Excitement flourished nationwide in recent weeks as the news spread that "Granny D"-Doris Haddock-would run for U.S. Senate for New Hampshire this November.

Granny Doris Haddock (www.grannyd.com) has been a lifelong activist, although she recently gained much notoriety for her walk across America at the age of 90 in order to spread the word about campaign finance reform. Since then, she has made several compelling speeches and promoted her new book, Walking Across America in My Ninetieth Year, also reprinted as, You're Never to Old to Raise a Little Hell.

In recent months, Granny D has been immersed in voter registration drives, taking another tour across the country-this time by car-making good on her earlier promise to lead registration drives in swing states.

Then, the only Democrat in the New Hampshire race, State Sen. Burt Cohen (D-New Castle) unexpectedly disbanded his campaign due to a campaign finance situation. Hours later, Haddock volunteered to join the race and was soon supported by the New Hampshire Democratic Party. Haddock, currently age 94, officially announced her candidacy on June 17, 2004.

"I want to represent the people, my constituents. I want to provide them universal health care and the other services they need with the tax dollars we are already spending. Instead of tax breaks for the wealthy, instead of money on bombs for Iraq, I think everyone should have health care in this country, especially young children," said Haddock in a recent interview for CommonDreams.org

What experience does Granny D bring? Haddock does not point to experience as CEO or mayor or trial attorney. However, Haddock is a grandmother who helped stop the planned use of hydrogen bombs in Alaska in 1960, saving an Inuit fishing village. Few Americans can match D's claim to have walked 3,200 miles to foster democratic dialogue nationwide, arriving in DC to be greeted by 2,200 people including dozens of members of Congress.

Signature stances by Haddock include her opposition to the Iraq war, opposition to tax cuts for the wealthy, support for working families and keeping good-paying jobs in America, and of course, campaign finance reform. Haddock also supports Representative Dennis Kucinich's (U.S. Presidential Candidate) Department of Peace proposal.

"The Iraq War was a hasty war, it was not needed. We have a world court, the United Nations, and any tyrant can be dealt with in the world court. A preemptive war is not something we should do. We can't go into war alone, but in a world court, we can do more to even prevent some of these smaller wars from happening."

The only pre-emption Granny D is interested is of any concerns people might have about her health. In her 6/17/04 press conference she asserted, "While I may struggle for the right word from time to time, I can yet string my words together somewhat better than even our current President. And, while I need glasses for some reading, I can see clearly the difference between a necessary war and an unnecessary war, and the difference between a balanced budget and a deficit."

What about her Republican challenger, the incumbent Judd Gregg who is now running for his third-term? His voting record speaks for itself:

Gregg supported the ban on partial birth abortion, the Iraqi use of force resolution, hundreds of billions in tax cuts for the wealthy, and both Iraqi supplemental spending bills-all positions which put him at odds with Haddock and most Democrats. In fairness, however, Gregg did appear to take progressive positions by voting against the privatization of Medicare and against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge last year.

Haddock's entrance into the race is fueled not only by a desire to shape better policies for Americans, but to restore faith in the democratic process, particularly among the around 50% of Americans currently not voting each Election Day.

"The problem is, and this is what I've been telling people, the poor man today has to sell his soul to run for office, or he or she has to be a millionaire. I want to change the way pubic financing is run," says Haddock.

Haddock argues that the dependence on large amounts of capital to finance all campaigns in this country is inseparable from the problems Americans face because it is this dependence that keeps good potential candidates from being able to run for office. She points out that today a campaign would have to bring in about $4000/day in order to keep up with the corporate-financed campaigns.

"Of course, we need to have some money here. We have to put at least a few commercials on television in New Hampshire when the election gets close. I will not accept any higher than $2000 per donations, though. That's the law. We'll take up to $2000, but we really prefer and need small donations," says Granny D.

It has been challenging for the Haddock for Senate Campaign to catch up on the late entry into the race, understandably. The candidate reports that she and her wonderful volunteer staff have been working like mad. As for strategy, Haddock is considering soon taking another walk before the election, this time focusing on New Hampshire.

"We have beautiful mountains here and I love spending time meeting with the people all over New Hampshire, and I need to get out some more and campaign and let the people tell me what they want to see. Judd Gregg has not been very good for the people."

Matthew Cardinale (mcardina@uci.edu) is a freelance writer, activist, and grad student at UC Irvine in sociology and democracy studies.

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