The final campaign event for Marra and me was the Hillary Town Hall meeting in Salem, New Hampshire. Doors were scheduled to open at 5 PM, with Hillary hitting the stage at 5:30. We snacked in the car on the way, because we knew that 5:30 meant 6:15, and dinner would be late into the evening for us. Salem reminded me of Exeter, where we saw Giuliani two days prior, but 50 years into the future. There was the same small town feel, but the amenities had been upgraded. I might have seen a 7-11 or a chain grocery store on the way. We found the high school without incident. I did not break the news to Marra yet that I had not mapped our route back to Manchester before leaving the hotel earlier in the day. I'll save that tidbit for later.
There were students in team sweatshirts milling about the main entrance waiting for their parents to pick them up now that their after school sports practices had ended. They did not seem interested in the growing throng of people headed inside. Top tier candidate in town? Just another day in Salem, NH. But the crowd was growing quickly and it was barely 5 PM.
Inside, it was a controlled mob scene. All the voices were magnified by the cinder block walls and hard floors. The doors to the gymnasium were shut tight, and the line began there. At least there was a line this time. The people snaked toward us at the main entrance then broke left down one of the corridors. We followed the line past at least 10 classroom doors before finding the end. I estimated there were 200 rabid Democrats there already. Marra was starting to go negative at the prospect of another long wait. But I had our "Go to the Front of the Line" card in my pocket from Sarah Nolan, Clinton's NH Political Director. Time to test her clout.
I convinced Marra to stand in line and hold a place for us, just in case this hall pass didn't work. I thought for a moment that having her sad face with me might help the cause, garner some sympathy, but I couldn't stand the thought of ending up even further back in the line. I had to have an insurance policy. Marra would have to wait.
Up at the front of the line, I recognized one of the event coordinators from the policy speech this morning. She was a beautiful Asian woman, maybe early 20s, totally in control of the situation, walkie talkie working at full capacity. She was giving instructions to about 5 volunteers on their assignments for the evening. During her hallway huddle, she was interrupted 3 times with questions, answered them without a hint of hesitation, and returned her attention to her recruits. This woman has a career ahead of her in this business. Once instructions were handed out, I jumped in and introduced myself. I played the insider angle immediately.
"We were just with Sarah Nolan at the house party and she said that if I mentioned her name and showed her card, my daughter and I could be seated up front. Can you help me with this?" I could tell by the look on her face that Sarah was a somebody, somebody with power, someone not to be disappointed. This was going to work.
"Let me introduce you to her boss, and he'll take care of you." She whisked me over to Colin, in his blue blazer and what appeared to be a white dickie under his blue oxford. Preppies for Hillary, I thought. Another constituency to worry about. Colin was clearly in charge, because he did not seem to have as much to do as the other staffers running around. I even saw the campaign workers that we had met Monday and again this morning, and this time they were engaged in actual work. No donuts in sight. Good to see. Perhaps the Senator lit a fire under them this morning.
Colin was very gracious and right to the point. "No problem, you'll have seats in the front row, just to the right of the stage. We will place a sign on two seats that say "Reserved for Joe', and those will be for you and your daughter. Will that work?"
Yeah, that will work.
I returned to save Marra from the line people and deliver the good news. It was like waking her on Christmas morning and walking her down the stairs to a shiny new bicycle. "Marra, did I tell you I'd take care of it or did I tell you I'd take care of it!" There is nothing quite like the feeling of leaving the masses behind as you glide to the front of the line. Now if there was a VIP reception before hand, that would have been pretty good, too. Oh well, Marra was happy again, and assuming we didn't get lost driving home, I felt confident that the rest of the trip was a "slam dunk".
We stayed close to the gymnasium doors and tried to blend in with the group already waiting there patiently for the doors to open. After 15 minutes of soaking in the excitement, Katie, the staffer we had met yesterday in Manchester, gestured to us to come forward, and we were allowed into the gym before anyone else (except the press). I was basking in the glow of knowing that my daughter was impressed by her dad at this moment. I was delivering on a promise. Just as Colin promised, there were two seats at the corner of the stage, front row, with signs "Reserved for Joe". We saved them as proof. We sat and relaxed as the gym filled up.
The room was cut in half by a large curtain. The bleachers were pulled out on the sides, the left side for press cameras, and right side for overflow that could not find a seat on the floor. I would guess capacity at about 500 people, but they were all behind me and Marra!
We were fortunate enough to be seated next to a Vietnam vet who was supporting and actively working for Hillary. Great for Marra to see and hear a war veteran talk about world issues and health care. Just another example of a committed New Hampshirite accepting his role in the process of choosing the nominees of the major parties. We had met some serious thinkers, and very few blindly partisan people during our stay. Except for the JFK conspiracy guy, of course.
Our entire section had to sign waivers again in case our image was used in a future Hilary commercial. We were old pros and explained the form to those around us. Several ladies behind us were intrigued that we had seen Hillary already that morning, and I dazzled them with tales of our 4 day odyssey to NH. It was fun to impress the locals with our commitment to the process. Everyone was very positive. Then one of the woman asked, "So, who do you like?"
The weight of the question caused me to hesitate. In New Hampshire, my answer to these strangers would help to form their opinions of all the possible candidates. Something I say could influence their vote on primary day. Something I say could be relayed to one of their friends, who uses my reasoning and my judgment to develop their own favorite. I could not be glib, I could not exaggerate in any way. I had to tell it as I saw it, and be sure not to leave anything out. I was helping to shape the race. Plus Marra was listening. I deliberately worked to stay neutral, to offer observations both good and bad about every candidate or campaign we encountered. With her listening, I felt like the voting booth curtain was closing behind me, but Marra was looking over my shoulder. I have been asked this question by many people since the trip, but it has never impacted me the way it did that evening.
I tried to be fair about everyone. "I thought McCain had the greatest mastery of all of the relevant issues. I thought Giuliani was extremely intelligent. I thought that Huckabee presented the clearest and most memorable message about his values and beliefs in the campaign. He had the best answer to why he should be President. I thought Kucinich was over the top with his goal of public ownership of "a lot of things". He sounded more communist than liberal. We thought that Obama had the most organized and focused campaign operation. We found Edwards to be the most passionate and the most specific about his plans. We felt that Hillary was the strongest campaigner and appeared by far the most presidential." I added that we did not see Biden, Richardson, Dodd, Paul, Thompson, Obama, Romney, Brownback, Gravel, Tancredo or Hunter. Hardly a complete view of the field in 4 days, but nonetheless, we had had many experiences upon which to base our humble opinions.
Exhale. I had voiced my opinion in New Hampshire. I was part of the decision making process now. Then Hillary made her entrance.
JS
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