Yes we can!

If there is one thing I regret, it is not walking across that Nashua meeting room and shaking Barack Obama by the hand.
So near and yet so far.
I have my photos and my memory. There we were in that small room with Nashua's elderly. Barack was eight feet from us at most. It was very intimate and laid-back.




Barack Obama will never again be seen up close and personal like that - not now he is President-elect of the USA. He will evermore be flanked by Secret Service. He will evermore be mobbed.

I shook hands with candidates at almost every campaign event I attended. But, on this occasion we were in an awkward building, there was a throng around Barack and, frankly, I had been underwhelmed by his speech. Bruce had to get back to work. I simply gave it a miss.


I did not seek to hear him at other events. I threw myself in Hillary's direction where, I later found to my disdain, naive and zealous young campign workers considered it almost traitorous of me to have gone to an Obama event, let alone subscribed to the Obama email feeds or, as I did, buy his campaign buttons.

Barack Obama grew on that long campaign trail. His strategists and campaign staff were clearly powerful and wise - and he was receptive and progressive. That unstructured, casual speech I heard back in early 2007 was a far cry from the stump speeches he was delivering a year later. He had revved up the young from the outset - but there was some profound change in him which emerged through those last months, a star quality, an extraordinary calm within the storm. We all started to fall in love.

And now history has been made.

I shed a tear, there in the office which came to a standstill as Obama gave that splendid speech. I shed a tear for all the hopes now unleashed. I dared to hope that black Americans would start to feel good. That black rappers would call positive messages. That black kids would see a merit in education and ambition.
Other underclasses, too. Obama is the most powerful symbol of equality and hope ever. I mean ever.
"Yes we can," he says.

Obama vividly ahead

A month back in the USA has allowed daily studying of the primary status quo as it is represented in the varied media. The first big impression has been the disappearance of Michelle Obama from the campaign spotlight. She is gone, gone, gone.
Barack Obama's profile, however, has been growing in a very positive manner. The man has groomed himself into the biggest star in this country of stars and celebrities. Obama seems to have found the zeitgeist.

He is definitely better recognised than his opponent, McCain, and he is surrounded by a buzz - that little buzz of those early appearances and parades has grown exponentially.

The media, even the rabid right, has found that it has to be rational when covering his activities. The fact that he is black gives him a certain degree of protection - for Americans crave political correctness at all times. So the media must tread lightly with Obama.

And the fact is that he looks good and sounds good and he has good organisation behind him. The media acknowledges this and, to some extent, applauds it.

I have been wishing I could have gone back to New Hampshire to get into some of the action which continues to be most politially vigorous up there. Town Hall meetings and assorted intimate appearances. McCain is there just now.

But I have been in McCain's own state - staying in the town where he and Cindy and based - Sedona, Arizona. He is not as well known as one may have imagined, though. I was chatting with a couple of Starbucks workers from Phoenix and they had no idea that he was the Republican candidate for president. Their conclusion, when this Australian told them so, was: "Well, if he is from Arizona, I guess it's "go McCain'."

The New Hampshire polls show Obama ahead.
The media mood shows Obama ahead.

And, as for the streets of San Francisco - he is shown as a head of a different sort. A psychedelic head!

Here are the buttons on sale on the streets.

Unification in Unity - a top PR job

Oh to have been back in New Hampshire for the extraordinary Unity unification of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I would have been there like a dart of shimmering lightning - to read the mood, the faces, the nuances of this alliance. Unity turns out to be not too far from Nashua - just up the road to Hanover, out of Concord...well placed, albeit a small place. But a canny choice. The Primary State with a primary move in the Primary. A perfect piece of PR play.

My respect for Hillary soared as I watched her there on TV, gracious, generous-spirited and positive beside Obama. Accepting defeat and standing up for the larger benefit of the country is what courage and integrity are all about.

Obama also has been gracious. Well, if the words "she rocks" are really a political plaudit.
Michelle has been conspicuous by her absence - certainly on the footage being shown here in Australia on Fox. She has not been sighted on that dais. I try to imagine her state of mind but can't seem to move past my feeling that her streak of racist bitterness is too powerful for her to be happy about this turn of events. Vindication might be nearest to her response.

The Fox commentators are going to town on what a drawback Hillary brings to the Obama campaign in the form of Bill Clinton. I am just over this American hatred for Bill. I am over the whole anti-Clinton agenda which is just so full of sureness. In fact it is old fashioned poppy-lopping.

No one is going to find the perfect politician. Everyone is flawed. No president has a perfect record. It's a tough business. We seek the best thinking-on-the-feet, best informed, best-advised person for the job. It may well have been Bill Richardson.

