As for Governor Romney, I saw him at a town hall in Exeter in the same place I first saw Senator McCain. I was already leaning toward McCain at this point, and was all prepared not to like Governor Romney; I felt he made a politically convenient shift to the right after running as a moderate in Massachusetts. However, I have to give Governor Romney credit, he did well. While he was less specific on Iraq than McCain and Biden, he was more specific than the other candidates on that issue. He was little bit canned, but overall interacted well, and gave good thoughtful answers. Clearly he is a bright fellow who knows what he’s talking about. He also had a good manner with the attendees, and was given a big assist from his adorable grandson who ran into his arms in the middle of the meeting.
There is an ongoing controversy about whether Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina should have the first primaries and caucuses. What people seem to miss when talking about changing the set-up, and possibly creating a national primary date, is that moving more states or larger states to the beginning of the process would eliminate the ability for candidates to do town halls, and meet with voters at these smaller scale events. While obviously this New Hampshirite would like my state to stay first in the nation, what I think is even more important is to preserve the town halls, house parties, and small-scale political events. Once the election moves to the national level, campaigns become much more about money and marketing. It makes sense that the first test for a candidate is if he or she can talk and interact with actual voters, and not have the whole process be about ad buys and fundraising.
An Indpendent Call by Katherine J. Morrison available at Amazon.
Meeting Senator/Vice President Biden – Excerpt #5
