"I Spy"

Gosh, I love living in this state!

Yesterday I was at work, trying to get something done but not being too successful, when I got a few emails from various sources reminding my about the Edwards Town Hall meeting on Monday, like I could even try to forget it. One was from Susie, who was working "advance", which I've come to understand as meaning she gets to a site beforehand to get things rolling, create good energy, gather volunteers, etc. So I decided to go find her, and went to the MUB (our student union), and found her in a hearbeat. Didn't even need to ask her if she was the person who just emailed me. Just said "Hi, I'm Paula." That cracked her up.

There's something about presidential campaign staffers that make them stick out even when they are trying not to. At least they stick out to those of us who've seen a lot of them. Cell phone, maybe a Blackberry or a laptop, black clothes, self-importance. To Susie's credit, the last 2 didn't apply. But you can always tell when a candidate is coming or is close by.

But now I'm totally intrigued by this job, the Advance person. What sort of background or degree do you need (oh, the career counselor in me always needs to know what major?). How would you ever get started? I wonder if first you must come to NH and see if you can say "I Spy a Winner." Hmmm

Edwards Event at UNH on Monday!

You're invited to join John Edwards this Monday for a town hall with special guest Elizabeth Edwards. We hope you will be able to join us for this exciting event!

WHAT: A town hall with John Edwards and special guest Elizabeth Edwards
WHEN: Monday, April 2, 2007, 6:30pm
WHY: To hear John Edwards discuss his plans to change America.
WHERE: University of New HampshireMemorial Union Building (MUB) - Granite State Room83 Main StreetDurham, New Hampshire
*Parking is available and will not be ticketed after 5:30pm in Lot B for the event.This event is free and open to the public. Please let us know if you plan to attend by clicking here:http://johnedwards.com/r/8987/754157/For more information visit www.johnedwards.com/events, email EdwardsNHEvent@gmail.com or call 603-459-9070.

Anyone wishing to volunteer at the event should come to the MUB on Sunday evening at 5pm for a meeting in the Food Court Area. :)

Thanks Paul & Susie for the info.

Big week approaching, No April Fools!

Two candidates are coming this way next week 4/02 to 4/06. Barack Obama and John Edwards. Very few public details are out there, but here's what I have, though unconfirmed: Obama will be in Portsmouth, Edwards at UNH. stay tuned!

It's been a bit slow here since the last blitz. Easter recess must be coming up in Congress, so I'm sure things will liven up a bit. Bill Shaheen has been in the news a bit about comments related to deal-making with the Clintons, but it's not big news to most people. Of course he'd wheel & deal in an effort to make sure his good deeds don't go unnoticed. More about that on Blue Hampshire's Blog.

I'm Coming Out

I guess it's official: I am now, officially, an ACTIVIST. It happened last Thursday night in Portsmouth NH. At the Brewery, in the basement, where I was inducted into the group by a pleasant if not quirky little group of people assembled to get the Edwards campaign up and running in New Hampshire.

This is a small state, so of course while I didn't know anyone, I knew them. One was the very friendly and warm Laurie, who knows Stacey and the Little Harbour community well. She was a big leader in the Edwards 2004 campaign, and it's clear why. And the other was the owner of Stone Environmental, the firm we hired to help us with the stupid scraps of leather we found buried on our property (that's in my home improvement blog http://360.yahoo.com/pauladinardo). They all did a great job of making me feel welcome, easing in into the group, and exciting me about this campaign.

My original intent of this blog was to report on all candidates that I see or hear, especially those that come to UNH. But now I guess I'll have to own up to my own bias. I want John Edward! NEVER have I committed this early; like all my friends in the Granite State. We wait, and allow the candidates to charm us or piss us off. I think I made up my mind in 2004, about 2 seconds after I walked out of the voting booth. I voted for Howard Dean, but I found myself hoping the John Edwards wins. This time, I'll be doing more than hoping! And being involved might be a good way to get into a few more events or debates. ;-)

PS: If you aren't a fan of JRE, please pick up Elizabeth Edwards' book Saving Graces. Between the tears, she will win your heart AND your mind.

