Wilson Finds Some Blessing in Obscurity : Politics: Many people he meets in visit to New Hampshire barely know him, so his campaign’s financial and staff troubles are not on their minds.

The money woes plaguing Gov. Pete Wilson’s presidential bid, the shake-up among his campaign’s leadership ranks, the expected layoffs of other staff members--none of this meant much to Sandra Ellis, a bus driver who was walking out of state police headquarters here Friday as Wilson was walking in.

“I really don’t know anything about Pete Wilson, his finances or anything else,” she said. “His name rings a bell, but I wouldn’t know him if he walked by me right now.”

And she didn’t.

The governor’s mini-entourage arrived at the first campaign stop of the day, a place chosen to play up Wilson’s crime-fighting message, and Ellis could not have picked Wilson from the suited California Highway Patrol officers in his security detail.

In this, the most chaotic week of his short presidential campaign, with two longtime aides quitting in the wake of a campaign debt reported to exceed $1 million, Wilson found that obscurity had its blessings during a two-day swing in New Hampshire, site of the nation’s first primary next year.

The bulk of those he came across barely knew him, never mind his campaign’s financial and staffing woes.

“I don’t know about any problems he’s having,” said Don McCloud, a real estate agent who shook Wilson’s hand at a diner in the nearby city of Keene. “But I don’t know all that much about him in general. As far as I’m concerned, he’s starting from the ground level here.”

Not everyone was so accommodating.

“Are you dropping out? Are you dropping out?” a local radio reporter yelled at one stop on Thursday, thrusting his microphone at the governor’s throat. A television reporter was just as blunt: “Is it true that you’re out of money and laying off most of your staff?”

After a brief hesitation, Wilson dismissed the problems afflicting his campaign as mere bumps in the road that he will overcome. He insisted that his effort in New Hampshire “is just beginning.” And he found solace in friendly settings such as the historic Bedford Village Inn.

As he sashayed around the breakfast table there shaking hands, supporters greeted him warmly. And the first question for him concerned his position on illegal immigration, not his campaign’s turmoil.

Wilson and his staff clearly were buoyed by the chance to focus on direct contact with voters. The fact that few knew him did not dampen their spirits.

“The beauty of New Hampshire is that it’s both geographically compact . . . and there seems to be a great curiosity” about presidential candidates, Wilson said.

As the candidate campaigned Friday in Keene, Brian Grip, Wilson’s New Hampshire campaign director, said he was not after snap decisions from the people the candidate encountered.

“Obviously, it’s impossible to shake everyone’s hand, but everyone who met him is going to spread the word that the governor was meeting with real people at Liddy’s Diner or walking down Main Street,” he said.

Florence Goodnow was one of those “real people.” She was having lunch with her son when the small diner filled up with outsiders wearing suits. By the time Wilson got to her table, Goodnow was ready with arm outstretched.

“You’re a long way from home,” she said, tipped off as to his home state.

“I must say that everybody is making me feel real welcome here,” Wilson responded.

The conversation was over that quick, but Goodnow was impressed.

“It shows that they care if they come in here and shake hands with average people like us,” she said. “I don’t know anything about him and can’t say whether I’ll vote for him, but he did come in here and shake my 73-year-old hand.”