Water, Water Everywhere…should I take a drink?
When Bernie talks, like many speakers and candidates on the presidential campaign trail, he has a bottle of water nearby, as in the photo above. However, that hasn’t always been the case. If we think back to early 2013, a young Marco Rubio was giving the GOP response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address and ducked off camera to get a bottle of water. Rubio’s Water Shed Moment While it is natural to need a drink while talking, the response to Rubio’s duck and drink made politicians shy away from drinking in public. Bernie wasn’t outside of this reaction.
Back in September, Bernie marched in the Labor Day parade in Milford, NH. It was a clear sunny day and the temperature was 95˚+. It was hot, hot, hot. Lindsay Graham was there, Carly Fiorino was there, John Kasich was there…all were there with their supporters to woo the support of Milford voters and everyone was sweating. I was there, too. And yes, the pavement was hot. I was thirsty. I noticed that Bernie wasn’t drinking even in this extreme heat. As I was taking photos of Bernie, I asked his security person if Bernie was hydrating…”No, he doesn’t want to be seen as weak not being able to handle the heat,” was his reply. So, I saw Phil Fiermonte, Bernie’s “long time campaign manager” on the other side of the street; I went over to him and asked if Bernie was going to drink. He gave me the same line trying to scoff at me like “we have this under control…don’t worry, old fella.” So, being a former school teacher and administrator got my means business face and voice in gear and I looked him right in the face and said…”If Bernie passes out from heat exhaustion and is laying on the pavement all of you can pack up and go home cause the campaign will be over.” He looked at me…eyes wide…grabbed a bottle of water, walked over to Bernie and had him drink. Since then Bernie hasn’t been without a water bottle.
It hasn’t been a smooth transition to treating this 74 year old candidate appropriately. With so many young staffers around, none knowing what it means or is like to be 74, they struggled to help Bernie appropriately. Two weeks after the Milford parade, at the NH Democratic State Convention in Manchester, I noticed that an aide brought a water bottle out and put it on the floor next to the rostrum where Bernie was going to speak shortly. However, it was a 2 liter bottle…HUGE! and on the floor. Bernie came out to give his talk. After a few minutes of talking he wanted a drink and bent over to get the bottle at his feet…fumbled with this 2 liter bottle and finally didn’t drink and looked disgusted and continued his talk without the benefit of a moist mouth.
His staff was asking the candidate, trying to look Presidential, to bend over, pick up a large water bottle at his feet, take off the cap and drink out of it without spilling and put it back down and keep the attention of his audience. Even the most youthful candidate couldn’t do that gracefully. That night when I got home I emailed my contact at the Sander’s campaign, Nick Carter, and told him about the incident. He emailed me back saying that he had passed the info along to the appropriate staff and they will get on top of it. Since then, Bernie has had his water, at table height, in a smaller bottle and no one is condemning him for having a swig. In Keene on Tuesday, there was a reasonable size bottle of water in the rostrum. Bernie without shame took it out and placed it on the top of the rostrum for all to see and marvel at.
So, the long and the short of it is…if Bernie wins or however far he gets in the whole process of running for the most important job in the world…he will have me to thank for getting him water when he needs it. I wonder if that guarantees me an invite to the inauguration?
Governor John Kasich of Ohio has been getting a lot attention recently from the newspapers of New Hampshire; six of the seven dailies in New Hampshire are endorsing the governor for the GOP nomination. The Boston Globe also has thrown its pages in Kasich’s direction and yesterday, The New York Times joined that band of supporters. Does it matter? Do papers carry the same sway they used to, if they ever did? One thing in the gov’s favor is that newspapers don’t have to respond instantly to every new utterance from a candidate to make a comment or an endorsement. Papers have the luxury of thinking about what they say before they say it. Editorial boards sit around and have discussions about the merits of the various candidates before announcing their support for a particular candidate. Kasich has had the good fortune of coming out on top of those discussions. The voters don’t get their news from the papers as they once did and TV and radio stations aren’t known for endorsing candidates in primaries, not that they don’t tilt the news in one direction or another. When voters actually take the time to do some reflective thinking like newspaper editors, will they bend toward Kasich? We will soon see.
Last week I was having dinner with my son and his boyfriend, Craig when, amazingly, our discussion turned to politics. Craig, an avid Hillary supporter and knowing my heart belongs to Bernie, began making light of and belittling Bernie’s campaign and particularly attacking his hand gestures. Naturally, I took umbrage. Yesterday, my friend Joe and I went to see Bernie in Peterborough, NH, just ten miles down the road. Sitting in the front row we had a clear view of the man and his gestures. Successful politicians often have unique and identifiable gestures: Bill Clinton always laid his thumb in his index finger to make a point, JFK often stuck his hand in his suit coat pocket with the thumb sticking out. Some of these gestures look like they came from campaign consultants rather than a natural inclination of the candidate. Bernie often talks with his hands. While at first one might find his hand motions an interesting trait, one soon realizes that this is Bernie. His hands punctuate his passion about his ideas. No one can question Bernie’s passion about his ideas: income inequality, equal pay for equal work, campaign finance reform, free tuition at public colleges, living wages, addressing climate destruction, medicare for all, healthcare reform, reforming Wall Street…
“One last question” and Ted stepped away from the reporters and stood next to me. The media crowd filed into the hall where there were about 100 people waiting to hear Rafael. I was pleased to see there was room to move around, thus knowing I would probably get some good photos. I positioned myself just outside the kitchen door to get a photo of the candidate coming into the room. There he was poised to tell these people why he should be the next most powerful leader in the world, standing in a camp kitchen in rural New Hampshire. A flood of thoughts came over me. But looking at him, and him looking at me, as I was the first person closest to the door, I was struck by how shy he looked. “Will they like me?” “Will they understand me?” “What am I doing here?” 
He entered the room, waving before he was introduced and then people finally seeing him acknowledged his presence with applause. Ted, smiling awkwardly, entered the room and shook hands with people along the aisle: sort of engaging them, but not really. He doesn’t seem to smile easily and often looks ill-at-ease when he does so. He finally made it to the platform and looked relieved to be there in his domain. 
His opening line: “I am so happy to be here in Washington…New Hampshire rather than Washington DC.” And based on a few chuckles among the gathered Ted launched into his 40 minute talk which sounds a bit like the creation of the world. “On my first day in office I will repeal everyone of President Obama’s illegal executive orders…and reverse the persecution of religious groups (and several other items) and that’s on my first day” “and in coming days, I will…rebuild the military” “and in coming days, I will…ban Common Core…” And on and on it went until the world was made whole again. Once that was accomplished he then took questions from the audience. There were the usual questions one hears…how will you protect our 2nd Amendment rights? how will you protect Christians in other countries who are being persecuted? What will you do to protect our borders?… It was about this time I decided to leave to get to the Trump event. As I was heading out through the parking lot to my car, two police officers smiled as I approached and said, “should we assume that you didn’t like what you were hearing?” “No, I’ve heard it all before.” And with that I was gone.
Mike Munhall Photos 