Team Edwards

I was sick to my stomach all morning wondering & worrying about the noon time press conference planned by the Edwards'. Yes, her cancer is back. NO, he's not out of the race. Phew. She's amazing. I watched part of the conference and am again in awe of EE's presence, poise, clarity. I just got her book from the Dover Library and now I'm sure the queue behind me will grow even longer!

Tonight's meeting with the Edwards' NH State Campaign Chair is still on. Did I mention that? His name is Paul Dunn (I will google him later). The meeting is in Portsmouth and I intend to be there.

Full report tomorrow.

NH State Campaign Chairs

This just in from Blue Hampshire: Bill Shaheen, husband of former Governor Jeanne Shaheen, AND former 2004 Kerry Chair, 2000 Gore Chair, and 1976 Carter Chair, has endorsed Hillary Clinton and will serve as her state chair. What a record he has a delivering the goods in this state! This certainly is good news for the HRC campaign, and bad news for all the others.

Tomorrow night, I'm attending a meeting in Portsmouth where I hope to meet the state chair for the Edwards campaign. I was secretly hoping it was going to be Shaheen. Bummer. These are the names I was given (by email from Laurie McCray) for his state folks, not one of which is familiar to me:

Paul Dunn (field for seacoast in 2004) is now state field director. I've been working with Matt Spence up until now and he is asst state political director. State director is Beth Leonard, state political director is James Katz.

Edwards & the LGBT Vote

I know blogs can be incestuous. You get on one and are directed to others, often in too-tightly wound circle. I admit I'm guilty on this slow, rainy day in NH when I should be at NHIOP listening to John Edwards' speech. Instead, I'm blogging around and was directed to the Daily Kos (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/15/102241/982) where I found this tidbit:

"...But right now, Edwards is the best candidate for the GLBT community (even
Coulter thinks so ;-)

That made my day. Thanks, JRE.

NHIOP and Me

Barack Obama will be in the state (Keene area & Manch) this coming weekend, but I have bigger news: I may finally get to see the NHIOP in person. Anyone want to play hookie with me? It is spring break, after all...

You're invited to join John Edwards this Thursday for a major policy speech outlining his plans for bold change for America. He will discuss the need for transformational change in our policies and politics, and in the way America leads the world, including ending poverty in the U.S. and combating world poverty.

WHAT: A major policy address by John Edwards
WHEN: This
Thursday, March 15th at 11:30 am
WHY: To hear John Edwards present his
vision for change in America and around the world.
WHERE: New Hampshire
Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College100 Saint Anselm Dr.Manchester, NH
03102

This event is free and open to the public. For more information please call 603-459-9070 or go to www.johnedwards.com/events. We hope you will be able to join us for this important event!

"First, Second, Third in the Nation"

First, Second, or Third in the Nation: The Importance of New Hampshire and the Juggling of the Primary Schedule

Wednesday April 11, at 7 p.m.
Durham Town Library, Mill Road Plaza
This talk examines New Hampshire's role in the presidential nomination process, the impact of frontloading, and the potential impact of the new Democratic primary schedule for 2008.

Speaker: Dr. Andrew Smith is the Director of the UNH Survey Center. The Survey Center is a non-partisan, academic, public opinion research center for governments, not for profits, and faculty researchers. Dr. Smith is also an Associate Research Professor in the UNH Department of Political Science. The Survey Center is nationally known for its election polling and has consistently conducted the most accurate polling in New Hampshire elections.

ALSO in the news today: the APRIL debates at Saint Anselm College have been moved to JUNE. I'm not happy, since UNH was offered BOTH first, and declined due to bad academic conflicts in April.

Two Letters

Yesterday was my own personal holiday: John Edwards Day.