I think Hillary's failure lies somewhere in the realm of her strategists - and a blinkered sort of limiting paranoia I observed in NH. As much as I enjoyed my foray into the campaign, I did not like the fact that some of those Hillary team workers thought that my venturing into rival meetings was in some way disloyal - when, in fact it was plain intelligent research. What the hell is wrong with people who want to be blind to their opposition?
Then there were some Hillary workers, I was told, who thought I was dangerous to have around because I am a journalist. Yeah, a journalist offering services to them! For free! A highly experienced journalist and a political animal with a lot of knowledge to share. Not all of them, I hasten to add, were so Just a thread of them who never even bothered to speak to me. Those ambitious and territorial young people looked a gift horse in the mouth. Even when I subbed their amateurish writing on the Hillary website, they were unprepared to accept professional help - and preferring to leave their errors in place.
There is a risk in having passionate, youthful devotees with closed minds throwing their weight around behind the scenes. That worried me from the outset.


I am heading back to the US tomorrow and will be keen to immerse myself in the feelings of the people. I'll be in the Southern states - a far cry from my beloved New Hampshire.
Then again, who could not love the South, eh?

Shy McCain

It is a bit offputting to read that John McCain's fundraising events are closed to the press.
Why, I wonder?
What don't they want us to know?

The big thing I wish the media would "out" McCain for is his dependence on teleprompters.
I was scandalised when I saw him speak in Manchester, NH, straight from a teleprompter which had been hauled out and set up in the middle of a public park for him. Gobsmacked is probably not an understatement for my shock. I was under the impression that, especially when it came to their own stump speeches, politicians knew the script.
Hillary certainly did. Obama did. Giuliani did. Bill Richardson did...
But there was old McCain, "Mr Experience", showing that he was not au fait with his own lines.
And, I gather, not a lot has changed.
I have watched the eye movement in the crowds as he gives his addresses and, yes, they seem to be moving from specific focal points...
No spontaneity.
Indeed, spontaneity seems to be his downfall.
The YouTube clips which are the big hit of the moment prove that to be so. He does, he does not know about the economy. He does not know what he knows, it seems.
Which is why he has to read it all nicely written down.

Oh, deary me.

Sigh of relief

Bravo to Hillary.
Bravo to the campaign workers of New Hampshire - all those door-knockers and phoners, placard-holders, web reporters, ushers and organisers. I wish I had had more time there to add more of my energy to the cause. I'd love to have been there today! How rewarding.

But what a white-knuckle ride the last week has been.

The Barack phenomenon in Iowa caused me to sit down and study Barack and Michelle Obama in a way I had not done since last year when I arrived in New Hampshire. Then, I was making sure of which candidate I was going to support - and Obama was definitely the main rival to Hillary when it came to that choice. I did my homework and made my selection, just as the New Hampshire voters have now done.
And I understand how hard it was for them.

The beauty of the Primary is the quality of the candidates who are out there vying for the presidency. There are some outstanding politicians in the mix.

I decided early on that Obama did not show the political savvy and personal discipline that Hillary has. I think his "change" platform is a bit on the glib side - since the election itself is about change and each and every candidate is about change. Hearing people say that Clinton or Edwards have "stolen Obama's message of change" just makes me laugh. What on earth do they think this whole epic is for?

However, I do like Obama and admire him. He is a beautiful writer. I like some of his philosophies and I am even gaining a grudging admiration for his fiesty wife. She is a magnificent orator. Better than her husband, I dare to suggest. But I can't help but sense a racial agenda.
Interestingly, there is a touch of the Bill and Hillarys to the Obamas - a couple of high-achieving, Ivy League lawyers.
I hope they have their day. A bit later.

However, while I went out and about and checked out as many candidates as I could in among the house parties and town hall meetings of the unique New Hampshire political process, Hillary shone forth as my number one. The more interaction I had with her, the more this decision was endorsed. This woman has the goods. It has nothing to do with her being a woman as such. It is about the woman she is - a devastatingly smart, coherent, balanced, prudent, internationally sensitive and highly self-disciplined individual.
So, I am thrilled to bits at this significant victory.

The race is far from over. Far, far, far.

There will be more strategists and volunteers slaving away in South Carolina, another important Primary. And then the rest. It is a long road of many states and many votes.
Hillary is looking tired now - but she and the others are astonishing in their stamina. And whoever wins the primary goes on to campaign for the presidency and then, when they win the presidency, they leap into the arduous business of being president. Oh, my - most of us would run from the very idea of such an onerous responsibility. But there ya go. Politicians are different beasts.

Counting down, holding breath

The countdown is on. Even from this vast distance I can feel the hype in Nashua as the primary voting day approaches.
I've seen the support bases out and about in New Hampshire - the Obama crowd versus the Clinton crowd versus the Giuliani crowd.
They are different beasts. Obama would seem to have made up a vast amount of distance catching up to Clinton as the vote approaches but I still wonder, having looked over that supporter base, if they are really all viable voters. Something about them reminds me of the Howard Dean phenomenon in the last election. An ephemera of enthusiasts.

The Clinton camp has always looked stronger insofar as Hillary has a large body of older, earnest voters who are serious about issues.

Perhaps I am saying that the voters mirror the candidates.

