.
But Derry residents in the Globe survey, drawing a distinction between their personal concerns and those of the nation, said the country's most pressing problems are crime, insufficient attention to the needs of children, illegal drugs, and the low quality of public education.
In the poll, conducted for the Globe, WBUR-FM, WABU-TV and New Hampshire's WNBU-TV, 43 percent said high taxes are the biggest problem facing their families. Making ends meet generally was ranked as the most serious problem by 23 percent, while high prices were cited by 12 percent and unemployment and low-paying jobs by eight percent.
On the most serious national concerns, 70 percent agreed that crime is one of the most important problems; 69 percent said children not getting enough attention; 64 percent cited the quality of public schools; and 62 percent said drugs.
Other national problems ranked as among the ''most important'' by more than 50 percent of those polled included high taxes, the loss of business and jobs to foreign countries; families not staying together; and the way government and the political system are working.
Overall, Derry residents seem somewhat more optimistic about the way things are going in the country than their counterparts across the nation, though most believe things are going badly. According to the poll, 63 percent of Derry is dissatisfied with national trends, while 74 percent nationwide are dissatisfied.
A key indicator that Derry feels the American dream is fading is that 53 percent of its residents are ''very concerned'' that their children will not have good job opportunities. Only 15 percent said they are not too concerned or not at all concerned about job prospects for their children.
The poll, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates of Princeton, N.J., also revealed deep skepticism about government. Although most Derry residents said local and state government is generally effective, 70 percent agreed with the statement that ''government is almost always wasteful and inefficient.''
Derry remains unimpressed with the Clinton administration and the GOP Congress. Less than half of those polled think President Clinton is at least somewhat effective in getting things done, while only 50 percent feel that way about Congress. Moreover, 72 percent said the new Congress is no more responsive to ordinary citizens' concerns than the previous Congress.
Class divisions and the populist themes voiced by third party advocate Ross Perot also were strongly reflected in the survey. For example, 79 percent of Derry residents agreed that ''government does more for the wealthy than it does for the middle class.''
However, poll results also show that part of the displeasure with government voiced by Derry residents stems not from a philosophical aversion to government per se, but from a sense that government has confused the nation's rightful priorities.
''It seems so often that when changes are made the meat is thrown away and the fat is kept,'' said Funke.
In the survey, 70 percent said they would approve of reducing the US role in foreign affairs while 61 percent said they favored further reductions in defense spending. Yet 74 percent said the government should be doing more to ensure that all Americans have some form of health insurance and 68 percent said the government should do more to fight cancer, AIDS and other diseases.
Underscoring a nationwide alienation from government, participants in the focus group said they doubt their views about government are being heard by those in Congress, or by the presidential candidates.
''They're just out there for whoever gives them the most money,'' DeSisto said.
Repeatedly, those in the focus group said they believe large financial contributors to political campaigns have pushed average Americans out of the process.
''There's really very little input that we have,'' said Funke.
''There's
a feeling that there's a machine that gives us limited choices in who we vote
for.''
In a further sign of volatility among voters here, no one in the group said they had settled on a candidate for the White House. One participant said she would consider, however reluctantly, voting for Clinton's reelection. And no one mentioned Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, who is considered the front-runner among 10 Republicans vying for the GOP nomination.
When asked to list the qualities that will determine which candidate wins their vote, some participants said they are searching for someone who will consider the greater good of the country over special interests.
Similarly, others said they hope for a candidate capable of uniting the nation's many disparate factions -- ''someone who could bring us all together in that figurative living room and say we do have so much in common,'' said Virginia Mason, 43, a mother and part-time student.
Kathy Harkins, a homemaker, said she's looking for a candidate ''who we can be proud of, and who shows good moral character.''
The gathering did reveal a measure of sympathy for those now serving in the federal government. ''If we were down there [in Washington] we'd have a pretty hard time coming to consensus about Medicare and some of these other things,'' said Rev. Grove Armstrong, a 63-year-old Congregational minister.
And some said they remain optimistic about the country's long-term
future
-- even if they're dismayed with the present. ''Somewhere along the line
someone is going to figure out how to make things work,'' Reisdorf said. ''It
may be one of our kids in school right now.''