I had an opportunity to travel to New England in January 2008 to view the events surrounding the primary election, the nation’s first.
In 20 years of journalism, I’ve had few opportunities to cover the presidential primary. In fact, as a resident of Alabama for much of my professional life, I rarely felt I had much influence in the primary process, even as a voter.
In the past, Alabama’s primary — like many in the country — was held in June. By that point, many presidential candidates have already dropped out of the race, usually including the candidate I supported.
Because of that, few candidates ever visit Alabama. If they do visit, it’s to attend a high-dollar dinner as a fund-raiser, not to mix and mingle with voters in casual, informal ways.
New Hampshire presents a great place for such events. Even the snow-covered setting — with its Currier & Ives look — makes a perfect backdrop. It’s a picture of Americana, a state dotted with villages that have maintained their historic integrity despite development and progress.
The size of the state also makes it ideal for stumping.
In New Hampshire during the three days before the election, you could drive 20 or 30 minutes and see three different candidates. In fact, you could probably stay in your own hometown and eventually see every candidate.
A college student from Hofstra University was among a group of 80 students who hopped from site to site. Sam Rubenfeld, a junior, wrote a blog for the student newspaper about his experience (check it out at hofstrachronicle.com/nh).
Early on the Sunday prior to Tuesday's election, he covered a breakfast at a temple in Manchester with Bill Richardson, Duncan Hunter and Mike Gravel. He also attended a town hall meeting with Sen. John McCain.
When I ran into Rubenfeld he was blogging from his seat in an auditorium at Salem High School waiting for then U.S. Sen. Barack Obama to speak. (Obama lost the New Hampshire primary to Hillary Clinton, but, as you know, went on to win the presidency.)
Also in the audience at Salem High School were a mother and daughter who had been making the rounds. The mother wanted her daughter, who was about 10 or 11, to meet as many of the candidates as possible.
I had hitched a ride with this duo earlier that day and the girl told me she shook hands with U.S. Sen. John McCain. But the candidate she really wanted to meet was Obama.
I was glad to see the mother/daughter team on the front row in Salem, waiting to hear the frontrunner speak.
Being a Southerner, I’ve had my doubts about the friendliness of New Englanders. During this trip, however, I found everyone to be helpful and eager to share this unique tradition. Aside from having the mother give me a lift, I also had a local woman encourage me to come into a site where they were serving free “chowda.”
Back in Alabama, they held the 2008 primary on Feb. 5, giving the voters of that state a little more say in who was party’s candidate in the general election in November. Of course, that required voters to show up at the polls on Mardi Gras day.
Meanwhile, the crisscrossing campaigning in New Hampshire will no doubt remain an institution in American politics.
(Photo by Jennifer Hayward Rickards)
