As it became clear that Robert J. Dole was going to finish second in February's New Hampshire primary, the Kansas senator, who will soon vacate his seat, collected himself and approached the microphone at his Manchester campaign headquarters.

Trying to remain optimistic, Dole looked out at the throng and said, "You know why they call this the Granite State...because it is so hard to crack."

Dole's stunning defeat in New Hampshire to conservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan was the major surprise in a presidential primary season which was over before the middle of March.

Buchanan's protectionist and anticorporate message resonated well in New Hampshire, a state still hurting from the recession of the late 1980s and traditionally leery of the federal government.

Buchanan captured 27 percent of the vote in New Hampshire, while Dole finished a close second with 26 percent.

"This is a victory for a brand new, bold conservatism in politics...giving a voice to the voiceless," Buchanan told his supporters on primary night in Manchester. "It is a conservatism that looks out for the men and women of this country whose jobs have been sacrificed."

As Buchanan left that night to campaign in South Carolina, Harvard Republicans joined their national counterparts in dropping their collective jaws at the prospect of the former host of CNN's Crossfire winning the Republican nomination.

"Many of his ideas are not in tune with those of Newt Gingrich and many of the mainstream Republicans," said David S. DeSimone '98, vice president of the Harvard Republican Club. "Buchanan's economic policy is a protectionist policy, isolationist in nature, and that's not a part of the Republican Party."

Buchanan and his cadre of followers would never again achieve the level of success they did that cold February night in New Hampshire.

As the campaign moved south and west, the Buchanan message found fewer supporters. The Dole campaign surged to the front, brushing back the red and black plaid shirts of former Tennessee gov. Lamar Alexander and the flat-tax proposal of millionaire publisher Malcolm S. "Steve" Forbes.

The Yankee Primary

On the road to the Republican nomination, Dole came to New England on the first Tuesday in March to compete in the first-ever Yankee Primary. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine all held primaries on the same day to choose delegates to the national party conventions.

Regional political observers say the Yankee Primary was intended to assert New England's influence on the national nominating process.

"Originally, we were on March 12, Super Tuesday, and we thought Massachusetts would get lost," said Jack McCarthy, chief of staff to Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin. "It made sense for us to regionalize. A lot of issues were the same, and we could have the candidates talk about what we were interested in."

All of the major candidates spent some time in the region leading up to the March 5 Yankee Primary.

In Massachusetts, Alexander held a rally in front of Faneuil Hall, Dole visited the Boston area and Buchanan held a controversial rally on historic Lexington Green.

On Yankee Primary night, Dole easily won each of the New England primaries and inched closer to the Republican nomination.

"The Republicans in Massachusetts--joining Republicans from every corner of the country--have sent a powerful message. Bob Dole will be the nominee of the Republican Party," said Bay State Lt. Gov. A. Paul Cellucci on primary night in downtown Boston.

In the Bay State, Dole finished with 48 percent of the vote, easily outdistancing second-place Buchanan, who garnered 25 percent.

But Dole and the other Republican challengers did not electrify collegiate Republicans here at Harvard or around the Bay State.

On Yankee Primary day, the turnout in the precincts around Harvard was a dismal five to seven percent.

"I think there's lack of that real energizing candidate," said Harvard Republican Club member Steven F. Sakis '98.

After the New England primaries, Dole turned his attention to the bigger prizes of New York and California and claimed the national nomination several weeks later.

Residents of the Bay State, however, may have seen the last of Dole. His campaign advisers will almost assuredly convince him that he has little chance in November in this bastion of the Democratic Party, making campaigning here virtually useless.

A Heated Senate Race

While the presidential race may not be close in Massachusetts, this year's Senate race in the Bay State is shaping up to be as intense as a Yankees-Red Sox series during a late September pennant race.

In an election where one-third of the Senate seats are up for grabs, the battle between Democratic junior senator John F. Kerry and present Gov. William F. Weld '66 is the most high-profile race in the country.

A Weld win here would cement the Republican hold on the Senate and add credence to the belief that even in this traditional Democratic stronghold, conservatism is on the rise.

Weld, a former Adams House resident, has been remarkably popular as a Republican governor in the Bay State, easily winning re-election against his Democratic challenger in 1994.

The governor is known for blending social liberalism--he is prochoice and is unwavering in his support for gay rights--with a tough fiscal conservatism, advocating tax cuts and an overhaul of the welfare system.

In the early days of the race, Kerry, buoyed by his recent marriage to multi-millionaire Theresa Heinz, the heir of the Heinz ketchup fortune, easily out-spent Weld and jumped to the early lead.

However, during the last couple of months, Weld has climbed back into the race and has matched his opponent's fundraising.

The two have planned a series of debates running through the summer and into the fall.

The first, held April 8 at Faneuil Hall, saw sparks fly between the two politicians. Kerry, himself a Yale graduate, jumped on the offensive early and attacked Weld's plan to overhaul the welfare system.

"You spend more time beating up on welfare recipients than you do on finding plans to cover them," Kerry said.

The candidates also sparred over the death penalty, with Weld supporting the measure and Kerry opposing it.

"Kerry voted against the death penalty for cop killers," Weld said.

The two candidates contended again this week and will continue to debate throughout the summer as each vies for the chance to represent Massachusetts in the Senate.

--David L. Greene, Adam M. Kleinbaum, William E. Rehling, Chana R. Schoenberger and Flora Tartakovsky contributed to the reporting of this story.