MILAN, N.H. -- Toting a two-edged ax, Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart played woodsman Saturday on a campaign stop at a lumberjack competition in New Hampshire's rugged north country.
Hart -- dressed in a red and black lumberjack shirt, red suspenders and blue jeans -- drew cheers from about 250 spectators when he hit a wooden bullseye target on his second shot in a throwing competition with a 2 -pound ax.
At an earlier stop in Berlin three days before the New Hampshire primary Tuesday, Hart took aim at President Reagan, warning senior citizens that his military buildup threatens their Social Security benefits.
'Your problems are the problems of the Social Security system,' Hart said to about two dozen residents at a senior citizen housing complex in Berlin.
'I fundamentally believe this administration, given a second term, will escalate the arms race,' Hart said at a news conference. 'I think we will see a major effort to dismantle social programs in this country to finance (the arms race). I think they'll try to cut benefits anywhere they can.'
Hart also indirectly attacked Democratic front-runner Walter Mondale.
The Colorado senator charged that a candidate committed to special interest and 'old politics' also jeopardizes Social Security benefits.
'If you're committed to the interests to a whole set of constituency groups, those constituency groups get served first,' Hart said. 'Even the old politics of the Democratic party, I don't think, ensures that the interest of people ... will be protected in a period of economic stagnation.'
Hart also said his proposals would supply economic life to cities like Berlin, an aging industrial outpost in New Hampshire's White Mountains.
'I think the best thing a president can do for a community like this is make business policies and investment policies that stimulate real investment, instead of just cutting corporate taxes, hoping that managers will make the right decisions,' Hart said.
