Nothing Happens

Hillary's policy address ended at lunchtime, so we walked to a nearby Subway for sandwiches and a debrief. It was another picture perfect day of New England fall weather, not a cloud in the sky, making for a nice walk to Jared's Place. Our excitement over the face-to-face encounter with the former First Lady was tempered only by our inability to get called on for a question - again. We tried. We sat up front, raised our hands respectfully, and tried to play the "ask a little girl a question" card. We were disappointed to be passed over time and again, but convinced ourselves that we looked too intimidating and knowledgeable to be recognized for a question by the candidate. Maybe it's because we hadn't been planted...

We had two questions ready:

"Senator, the Senate recently voted on a non-binding resolution declaring the state army of Iran to be a terrorist organization. Sen. Edwards believes a "no" vote would have been correct because Pres. Bush will use this vote as a pretext to continue the drumbeat toward unilateral military action in the name of the "War on Terror". Sen. Obama did not vote, and his camp is saying that non-binding resolutions are political only, and we should be focused on the issues, not political posturing. You voted "yes". Can you explain your vote, and tell us what is wrong with your opponents' viewpoints?" (side note: this was all before Clinton's Iran stand was making headlines in the campaign - we were actually ahead of the curve on this one!)

Our second question is the same one we had for Edwards - what are your plans to simplify the tax code? (You'll have to read old posting for that one in its entirety, I am NOT retyping it here)

There would be 3 more opportunities today, and the quest for a photograph and an autograph would not distract us. We would get our measure of this woman before the day was done. We had to increase our odds of being picked for a question, we had to differentiate ourselves from the masses. Marra suggested a sign, and I quickly agreed, assuming that she would handle design and execution while I handled finance. I paid for some markers and a clean white sheet of poster board at the downtown CVS, and we were back to the room for a short break.

I did my best to allow Marra full artistic freedom to create her sign for Hillary. I really tried. I am sure, however, that I was getting under her skin with my silly comments about readability from across a room and my maniacal obsession with proper spelling. The sign came out fantastic, and I can take no credit. Now we would be rabid, sign waving supporters. What was I creating here?

With signage complete, we detoured before the Little Gym event to the University of Southern New Hampshire bookstore for some family gifts. We were running out of time and were desperate to take a piece of New Hampshire and this experience back to Virginia with us. We would settle for T-shirts and campaign stickers. These were the imperfect ways that we could share the trip with others because the private memories would remain selfishly our own. As I told Marra, "We'll always have Manchester." She didn't get the movie reference.

The second stop of the day for Sen. Clinton was the Little Gym in (some town whose name I forget). This followed her theme of the day of helping build strong families. I wish I had had the chance to ask her how dropping Junior off at the Little Gym at 8 AM and picking him up at 6 PM supported her message of "strong families". Sounded more like outsourcing, but I digress.

There were a few people - maybe 6 or 7 - congregating near the pathway that led to the Little Gym entrance, mostly employees of the other businesses within the small strip center. The walking path was blocked by two black Towne cars, conspicuously discouraging any would-be trouble makers. Men in suits with short hair cuts, sunglasses, earpieces were milling around, looking for their smiles. I asked one of the friendlies if Marra and I could go closer to the front door to catch a glimpse of Hillary's arrival. "This is a private event, sir, please step back." I thought that made sense, given that she was going into a center with a bunch of little kids everywhere. "Large Crowd of Hillary Supporters Freak Out Pre-Schoolers; Parents Threaten Lawsuit" would be an ugly headline, not to mention the close up shots of little kids crying on the front page of every right wing blog in America. Perhaps it was best if we missed this one. Some press cameras were allowed past us, but only after a thorough once over from the SS - I mean, Secret Service.

While we were waiting, we visited some of the shops nearby. Not sure that any of the struggling "working families" Hillary loves to mention in her speeches did much shopping here. If you can afford an infant sweater for $80, then that Bush tax cut you've been enjoying might just be going away during the Clinton 44 administration. Look out!

We waited for nothing. Before we even realized it, Hillary was inside the center. Apparently, there's a back entrance, and she was whisked inside without a whiff of fresh air. We never saw it happen. The men in suits were a lot more uptight now, though. That made us uptight, and also convinced us that we were waiting for nothing. We decided to head to the house party early, about a 25 minute drive.

JS