Interestingly, there was no seating except for the chosen ones behind the speaker's podium. I don't know how students got chosen for those seats, but the bulk of them looked like they just rolled out of bed or out of the gym. The student activists were outside doing visibility, then slowly joined the roped off section beside the stage where they got a lousy side view of their candidate.
I mostly chatted with three or four members of the UNH College Dems about who's coming to campus (not Obama any time soon, to their dismay), what venues are open (very few apparently), and what classes are they taking next spring (can they get Scala's class or not). The consensus was that Obama is being over-handled, and Richardson is loosing support. Everyone has a soft spot for Kucinich.
But back to Hillary. The venue was really unfortunate. And worse, it was not even close to being packed. I strolled right in and got pretty close, even though doors opened at 2:30pm. That's very unusual for her. Secret Service seemed low key and less visible, thankfully. Hillary's staff, as expected, was calm and professional: no frantic running around at the last minute acting self-congratulatory. They certainly are the best dressed staffers I've seen.
She had a prepared speech that was nicely peppered with references to campus teams and academic initiatives to flatter the locals. Of course she praised UNH then mentioned it is the most expensive public institution in the US! But I think she was a bit flat (as was her hair). She targetted Bush rather than her rivals. I didn't stay for Q&A, so I know my anaylsis isn't complete. I had to get back to the office.
I will mention the dare that I came up with & challenged the College Dem leaders to: get a candidate to take a picture with supporters, by our new UNH Wildcat Statue, which is outside the Whittemore Center Arena. I don't care who (well, I hope it's my guy but anyone would be fun!), I just threw down the gauntlet and will see if any one takes me up on it. Dare Ya!! I think it would be fun. I love the sculpture, and though students initially thought it was a waste of money (I believe it was privately funded), it's now very popular, judging from the photos I've seen on Facebook. It's nice to finally have some buzz around here. Dodd today, Edwards & Ron Paul next week. Maybe I can snag a front row seat again, or at least a ride in the Topsy Turvy Bus. ;-)