The Giuliani mob was besuited and staid. McCain's were strongly veteran families. I did not get a chance to see a Huckabee crowd. I wonder if I could have coped with all those creationists. Perhaps it's better I missed that lot.
The Edwards and Richardson crowd were more mixed and I sensed that there were many among them just checking out the candidates. They both are impressive, as it happens.

But now the crunch comes and the wheat will be sorted from the chaff.

But perhaps not immediately. Winning in Iowa or New Hampshire may be seen as a very good sign but the race is still only partly run. There are 50 states, all with different rules and regulations in the electoral business, and they will have to have their say - right down to the conventions. Perhaps there will be hung votes.

We can only wait and see, knowing that at the grassroots level of the campaigns, those phones will be running hot, emails will be flying, door-knockers will be out - and I, sadly, will not be among them.

Hillary - racing like a thoroughbred

The Iowa caucuses are just a couple of months away. So is the New Hampshire primary, come to think of it. The year has been racing forth mercilessly.
I continue to admire the incredible stamina of the leading candidates in sustaining the pace required to get the message across, meet the people, raise the profile…
Hillary now is so solidly in the lead that one has to fear that the opponents’ dirty tricks campaign are around the next corner. It has been a pleasure to watch her, the thoroughbred of political candidates, pull out into first place and keep the pace up without a backward glance.
Obama, who has never missed a chance to have a snipe at Hillary, has ramped up his television advertising in a last-minute bid to catch up with Hillary. But, last month he failed to show up for a Democratic debate in Iowa. What a mistake. I am not sure what his reason was but it was a golden opportunity for Hillary to shine – and she did.
The more she is diligently and consistently out there, the more the people are realising that she has depth and experience. She is spectacularly well informed and, oh my, she is disciplined and she is strong.

I have not mentioned John Edwards for ages – because he really isn’t worth a mention. He has campaigned with great confidence and determination yet again. But he simply is not “it”. The daddy working for the mill patter now is tired and no one will forget that $400 haircut. It was the lethal misstep. That is all it takes in politics.

Obama has not made one, but there is still time. He is the Howard Dean of this primary – boosted by noisy young. But the young are flighty. I’ll take a punt that half his support base has not even registered to vote.

Hillary has had a couple of close shaves, if one is to believe the beat-ups of Fox news. But, the more solidly she leads the pack, the more respectful the detractors seem to be becoming, as if readying themselves to accept her as president.
Even the old chestnut of how “polarising” Hillary is has not been getting much ink in the media.

Ah, yes, things are looking pretty good.

Hillary's roadies

Sometimes the grass roots are positively verdant.
They line the roads.

Today Hillary's grass roots supporters, along with those of the other candidates, are converging simply to stand on the verges. They are driving and taking buses to Hanover to make an impressive rain or shine showing, waving placards, smiling and chanting her motto on the route to the latest debate.
This is not just part of the colour and theatre of the presidential primary process - but it is a demonstration of the enthusiastic commitment of the supporter base.
It is a surprisingly effective gesture, especially so far as the international media is concerned. The power of the people reflects the power of the candidate's position.


Hanover is a wonderful town - the Dartmouth university town in the north of New Hampshire. It is the place that Bill Bryson finally chose and settled in after his quest to find the perfect America town.

Doing the hard yards

It'd s game of stamina and determination as the candidates roll on towards the yet-to-be-revealed NH Primary date at year's end. They must be getting sick of the sound of their own voices. I know I am a bit tired of hearind the same things said over and over - even when I agree with the sentiments.

On Sept. 18, calling for raised capital gains taxes and tax relief aimed at elderly and middle-class Americans, Barack Obama said: "If you talk about this in polite company, sooner or later you’ll get accused of waging class warfare. As if it’s distasteful to point out that some CEO’s make more in 10 minutes than a worker makes in 10 months."

Don't hold the presses.
Those are the same words he uttered when I heard him in the Nashua Seniors Centre months ago.
No blame to Barack. Hillary is repeating herself, too, albeit that she has saved a few goodies such as the health plan details to give the media a new hook here and there.
They are all repeating themselves, except for the ghastly Fred Thompson who has yet to say anything worth repeating.

This is an epic campaign, testing the strength and staying power of all the candidates. Having seen close up the schedules they keep as they sweep through the states and the myriad fairs, garden parties, town hall meetings, rallies and campaign office visits, one comes to realise that these presidential hopefuls are doing the hard, hard yards. Astronauts have it easy by comparison.

Waitress puts the Mitt up

How out of touch is Mitt Romney?
Absurdly!
First we hear the story, reported with gawking shock by the Utah media, of the waitress who dared to challenge the Mormon presidential candidate on the issue of health care. A mere waitress in a mere diner! Not only did she challenge the millionaire Republican but also she answered back and interrupted!
A number of people have forwarded reports of this encounter to me with varied comments, mainly astonishment at the Red Arrow diner waitress's daring. Of course, these were not New Hampshire people. The whole point is that this was a waitress in a New Hampshire diner and she had every right and then some to question this or any other presidential candidate. New Hampshire is the barometer state, the first primary and its voters take their role very seriously. Yes, waitresses and all! The other states pushing and shoving for a run at being first primary state are pissing into the wind if they think they can replicate the educated political people power of New Hampshire. Not that they would care, since their quest is simply to "have" or be "first" - not to improve the political process.
Indeed, opportunities for the likes of the New Hampshire waitress to speak up would go right down the sycophantic drain.

