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 Hillary in NH
Saturday night I took the long ride down out of the White Mountains to see Hillary Clinton in Nashua, NH. More than 20 years ago I got arrested in that paved-over, sprawling strip-mall of a shitburg – not that I hold a grudge, or anything – but I do my best to stay away. But sometimes duty calls.
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New Hampshire 2008 Primary
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The event was the annual 100 Club Dinner, founded in 1959 to spotlight Smilin’ Jack Kennedy’s 1960 presidential bid. He was, as you may remember, from MA, where the Dunfey family – a potent force in the Democratic party back then – had emigrated from. They loved all things Kennedy, and thus, an institution was born.
Clinton, of course, took the bait, and reminded the audience that, like her, Kennedy, as the first Catholic president, ended a taboo in American politics.
"He was smart, he was dynamic, he was inspiring and he was Catholic. A lot of people back then said, America will never elect a Catholic as president, but those who
gathered here almost a half century ago knew better. They believed America was bigger than that and Americans would give Sen John F. Kennedy a fair shake, and the rest, as they say, is history. So when people tell me a woman can never be president, I say, we'll never know unless we try."
I wouldn’t read anything into a Kennedy-Clinton connection. Her invitation to speak had little to do with boostering her presidential candidacy and everything to do with raising money. Next to her husband and Barack Obama, Hillary’s the biggest draw available. She can fill a room with 1000 people any time she likes. Perhaps not 1000 Democratic activists, but the “useful” ones are being courted individually anyway. She wasn’t making any points Saturday night that she doesn’t make when she calls them on the phone and gives them their quadrennial ego stroking.
Which is part of the problem. I spoke to an activist, an old friend, and a key player in the Gary Hart, Bob Kerrey, and Dick Gephardt campaigns. He said he was getting non-stop phone calls asking for his support. When he’d told the second and first tier supporters – state senators, national political figures, etc – that he wasn’t ready to throw in with anyone just yet, he inevitably got a call from the candidate.
But, he laments, “I just don’t give a shit anymore.”
He’s not apathetic, he’s world weary, burnt out, seen and heard too much. Primary PTSD is common in a state that sees as much presidential traffic as NH.
“Sooner or later I’ll pick a candidate and vote,” he said, “Beyond that, I have nothing to offer them. I’m only here tonight because I got a free ticket.”
Before he left the event and headed to the hotel bar, he said, “When the candidates call and I tell them I can’t commit, they say, ‘Well then, could you give me some advice?’ They all say it, and I understand why, and I suppose it’s sincere on some level, but every primary year is different, and if there were a formula to win, everyone would follow it. So finally, when Bill Richardson asked, I told him the best advice I could give anyone was to stop talking to people like me and find an issue and take a position that will inspire people to work for you – new people, passionate people. Because that’s what it takes.”
It’s not just good advice for candidates, but for the process itself as well. If the NH presidential primary campaign becomes just another list of the same old names plumped up by few million dollars in TV ads, then what’s the point of holding it in NH?
Front loading the big states could change the NH primary’s traditional venue from the living room to the airport runway; big money and no spending caps will create just another media blitz, while diminishing the intimate and unscripted ways we used to choose candidates; instant front-runners will condemn the rest of the field to also-ran status before a single ballot is cast.
When we get to that point – if we aren’t already there – the NH primary will have outlived its usefulness. The come-from-behind candidates who manages to strike a spark here won’t just save themselves, they’ll save the process for another four years.
~Jack McEnany
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