TREKKING GRANNY WINS CONVERTS; CROSS-COUNTRY WALK MAKING POINT.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

Parades, rodeos, down-home dinners, a university classroom, even a biker's bar - whatever the setting, Doris ``Granny D'' Haddock is the main draw.

Since leaving Pasadena on New Year's Day, the 89-year-old activist from New Hampshire has crossed California and much of Arizona, stopping wherever folks will listen to her stump for campaign finance reform.

Haddock is trekking to the nation's capital to generate support for a ban on unlimited, unregulated large donations in presidential and congressional races. She carries petitions for people to sign, and supporters are copying many more.

``I came out saying I wanted to create a groundswell of interest in campaign finance reform,'' she said by phone during a lunch break on U.S. 80 in southeast Arizona.

And that is exactly what she is doing, according to those who have met her.

``She's real down home. But when somebody asks her about finance reform, she drops the down-home stuff and is all business,'' said Vicki Hunt, who with her husband, Tom, hosted Haddock at their Old Town Bed & Breakfast in Peoria, Ariz.

After a long night around the dinner table, Haddock inspired Vicki Hunt by heading out the next day on another 10-mile leg of her cross-country journey. Hunt shared the experience with her high school English class.

``And some of them had heard about her. I just mentioned that she is really an example that you can make a difference,'' Vicki Hunt recalled.

Entering the Bashful Bandit bar in Tucson two weeks later, Haddock met a more rugged crowd. The patrons, though, welcomed a chat about political reform.

``Most of the customers know that issue real well. It seems like it takes too much money to get elected, and a regular person can't do that,'' said the manager of the popular establishment, who identified himself only as Kuzzton.

Haddock pulled up a stool and drank a soda, enjoying the respite inside the cool, dark bar. She posed with a biker on his Harley-Davidson before returning to the road.

``All you've got to do is be yourself and you can fit in here,'' said Kuzzton.

Arizona Common Cause members drive a van alongside Haddock, providing a rest stop for meals. New Mexico Common Cause will take over in Lordsburg, N.M.

On a particularly productive day, Haddock spoke to a University of Arizona class and joined a teach-in.

``She really turned them onto the issue. They were just blown away, I think, by an 89-year-old woman with a lot of spunk,'' said Avery Kolers, who brought Haddock to his business ethics class.

Haddock savored the opportunity and corresponds with some of the students.

``I showed them why the common man should care - that we were losing our democracy by letting corporations take over our elections,'' she recalled.

Confrontation is another approach.

Haddock couldn't get a meeting with Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz., whose vote helped kill campaign finance reform last year. Arizona Common Cause organized a press conference outside his Phoenix office, but Kyl wouldn't come out, and Haddock declined to go inside.

People want to know when she will be coming through their communities, with plenty offering lodging or meals.

Pattie Klassen worked hastily with Tombstone leaders to arrange a reception. ``I had seen her on television. I never dreamed that she would come through here.''

Many won't forget her.

Vicki Hunt tracks Haddock's progress on the Common Cause Web site every few days.

``There's something that just makes you adopt her.''

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Map: Doris ``Granny D'' Haddock has progressed past Tombstone.