NH
All posts tagged NH
New Hampshire Democrats met in Manchester this weekend. Bernie got a lot of cheering, Mayor Pete had some enthusiastic support and the others, except John Delaney, had good receptions, but it was Elizabeth Warren who brought down the house. She couldn’t begin speaking for over five minutes as the delegates kept cheering…loudly. Talking with a guy selling political buttons, he said he had sold Warren buttons 10 to 1 over anyone else. She’s on a roll.
Senior captain, Noah Bell, rises out of the fog.
In honor of senior German exchange student, Luca Haufler, “Deutschlandlied,” the German national anthem was played prior to “The Star Spangled Banner.”
The night was dedicated to the five graduating seniors of the team: Noah Bell, Luca Haufler, Cameron Merwede, Caleb Putman and Nile Hertzler.
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?
Tuesday, the day after his virtual tie in Iowa with Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders did a tour of New Hampshire. Here are photos of his stop in Keene. This young man and his brother (in the Panama hat) became celebrities to the media at the Colonial Theater whilst they waited for Bernie to appear.
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.
The governor was in Peterborough last evening to address local citizens. A reflective thinker couldn’t come away from that meeting without considering John Kasich to be a very plausible candidate. Very much a Republican, he is also a problem solver. Contrasting him against the other GOP candidates he is the only one that I have heard discuss how everyone in DC will have to work together in order to solve some of the massive problems facing the nation. Kasich has a very successful record in Ohio…will the GOP primary voters listen? Do they want solutions? Do they care? I don’t think the Democratic National Committee wants to see a Kasich/Clinton or Kasich/Sanders campaign. If I were a Republican, I would vote Kasich next week.
This morning I was listening to NPR’s Diane Rehm Show when they were discussing the difference between Hillary’s and Bernie’s events. “the feel in Hillary’s events is one of obligation whereas in Bernie’s events you get a sense of passion.” Bernie isn’t about fluff, he is about substance, ideas, the future, helping middle America and people who go to his events are there because they too see many things in the country that need changing and are looking to this new face to lead those chose changes. These photos were taken in Peterborough, New Hampshire yesterday.
Today I received an email from the Hillary campaign which to me demonstrates the passion with which Bernie supporters see him.
“Michael —
There’s something that’s been keeping me up at night lately: Every national poll of this election shows that we have significantly more supporters than Bernie Sanders does, but way more of his supporters are stepping up and donating to his campaign.
That may have been OK in the run-up to voting, but we’re down to the wire here, and it’s time for everyone to step up.
If you’re with Hillary, can you chip in $1 to show it today? With the polls this close, there’s never been a more important time:”
Bernie’s supporters are WAY MORE stepping up and donating…putting their money where there heart is.
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…
Craig’s comments about Bernie and his gestures reminded me of what candidates often do when they feel threatened; instead of arguing the issues, they make personal attacks on their opponent. In latest New Hampshire poll, Bernie is ahead of Hillary by 21% points. Hillary and her supporters are panicking and they too are beginning to not ignore Bernie any longer but attacking him, often personally…sorry Craig but you might want to try feeling the Bern.
Mike Munhall Photos 