KEENE, N.H. — Republican presidential hopefuls fanned out Saturday across the first primary state of New Hampshire to test the political waters on the eve an unofficial kickoff of the 1996 campaign.
Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the GOP's apparent front-runner, used several "town meetings" to answer questions and ease concerns that at age 71 he is too old to win the White House.
"If you think age is an issue, then you just follow me around for a day," the Kansan told supporters in Keene.
Dole is one of nine likely Republican candidates scheduled to speak today at a party fund-raiser in Manchester. The gathering is being billed as the unofficial kickoff of the 1996 presidential campaign.