It is quite possible, although not probable, that the daring New Hampshire waitress was a Republican. In New Hampshire, party loyalty is no impediment to asking the hard questions and putting candidates on the spot. Quite the opposite, really. I saw Rudy Giuliani's besuited brown-nosers asking quite confronting questions. I have most certainly seen the Hillary supporters putting her on the spot on issues.
The New Hampshire voters test the candidates through and through.

Romney seemed askance at the waitress's impertinence and his response seemed blustering. He did not seem to realise that he was in New Hampshire and not Massachusetts, referring to his health care reforms as Governor of Massachusetts. These had no application in NH, of course.
One might forgive the campaigning candidates for getting a bit confused as to which state they are in as they whirl around the country - unless it is NH.
Mitt is out of touch.

Yet more so in the things he has been telling the Granite Staters.

"I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman," he told the Union Leader when asked if he will take part in a YouTube/CNN Republican debate in September.

Glib answer, Mitt. But, oh, so wrong.
The YouTube snowman is not simply genuine incarnation of today's voter, he represents a vast and powerful generation. You are just out of touch with the people, Mitt Romney. And you sound embarrassingly arrogant, to boot.

The millionaire Mormon also acknowledged that he had flown F-16s and shot Uzis and an AK 47s.
"They're fun, but I don't think anyone is suggesting that these kinds of weapons are going to be in the public domain," he said. Huh? Eh? Where is this man coming from?

Frighteningly, he is the Republican front-runner and it is where he is going that we have to worry about.



(pic - with thanks to Flickr MittRomney photopool)

Hillary's campaign knotches up

ACTION.
Not only are Bill and Hillary hitting Nashua tomorrow but also Hillary's Nashua campaign office has been born - almost.
It was still full of builders and paraphernalia when I arrived at midday today to man the ticket office for tomorrow's big Ready to Change, Ready to Lead tour event at the local university. I was supposed to meet Doug, the new Nashua region campaign organiser, outside the office to receive tickets, office keys and instructions but the door was open and Doug was not there. I was a bit perplexed, especially when people started rocking up for tickets. I scrounged around and set myself up with a chair and a little table and chatted apologetically to the arriving people.


Doug breezed in after about 20 minutes, just in time for a strong influx of ticket-seekers. While he sorted them out, I helped the friendly builder to haul out a desk and a big executive armchair - and suddenly the place took on a more authoritative look.

The people coming for tickets had RSVPed to campaign invitations to the event and were unable to print out numbered tickets from the Hillary website. Hence, they were mostly older people - except for those of the sleek New England bourgeoisie who were coming to pick up VIP tickets which we were keeping in named envelopes to one side. Doug trotted off to lunch and I had a pleasant time greeting, meeting and distributing these most coveted tickets. With Bill in tow, it is a stellar event on the Hillary campaign tour.

So much so that special signs are required.

After 2pm, it was sign time. Doug, who has driven all the way from California to work on the campaign here, produced a box of poster paints in primary colours along with mixing plates, foam brushes, large felt-tipped pens and a pile of large, thin cardboard art sheets. To begin with, there were just three of us - Doug, Kyra from the Manchester office and me.


As the afternoon wore on, volunteers rolled in and joined us on the floor. It was like a political playgroup - mixing colours and painting slogans. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. By the time we were through, there were about 13 of us, an delightfully disparate mix of ages, sizes and races. One very sensible woman chose to clean the windows instead of paint - and soon we had a bright, clean shopfront onto which she taped some of the new signs to complement the Hillary campaign signs and patriotic bunting.


A photographer from the Nashua Telegraph rocked up and snapped a million pix, concentrating on the two cute kids in our midst, of course. As they do. Newspapers love to run photographs of children. It made me a bit sad in this context insofar as this was not actually child's play - it was politics in motion. I would rather have seen people of voting age being depicted. But, hey, what can you do! The idea is to get the message into the paper by whatever means.




The Nashua campaign office is not on Main Street. It is off to the side on Elm Street. But, what it lacks in visibility it makes up for in size and facility. The ground level shopfront is handsome and spacious with a proper semi-enclosed office area at the back. Most significantly, it has a vast and spectacular basement - very smart and modern, freshly painted and wired and ready for banks of phones, printers, faxes, computers...
This will be the beating heart of the Nashua campaign.



Um, yes, one rather unconventional poster slipped its way in..
;)

Words and more words

Signs of renewed action in New Hampshire primary - at last. Several candidates are coming up to participate in July 4 street parades, Mitt Romney is attending a lunch for the local Republican committee members, Barack Obama is making an appearance in Laconia and Fred Thompson is holding fundraisers at $500 a ticket - which may sound a bit stiff but, oh goodygoody, includes the opportunity for a photo taken with the former senator.

