McCain backers ponder future

Arizona senator pulls out of the presidential race, his supporters aren't enthusiastic about their alternatives. With the ``Straight Talk Express'' sitting in

Thursday, March 9th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Arizona senator pulls out of the presidential race, his supporters aren't enthusiastic about their alternatives.

With the ``Straight Talk Express'' sitting in a parking lot somewhere and John McCain holed up in Arizona contemplating a bleak future, his backers in Rhode Island mourned the maverick senator's Super Tuesday primary losses and reluctantly began sizing up the establishment candidates.

Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont were the only states to give McCain victories in Tuesday's coast-to-coast, 16-state Republican sweepstakes. Texas Gov. George W. Bush took the rest, including the big prizes of California and New York, forcing McCain to reevaluate his candidacy.

McCain's New England strength, mirroring his Feb. 1 New Hampshire victory, came from independents, crossover Democrats and moderate Republicans -- voters who swelled GOP primary turnouts and who will prove crucial to the fortunes of Bush or Democratic Vice President Al Gore in the November election.

As Bush and Gore set about courting these voters, McCain's supporters in Rhode Island appeared ready yesterday to break every which way.

One of the few things they have in common: none is particularly enthusiastic about Bush or Gore. McCainiacs, as they sometimes call themselves, are an impassioned bunch who believe strongly in the former Vietnam POW's calls for political reform and honest politics.

``Probably like a lot of McCain supporters, he was the man and that was it,'' said Gloria Melucci, of Lincoln, a Democrat who voted for McCain Tuesday. ``There's probably not a very good second choice for us.''

``But being a Democrat,'' she added, ``I'll probably go back to being a Democrat in the fall. I honestly can't go for Bush. I've got to look at Gore.''

A recent Brown University poll of Rhode Island voters said McCain would beat Gore here. But it also found that Gore would beat Bush, which suggests Gore is the most popular second choice among McCain voters.

The possible post-McCain scenarios leave retired Coast Guard Capt. S.G. ``Vet'' Payne cold. The chairman of the Rhode Island McCain Patriots, Payne, of East Greenwich, said there is no way he will vote for either Bush or Gore.

``Quite frankly,'' he said. ``I don't think Bush is the type of Republican that the Republican Party needs or should cherish.

``I'll write in McCain's name on the ballot in November.''

Some said yesterday that they would wait and see who emerges as a third-party candidate, be it Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan -- or perhaps McCain. Another possibility is that voters will simply tune out and not vote, especially if the battle between Gore and Bush turns negative, as expected.

``There is a large block of unaffiliated people out there who want to align with a non-polarizing candidate,'' said state Rep. Richard Fleury, R-West Warwick, who backed McCain. ``My concern is George W. Bush will not be as strong a candidate as Vice President Al Gore. I have my doubts whether Bush can hold on to that big middle.''

Thomas Lahey, an unaffiliated voter and McCain volunteer, is a retired Navy master chief who had a 43-year career. Among other things, the Middletown man served aboard a destroyer that was attacked by a Japanese kamikaze in World War II. Lahey said that, if McCain quits, he will cast his lot with Bush.

``That's to preserve us from Gore,'' said Lahey. ``By refusing to help [Bush], I'd be giving Gore support indirectly.''

Gore, he said, is ``dumb, a liar, or a dumb liar.''

Megan Motherway, a registered Republican who runs her own financial services firm in Newport, offered to throw a fundraiser clambake on the lawn of her Ocean Avenue house this summer for McCain. She never actively participated in a campaign before, but was inspired by the Arizona senator and sent an e-mail to his Rhode Island organization.

Motherway said she is reluctant to vote for Bush now because of his harsh attacks on McCain and by the New York Republican Party's efforts to keep McCain off the ballot in that state.

``And I think Bush is much too weak,'' she said, ``more like a frat-boy who needs his buddies to support him and he doesn't have the necessary experience.

``If I had the opportunity to vote for Alan Keyes, I would,'' Motherway said. ``He is consistently correct on his historical facts. He's eloquent. He should be the vice president, at the very least.''