TOWNER - Helen Carpenter says she has always voted for a Democrat for president, as far back as Franklin Roosevelt.

This time, the 89-year-old widow is not sure.

Carpenter, who works at a tree nursery in Towner, a town of about 1,000, says the Iraq war has taken priority this year over such issues as Medicare and Social Security.

Neither President Bush nor his Democratic rival, John Kerry, has made a strong enough pitch for the president's job, or for ending the war in Iraq, Carpenter said recently, as she boxed seedlings for shipment to Minnesota.

"A day hasn't gone by that I haven't given it a lot of thought. But I still don't know which way to vote," Carpenter said.

"I don't think Bush has been honest about a lot of things," she said. "And Kerry, I've got a lot of reservations about him, too."

North central North Dakota is a farming area, where cattle and hay bales dot the countryside. The towns are small, and are struggling to survive. The people who live there, many of them senior citizens, still wave when newcomers drive through.

Lifelong North Dakotans like Fred Scwab, 77, of Velva, say they can't remember a presidential candidate ever coming through their part of the state. Candidates are more likely to stop in Fargo, the state's largest city, if they come to North Dakota at all.

"Nobody ever wants to come here because we've only got three electoral votes," Scwab said. "But it doesn't matter - everyone around here votes because they can't stand not to vote."

Carpenter had six brothers who served during World War II, and a son that fought in Vietnam.

"I can't see why so many lives are being lost in Iraq. But we're in so deep now, I don't think we can leave," she said. "If someone new steps in there, where do they begin?"

John Suchor, 84, of Denbigh, said he supported Bush for sending troops to Afghanistan, but changed his mind about the president when Americans entered Iraq.

"I don't think much about his decision to go into Iraq," said Suchor, a World War II Army veteran who fought in Italy and North Africa. "I don't see anything good that will come from it."

Scwab, a retired mechanic from Velva, believes Bush is doing a good job, and he supports the war in Iraq.

"I'm a die-hard Republican when it comes to the presidential race," he said.

North Dakota has solidly voted Republican for president since Richard Nixon was elected in 1968. George W. Bush won the state's three electoral votes in 2000 with 61 percent of the popular vote.

Scwab, like the majority of North Dakota voters in recent years, also supports the three Democrats who make up the state's congressional delegation.

"They do a good job. But for president, we just can't have a Democrat," Scwab said. "The other reason I'm not voting for Kerry is because of his wife. I like her ketchup but I can't stand her."

Teresa Heinz Kerry is known for speaking her mind, something supporters find refreshing but others find uncomfortable.

Leonard Bubach, 80, of Towner, said he's voted for both Republican and Democratic candidates for president over the years.

Bubach, a former school superintendent, said he has a son serving with the North Dakota National Guard in Iraq.

"I supported Bush in Afghanistan, but we have no business being over there in Iraq. I don't think Bush is doing anything for our nation," he said.

Bubach said his family will divide their votes: he and one son plan to vote for Kerry while two other sons will vote for Bush.

"All three of my daughters are for Kerry, but their husbands are canceling out their votes with votes for Bush," Bubach said. "My wife will cast the deciding vote. She's for Kerry."

Velva farmer Jerry Johnson, 70, said he also has never missed voting in a presidential election. But this year's election offers some tough choices, he said.

"I don't like either one of them," Johnson said. He says he believes the war in Iraq is killing the economy, which is hitting him hard with higher fuel prices.

"It's none of anybody's business who I vote for, but I've pretty much made up my mind that I'm not going to vote for Bush - but it's possible that could change," Johnson said.

Clint Kriedeman, of Velva, worries mostly about medical facilities for wounded veterans when they come home.

Kriedeman, 70, is partially paralyzed after being shot several times while fighting in the Korean War. He said he has to drive more than 200 miles to Fargo to get medical services.

Kriedeman believes the war in Iraq is a mistake.

"It's just like Korea. We blew it up and then spent all this money building it back up," he said. "They're killing all of our boys over there, or they're ending up like me."

Kriedeman said he's a Democrat so he'll probably vote for Kerry, but he's not sure that would mean a big change.

"What we really need is to take Washington and the White House, and tip them upside down," Kriedeman said, "shake 'em all out and start all over."