I am not revved up about any of these events. I certainly don't need a $500 photo taken with Fred Thompson. Heavens, Rudi Giuliani did not charge a cent when he stood there shaking my hand in front of the cameras.

Rudi is not doing so well in the GOP polls. Mitt Romney, the Mormon, is pushing ahead, with much thanks to the Boston Globe which has been running a week-long uber profile of the former Massachusetts governor.
I have never seen such a magnanimous dedication of space to a political candidate in a metro daily paper. Front page leads are followed by double-page spreads inside the paper day after day with chapters so extensive that they may as well be a book. The writing is entirely uncritical. It is possibly the biggest puff piece in journalistic history. In terms of advertising space in a metro daily, I imagine it is worth close to $1million.

My interest in this massive Romney promotion faded after the first three days. I am still reading Carl Bernstein's biography of Hillary Clinton and thriving on the revelations therein. I was a little shocked to discover that she is not much of a newspaper reader but prefers to get news from public radio. Well, it beats the garbled bites on television.

Meanwhile, there is much uncertainty in the air with contemplations of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg entering the primary as an Independent. Could he be the Ralph Nader of 2008?

Hillary ain't no actor

Celine Dion's You and I was not my choice as Hillary's campaign song. It's a bit, well, Celine Dion, albeit that the sentiment is good. Now I am wondering if one would define that strident voice as "soprano", thus giving a double entendre to zany little home video with Bill and Hillary doing a Sopranos final episode spoof. What a stroke of genius that little video. It shows that Hillary is ready to have a bit of fun. More importantly, it shows that she is a lousy actor - which is a good thing in a politician.
Let's hope she gets and keeps the day job.

With the campaign trail still in quiet mode, I am engrossed in Carl Bernstein's A Woman in Charge which I am finding to be a fastidious, well-written and illuminating biography - so far. Certainly I am learning a lot about what influences have formed the Hillary Clinton character - a "mind conservative and a heart liberal".
I was intrigued about her young experiences as a Republican and now see that she moved steadily so far to the left of the GOP that she clear fell out the side.
I also feel much clearer about her religion now I know of her Methodist upbringing. She is no holy roller, just a straight-laced and self-disciplined Metho.
Her "ambitiousness" is constantly flagged in the media as such a wicked, evil, unfeminine quality like some form of rampant hubris. In the book it emerges as a steady wish to play a role in social reform, equality and fairplay. She believes she can do it!
But I have more to read...

Meanwhile, while the New Hampshire political action is in the doldrums, the e-campaigning is going strong. Every day I get hammered by emails from the candidates, each and every one of them asking for campaign donations.
I am finding the begging mail very tiresome. I wish they would stop asking me and let me decided if, where and when I would like to contribute.
This fundraising preoccupation, I think, is highly alienating and the campaigns should cool it and, at least once in a while, impart some information which does not come with a money ask.

Blitzer blitzes in CNN Dem debate

And there was Hillary with her back to the wall again about her vote for the War on Iraq. The NY Times today devoted most of its Sunday magazine to a dissection of her moves on the subject, did or did she not read the full briefings on Iraq, and one could have been sure that CNN"s Wolf Blitzer would take it a step further and see if a yet more decisive backdown could be elicited. As, of course, he did.
And thus did Hillary Clinton explain again:

Wolf, I was thoroughly briefed. I knew all the
arguments. I knew all of what the Defense Department, the CIA, the State Department were all saying. And I sought dissenting opinions, as well as talking to people in previous administrations and outside experts.

You know, that was a sincere vote based on my assessment that sending inspectors back into Iraq to determine once and for all whether Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and using coercive diplomacy was not an unreasonable act.

What I did not count on, and what none of us did who voted to give the president authority, is that he had no intention to allow the inspectors to finish their job.

CLINTON: Now, we can argue about the past, or we can answer the question you asked about the National Guard. Our troops did the job they were asked to do. They got rid of Saddam Hussein. They conducted the search for weapons of mass destruction. They gave the Iraqi people a chance for elections and to have a government. It is
the Iraqis who have failed to take advantage of that opportunity.

BLITZER: So let me just be precise, because the question was:
Do you regret not reading the national intelligence estimate?

CLINTON: I feel like I was totally briefed. I knew all of the arguments that were being made by everyone from all directions. National intelligence estimates have a consensus position and then they have argumentation as to those people who don't agree with it. I thought the best way to find out who was right in the intelligence
community was to send in the inspectors.
If George Bush had allowed the inspectors to finish the job they started, we would have known that Saddam Hussein did not have WMD andwe would not have gone and invaded Iraq.


These peerless, perfect quotes do not come of my lightning note-taking skills. They come from CNN's svelt services to the media. Debate transcripts ping into our email as the debate is going along. We are here in the Press Room with our laptops, connected through CNN's whizzy wireless network, and CNN is doing the transcriptions for us - which is just as well since, despite all the technological brilliance of this set-up, the sound quality in the hall is absymal and we have had trouble understanding what the candidates were saying.
Not only do the transcripts arrive by email but also they are delivered as printouts to our desks - literally hot off the printer.
One can't say we are not well looked after.

