Monday, January 26, 2004
Election Eve in NH
The weather is brutally cold. The early morning sky was flawlessly clear this morning when I headed into Lebanon - billions of stars on parade with not even a moon to obscure them. The countless legions of volunteers and staff and media here with all the campaigns (except for the sorely missed Rev. Sharpton) one should expect are rising early with yet undaunted hopes for the final push. I'm sure more than a few New Hampshirites can't wait for this whole circus to pack up and leave town for another 4 years. I'm beginning to agree with that assumed position.
I went to an event yesterday afternoon sponsored by the Lifetime Network meant to more directly address women's issues. The candidates - Dean, Lieberman and Kucinich - arrived late and left early. All tolled, maybe an hour's worth of questions. The responses were measured and articulate, just as were the questions. Dean looks revitalized and sounded like his old self. Lieberman is charmingly astute, but I can't help but find his grandfatherly wit a bit smug. And Kucinich is the fiery prick, a role he seems to relish more and more as the days go by. Afterwards there was a reception where people were allowed to swill bad red wine and nibble on cold mini-crabcakes. Classy by most freebie event standards. The real treat, though, was getting a chance to chat with Kucinich for a bit (firm handshake, uber-white teeth, oddly self-assured manner - a damn straight strong candidate, albeit one for the ultra-fringe). He says he's in it for the duration, pointing to his captoe black dress shoes and lamely joking that "these are marathon shoes." I thanked him for his candidacy and told him to keep it up. I also connected with some Kerry folks after seeing Max Weinberg (Springsteen's drummer who also heads Conan O'Brien's "Late Show" band) and Scott Wolf (the elfin heartthrob from Fox's "Party of Five" and not much else although I'd peg him to play Kucinich in the TV movie adaptation of Election 2004) in a group of people there to promote him in lieu of the actual Senator. One of Kerry's national finance co-chairs introduced me to his nephew, Chris Heintz, and I can see what everyone says about the Kerry folks - clean, smart adults who have a not-so-faint air of Ivy League backgrounds and coolness about them. I can also see what is meant by the reported claims that these are the folks you'd choose to go have a drink with. The Dean folks, if they're even old enough, are widely viewed as just the opposite. No comment from this observer.
There's so much more to see today that I've got to get on the road and make some connections. The sun won't be up for more than an hour, but the coffee's brewed statewide and the candidates are wearing their advisers' favorite clothes. Hopefully, they've all brought a hat - they're gonna need 'em.
The weather is brutally cold. The early morning sky was flawlessly clear this morning when I headed into Lebanon - billions of stars on parade with not even a moon to obscure them. The countless legions of volunteers and staff and media here with all the campaigns (except for the sorely missed Rev. Sharpton) one should expect are rising early with yet undaunted hopes for the final push. I'm sure more than a few New Hampshirites can't wait for this whole circus to pack up and leave town for another 4 years. I'm beginning to agree with that assumed position.
I went to an event yesterday afternoon sponsored by the Lifetime Network meant to more directly address women's issues. The candidates - Dean, Lieberman and Kucinich - arrived late and left early. All tolled, maybe an hour's worth of questions. The responses were measured and articulate, just as were the questions. Dean looks revitalized and sounded like his old self. Lieberman is charmingly astute, but I can't help but find his grandfatherly wit a bit smug. And Kucinich is the fiery prick, a role he seems to relish more and more as the days go by. Afterwards there was a reception where people were allowed to swill bad red wine and nibble on cold mini-crabcakes. Classy by most freebie event standards. The real treat, though, was getting a chance to chat with Kucinich for a bit (firm handshake, uber-white teeth, oddly self-assured manner - a damn straight strong candidate, albeit one for the ultra-fringe). He says he's in it for the duration, pointing to his captoe black dress shoes and lamely joking that "these are marathon shoes." I thanked him for his candidacy and told him to keep it up. I also connected with some Kerry folks after seeing Max Weinberg (Springsteen's drummer who also heads Conan O'Brien's "Late Show" band) and Scott Wolf (the elfin heartthrob from Fox's "Party of Five" and not much else although I'd peg him to play Kucinich in the TV movie adaptation of Election 2004) in a group of people there to promote him in lieu of the actual Senator. One of Kerry's national finance co-chairs introduced me to his nephew, Chris Heintz, and I can see what everyone says about the Kerry folks - clean, smart adults who have a not-so-faint air of Ivy League backgrounds and coolness about them. I can also see what is meant by the reported claims that these are the folks you'd choose to go have a drink with. The Dean folks, if they're even old enough, are widely viewed as just the opposite. No comment from this observer.
There's so much more to see today that I've got to get on the road and make some connections. The sun won't be up for more than an hour, but the coffee's brewed statewide and the candidates are wearing their advisers' favorite clothes. Hopefully, they've all brought a hat - they're gonna need 'em.
Comments:
Post a Comment