First: In the morning, I received an email inviting me to join the John Edwards campaign team. They are just starting to set up a state office and won't get to a seacoast branch office for a while, but I'll being hearing from them once they are organized. I hope this means he'll be back in the state more often. He's conducting a very national campaign and he needs to keep up the small towns stuff here at the same time.

Second: Remember the book I gave to Elizabeth Edwards at the Concord House Party? (Todd Parr's The Family Book) Well, the thank you note arrived in the mail. I wasn't surprised because EE struck me as someone who would always send a personal thank you for a gift, and insist her children do the same. It was a hand made card, I presume by Emma Claire, saying "Thank you for the book. I love it vary much." I'll take a picture & attach it. Unfortunately, she didn't sign it. But I will still display it proudly with all my other Electoral Souveniers, right next to my 2000 Christmas card from Al & Tipper Gore, my 2001 ticket to see Bill Clinton in Dover, my 2002 Bush Visit Volunteer pass, my pass for the 2003 DNC Debate "Rapid Response Room," and my recent tickets to see Kucinich, Obama, and Dodd.

Back to my day job now... ;-)

Stormy Weather Lessons

Greetings from Boise, Idaho, and hello to my NSE conference friends who may be reading this (this means you, Sandy from Hawai'i!). I finished Professor Scala's Stormy Weather while here, because I am in Primary Withdrawal (no one outside NH is ready to engage me on this except for you, Sandy, and I thank you!). Here are the major things I learned about the NH Primary in addition to that gem of how it all got started (see previous post):

1. It doesn't matter if you win or loose, as long as you do "better than expected."
2. For this reason, being a front-runner this early out is not a desirable place to be.
3. Momentum is ellusive, but if you get that, you've got what it takes.
4. A Dem can't win NH unless he/she is equally well supported in educated/elite towns or zones (Hanover, Durham) as well as working class hubs (Berlin, Manchester, Somersworth). Elite-only seems to be the kiss of death.

Scala's got an interesting formula he uses to determine this "equality of support," which has come out of analyzing primaries past from beginning to 2000. (BTW, I'd LOVE to see updated data from 2004.) I have had to face the truth that I vote with the elitists! Yikes!! And our hallmark is not necessarily voting for the one who can (or should) win, but the one who will "send a message" to the rest of the country or the party or the candidates. Oh, I am SO guilty!

So I'm recommending this book to my fellow Primary Junkies. The history of primaries in general and NH in particular should be understood by all New Hampshirites. And, it was kinda fun to see the name of Stacey's WMRHS Junior Prom date mentioned and quoted so much. ;-)

Recap & Recoup

After a very busy month of chancing candidates around NH, there seems to be a lull especially on the seacoast. Phew, I need a break! Plus, I'm going to a conference in Idaho March 5-10, and I would be very sad if I missed someone while I was away.

So, to review, thus far I've seen in person (in order of appearance): Dodd, Kucinich, Obama, Clinton, and Edwards. All Dems. I'm eager to see Richardson. I do want to see Romney & Guiliani and hope they don't continue to avoid this area (Romney has so obviously been visiting only the very red, rich, republican towns). In my playbook, John Edwards is in the lead but it's so early that it's almost unfair to say that outloud. We all know from Primaries Past that anything can happen! I reserve the right to change my mind until the very last second, when I put magic marker to paper (yes, real PAPER ballots; I've never voted on a machine!!) when I vote in the New Hampshire Primary!

Time for a break, but I will keep scanning all my sources for more visits and will keep you posted! I'm bringing Dante Scala's book Stormy Weather with me to keep from having Primary Withdrawal. ;-) After just a few pages I was hooked! I love that this whole craziness started as a result of Yankee Thrifiness: schedule the primary on the same day as Town Meeting and save the money & hassle of two town civic events. I love it!

When the book arrived from Amazon, Griffin looked at the cover and said "why are that horsie (the Dem's donkey) and that elephant (GOP) fighting over the country?" Oh, out of the mouths of babes!