But, back to the debate.
And a very lively debate it has been - and is. I write as it goes on.

Blitzer sought to establish in what ways the Democrats were divided over assorted issues - hence a lively exchange on Iraq and an even livelier one on whether English should be the official language of the USA.
Blitzer asked for a show of hands on this.
Only Mike Gravel, the delightful renegade former senator from Alaska, raised his hand.
It was an odd moment.
Obama leapt in asserting this was the kind of question that was designed
precisely to divide the candidates.

Quoth he: You know, you're right. Everybody is going to learn to speak English if they live in this country. The issue is
not whether or not future generations of immigrants are going to learn English. The question is: How can we come up with both a legal, sensible immigration policy? And when we get distracted by those kinds of questions, I think we do a disservice to the American people.


Turns out he was off the mark. Hillary leapt in like a wise school ma'am to explain what it was all about. She had encountered the issue in the Senate.
I, for one, needed her elucidation:

The problem is that if it becomes official instead of recognized
as national -- which indeed it is, it is our national language -- if it becomes official, that means in a place like New York City you can't print ballots in any other language. That means you can't have government pay for translators in hospitals so when somebody comes in with some sort of emergency there's nobody there to help translate what their problem is for the doctor.
So many of us -- I did, at least -- voted to say that English was our national language, but not the official language because of the legal consequences of that.


It will be interesting to see what angles the assorted reporters take on the debate. For the proletariat, there is the happy agreement that Bill Clinton should be employed by a Democrat president, including Hillary, to be a roaming global envoy, bringing back good spirit towards the USA.

Then there is the who-was-righter-than-right about Iraq....which Obama seems to think he won, turning on poor old John Edwards, who had just apologised yet again for voting for the war, and telling Edwards he was "four and a half years behind in leadership". Obama had better watch that self-righteousness.
But Iraq issue is far from dead but it is descending into nit-picking. When one thinks of how long the campaign has yet to run, one imagines the public will be utterly fatigued by the time it comes to vote.

It was hard to tell in the busy context of that giant media room with its fuzzy acoustics just who it was who came out on top on the night. My bias would give the night to Hillary because she always presents so very well. She was the only one who managed to laugh - and she remained absolutely unruffled by anything, albeit that she was, at times, forceful.
Thus, methinks, the race positions remain unchanged.


More anon....


Bruce was officially accredited photographer on this adventure into political media and was taken off in a bus with other still photographers to get snaps from within the debate hall. Hence, the candidate snaps here are his.

CNN puts on the Debate ritz

No need to consult the map or ask for directions to Saint Anselm College where the big Democratic Debate takes place tonight. It was more like following a colourful breadcrumb trail - campaign posters and groups of chanting supporters raising the profile for their chosen presidential candidates marked the route through the back streets of Manchester, NH. If the roadside turnout reflects voter popularity, John Edwards is leagues ahead with his bunches of banner-waving people. Then again, if spread of lawn placards is the indicator, Bill Richardson had won the front yards of Manchester, prongs down. On the other hand, if size is the winning quality, Hillary just stood right out. Her signs were few, but absolutely huge.

As we swung into the College campus drive, just past the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, the supporter crowds chanted raucous welcome.

The media parking area was a bit of a suprise. It was as big as an oval and already crammed with cars. We were directed down and in, a long way, ending up parked beside a shock of pink rhododendron at the far end. Of course it was raining - so we donned the old rain gear and shuffled off through the long wet grass. Blech. My smart sneakers are not waterproof.

It was quite a walk to the Press Centre where, despite the door being right there, we were told to walk the perimeter of the building and approach the credentialling room from the other side. More rain. More shuffling through long, wet lawn. Then the queue to get in. Security is tight. We went through the full airport routine - emptying pockets into plastic trays, having bag contents scrutinsed, walking through screener arches, getting the wand once-over...

And then it was the credentials. No problem at all, and a cheery welcome from CNN's delightful Mara Gassmann, with whom I had been liaising for access to this event.


"Seats are allocated," we were told. "You just have to find them."

Oh, dear. Who could have imagined the scale of this thing! Where to begin looking when faced with row upon row upon row of tables and chairs laid out in the Carr Center - a room so caverous and vast it felt like like Centennial Hall on steriods.

And there, laid out on the trestle tables, were the names of America's top journalists..the NY Times, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post... Bruce swooned.

We figured that, as antipodean ring-ins, would not be in their midst. I headed for the back of the hall, and sure enough, in the back row, there were Bruce's and my name between Le Monde and, how nice, NewsLtd Australia! CNN has very thoughtfully placed our terrific NY correspondent, Stefanie Balogh, beside us! Camaraderie, no less! Beside us is Le Figaro and De Spiegel along with the London Telegraph. In front of us are Japan, Sweden, China and Switzerland. The world media, in other words.
Thus do we sit with the vista before us, beautifully placed to see the ebb and flow of almost 800 journalists - along with scores of TV monitors all showing CNN's coverage of the event.

