Last week in New Hampshire it was Barack Obama, Dennis Kucinich, and Hillary Clinton, this week it's Hillary, Kucinich, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, and Connecticut U.S. Senator Chris Dodd.
I see a trend here. Between now and next January we can expect almost weekly visits from Presidential candidates of both political parties, and eventually daily ones. The masses of national and even international media traveling with them want to get special stories however they can, unique perspective whenever they can, and they'll be trying their best to catch an unguarded moment wherever they can.
I have been struck in both the cases of Barack and HIllary, so far, that we haven't really seen them without their professional controllers around them. Yet. I think we've seen more of the "natural" Barack than of Hillary, but both seem to be a bit surrounded by their consultants and quite holding to their script. New Hampshire has a way of changing that, though. We'll see them all in those unguarded moments mighty soon.
But for now, they're well-managed. You see it in their words, and in their venues. Nevertheless, we are seeing some different ways of doing things.
Hillary's visit (for disclosure purposes, I'm supporting her) was especially interesting last weekend. She did something most Presidential candidates don't do: she went to the North Country, really beginning her New Hampshire campaign there. She spent over an hour talking with almost 1,000 Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and just the curious, in Berlin in a sort-of "town-hall" meeting. Barack did sort-of the same at the University of New Hampshire, though his audience at the Field House was more like 2,500.
I say "sort-of" because their "town-hall" meetings weren't much more than quickie introductory speeches, then questions and answers. Nothing wrong with that, but that's not what real New Hampshire-style town-hall meetings are all about. I expect they will try new formats sometime soon, though. Both are developing intelligent campaigns.
I thought the Berlin even for Hillary and the Durham event for Barack were smart ideas. For Obama, he was motivating young people at a college who will serve as a core of his growing support. Clinton was reaching out for a segment of New Hampshire Democrats up north who often are viewed as living in Canada. Their votes count every bit as much as those in Durham and Portsmouth and Nashua and Manchester.
Hillary has a tough job to do this weekend as she visits Dover: while Democrats in Congress are speaking out against Iraq and the mistake that war is to many voters, how can she continue to say her vote in favor of the resolution authorizing the President's invasion of Iraq in 2002 was anything but a mistake?
An even tougher job for Hillary is explaining her seeming cheerleading of the President's action after Baghdad fell, and after Saddam was captured a few months later. Hard to explain, and she's got to do so -- we've seen her on video tape. She can't be a surrogate of George W. Bush of the Democratic Party in the NH First-In-The-Nation Presidential Primary while Barack and others take on the war.
In politics, 24 hours is a long time -- close to the election. Right now, Hillary and Barack [and all the others] have time to adjust their messages. Each is exciting, and either can get traction. To do so, they're best advised to put the polls and consultant-written statements aside, and just be themselves: because eventually that's what we're going to see. That's campaigning New Hampshire style.
Posted by Jim Splaine at 09:12 PM| Permalink
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