An hour and a half before showtime, dinner was served. CNN has spared no expense - hot Atlantic salmon and Chicken kievs, masses of veggies and rice, cakes, bread, fruit... The head caterer assures me there are no trans fats, either. Yippee.
It is all presented with classy, china-thin disposable plates and even very upmarket disposable silverware. CNN has done this all before and does it with style.


Journos are meandering all over the place, looking for their seat allocations. Just chatted to a Washington blogger - he wanted to ask me the same things I wanted to ask him. In the end, we agreed that Bill Richardson may be the candidate to back if one was looking dispassionately at the big picture.

And this is what we are here to do.

Hillary eyes her voters

Hillary's convoy of big black SUVs purred up so quietly that the awaiting crowd was taken by surprise, despite having been waiting for 20 minutes or so. Even more surprising was the presidential candidate's swift disappearance into a shop. The media thundered down to the shop door and waited respectfully, cameras at the ready.

The Senator was quite a long time in said shop - one of those aromatic furnishings and bric-a-brac places. But, as it turned out, and much to the frustration of her organisers, if Hillary is going to mingle with the people and do a "town walk", she is not going to be hurried.

When, finally, she emerged, it was to be obscured by a throttle of television cameras and microphones. She made her way slowly up the footpath where locals were grabbing a spontaneous chance to thrust out hands and express their support. The campaign volunteers outside Martha's Exchange Restaurant were apoplectic, urging people to make a clear passage for the Senator, to keep out of the way of the little lineup of arranged greeters, to go into the restaurant and get off the street.
I was perfectly placed, just where they didn't want me to be. And I watched the slowly approaching scrum, seeing Hillary thoughtfully turning from one side to another, to acknowledge one person after another - a smile here, a few words there, a handshake...

Every individual was given eye contact from those vivid blue eyes - and a connection which told them that she was absolutely delighted to see them.

I watched in growing awe. This was a consummate politician. The people came first. If someone had something to say, she listened with interest. Her face was a mobility of expressions, from friendly beams to suprise and amusement and even the fleeting shadows of one sharing a problem. She was moving steadily in the required direction, a very solid African American security man always at her elbow, but she was serenely unrushed, those amazing blue eyes sparkling friendship towards each and every potential vote. Oh, those eyes are good weapons for a politician. It was impossible not to like her.

She was, however, wearing a lot of makeup. I wondered how much exhaustion this must be covering. Her campaign schedule has been gruelling and she came to us in Nashua after giving a major economic policy speech at Manchester's School of Tecnology.
There, she had spoken of the “rising inequality and rising pessimism in our workforce.”
"While productivity and corporate profits are up, the fruits of that success just haven’t reached many of our families,” she is reported to have said, likening it to "trickle down econonics without the trickle."
The plan, it seems, is to "hit the restart button on the 21st Century and redo it the right way".


I did not stay on after Hillary had entered Martha's Exchange. There were hundreds of people in there all waiting to shake her hand - and I had no need to shake her hand. I have had that pleasure. And, looking at the mainstream media pack queued at the door and the further folk waiting in hope, I could only think of how hungry Debora was, and doubtless Hillary, too.
She was not making a speech. She was, after all, just going for lunch.
I drifted off into the glorious Nashua spring day, hoping that Hillary would, at least, after all that handshaking, have a chance to wash those hands before she got to break bread.

Hillary's quiet lunch

It was suppposed to be a quiet lunch with some core VIP supporters - or so they thought, said New Hampshire Executive Councilor Debora Pignatelli as the crowd grew and grew around Martha's Exchange in Nashua. Debora, who had hosted us at the Democratic Debate house party, was among the chosen few actually lunching with Hillary and she was hungry, enviously asking what Bruce had been eating as his on-the-hoof lunch.
Seeing the cram of people plus the jostle of cameramen - Fox, CNN, WMUR, NBC, the Nashua Telegraph, the Union Leader and the Boston Globe among them - she knew she would be in for a long wait. But it was good networking time and this expert politician was chatting, introducing people and giving the good PR for Hillary. To this end, she presented me with the last of her collection of coveted "Women for Hillary" buttons which I donned proudly beside my Hillary for President sticker.

I was also wearing a white "ONE" wristband, presented by a group of placard-waving campaigners for peace and an end to world poverty.

The waiters of Martha's Exchange were busily serving sidewalk table diners as the Hillary fans massed around them.
Stern young female campaign volunteers were trying to steer people inside the restaurant where a Hillary handshake was promised to all.
I could see Debora's lunch getting later and later.
To the chagrin of the volunteers, after taking a peek at pack of people inside, I chose to stay outside with the media and the still-growing crowd.
It was a wonderful mix of young and old, a very positive, excited spiri. Many of these people were just in Nashua shopping and were thrilled at the opportunity to meet Senator Clinton. Others, like me, had heard word of this "town walk" on the campaign grapevine. Yet others had been invited to come along for an arranged handshake. Then there were the valiant Health Care campaigners out in force, as they are at every event, handing out their "I'm a Health Care Voter" stickers.

And, of course there were the security people and the police...and perhaps some who had just chosen, like Hillary, to have a quiet lunch at Martha's in dear old downtown Nashua.
Let us not forget that Nashua has a proud Presidential Primary tradition. It was, after all, where JFK gave his very first campaign speech. Nashua locals take such political happenings in their stride - nay, they expect them.

On being a small fish...

So much for depending on my own kind to get things done here.
As requested by its editor, I made application through the Union Leader for tickets to the June 3 Democratic Debate up the road in Manchester. They asked for some personal details to which end I had to use my husband's name since they seemed to wish for legitimate NH voter credentials.
No tickets were forthcoming.
Indeed, no word was forthcoming. Nada. Silence.

Perturbed, nay, gobsmacked, I contacted the Hillary campaign who directed me to the New Hampshire Democrats' office, the helpful press officer of which directed me to the Debate's co-host, the NH television station, WMUR. What a friendly and charming response - but no tickets. Their quota all went yesterday. Yesterday!

How frustrating is this!
I realise with a jolt what a spoiled media person I am. I am used to people knowing who I am. I am accustomed to people actually wanting me to be at events or to picking up a phone and having doors open. I am used to a diary bulging with in invitations.
But, as much as I feel at home here, I am not on home turf. I have no strings to pull.

At least I am carrying my media union card.
So, I followed the WMUR advice and have appealed to the Debate's other co-host, CNN - this time asking for the only access left, media accreditation.
My regret in this context is that being among my own kind will distance me from the special people of NH, the discerning voters, who are, to a large extent, what this blog is all about. Then again, being with my own kind in another country would be an interesting study in its own right.
And, of course, it would give one a yet closer look at the candidates - which can't be bad.
My fate, however, rests upon the kindness hands of strangers.
They don't owe me a thing.
I can only wait and see.

Meanwhile, there has been good news.
Hillary will be back in NH next week and she is scheduled to do a town walk in Nashua!
I will be there with bells on.

Songs of praise and mutters of dissent

The hunt is on for a Hillary song.
I've noticed the prominence of music at all the candidates' major events - not always liking what I heard. In the Hillary case, it would seem to be because the campaign theme song has yet to be chosen.
Now, as the action revs up, the time has come.
It's tricker than one may think. One needs something that falls between familiar popular song and an anthem. Something that creates the right mood and delivers the right message. And, bloody hell, it turns out to be a can of worms - or so I am thinking now I have listened to the selection thus far chosen for the Hillary Clinton campaign. The campaign has asked us all to vote and, if we don't like the choices, to suggest something else.
One by one, I eliminated the nine proposed songs - one was too dirge-like, one sounded like a lesbian love song, one did not sound positive enough, one sounded too girlie...
So, if I don't like them, I have to think of something else. OK. So I have surfed around and listened to things I thought would be good options and, guess what, none of my ideas is perfect either!
I'll just have to wait and see what other supporters come up with.

Meanwhile, we await the forthcoming Democrat Debate in New Hampshire. It is being hosted by CNN and the Union Leader newspaper in Manchester - rather a good paper, I have noted, with a terrific web presence. Getting hold of tickets to the debate is not easy. They are very strictly rationed and one has to apply by email, giving personal details which include date of birth. Then one has to wait to see if one is accepted. This makes me very tense indeed.

Methinks New Hampshire also is getting a bit tense. The other US states are doing their best to close in and undermine its first primary status. We've had the date changes from the other states with Florida pushing hard to turn the presidential candidate campaign into a rush, to squeeze up those dates and force New Hampshire back into 2007. Now we have Associated Press (the Australian version of which I once worked for) and its analysis of the America census statistics to show that NH is not the perfect archetypal American state. It does not have a "national average" demographic. AP says that Illinois is the average state. It also is a huge state. Too intensely populated for the sort of hands-on intensity of the NH political activity.
The criticism of NH is that it does not have the diversity of population, the percentage of blacks. But what it does have is a political tradition and a population geared to undertake the responsibility of scrutinising each and every candidate as a state mission and a national obligation. Of course this is not average!

McCain's blame game

John McCain's campaign has not been going well in New Hampshire. The Republican might have trounced George Bush here in the 2000 primary but it looks as if, this time, he will lose to Bonzo the clown, or almost any of his party rivals. He is panic-stricken because, as his campaign has explained, the NH primary is of primary significance.
McCain's reaction has been to fire his NH campaign manager, as if this hapless organiser is the reason for McCain's lacklustre showing. Methinks that no matter how many scapegoats 70-year-old McCain finds, his poor polls are because the Repubs simply don't see him as up to the job.

Meanwhile, it is Hillary Day of Action in NH today - and we are off to hit the streets.