Jillians Restaurant in Manchester - Beer, Pub Grub, Video Games and a U.S. Senator/Presidential candidate thanking his NH supporters after participating in a nationally televised debate. Gotta love first-in-the-nation.
Ron Paul's entire campaign organization showed up at the GOP debate last night and commanded The Pen, the area set aside for a candidate's supporters outside the debate hall.
Last night in the debate press file room we saw a lot of the media covering a lot of the media.
We're not quite sure what the angle is.
Especially when the stories from last night seem to be all written by the same person.
So which candidate won? Which candidate lost?
That's not the important question. The important question is who sounded and acted Presidential.
And, no surprise to us, it was John McCain.
Noted: Mike Huckabee was also terrific and had the 2nd best performance of the night. We think that he is a decent, smart and articulate candidate, which plays well in the debates.
We are also hearing that Governor Huckabee will have a much stronger 2nd quarter raising money than people expect.
But back to John McCain.
Call GreenMountainPolitics1 bias all you like. Harp on our close relationship with folks in the Senator's campaign. That's certainly your right.
But if you doubt the sincerity of our convictions, go back and watch the debate tape. There were 10 candidates on that stage last night and only 1 President.
And that, as they say, is that.
575+ of us came. 575+ of us saw. 575+ of us didn't learn much.
Shame on us. Because we don't think that many of "us" get it. And we are quite sure that many of "us" aren't trying.
But we know The Politico's Roger Simon "gets" it. So does Mark Halperin, who did his best with the slop we were served last night.
We are stunned at the time, money and manpower that went into a "debate" where the moderator got more speaking time than 6 of the 8 candidates.
And not nearly enough was said about David Walker. Not. Nearly. Enough.
But the salmon buffet was nice. And we did see some of our friends from the media. And it was on CNN's dime. So...
Inside Basball Snark to one of our Clacker neighbors from last night: When people are sitting really, really close to one another there is not a whole bunch of privacy.
So, if you send a email that refers to your neighbor as "that Monday Morning Fucker" well, chances are your "fucker" neighbor is going to see it.
And that "fucker" neighbor might be tempted to tell his 400 friends in the old and new media that a well known blogger, who is nothing if not a shrill one trick pony on the Iraq War, looked completely lost when the conversation last night turned to Bob Kerrey's recent Iraq War Op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.
It was kinda a big deal. And not knowing about it well, it makes you look ignorant.
Even if we are a "fucker".
We're just saying.
We'll be posting our thoughts about tonight's non-event event tomorrow morning.
When the ringing in our ear stops. And the rum wears off.
But even in our current handicapped state, it's clear who tonight's big debate winner was - moderator Wolf Blitzer.
Who got more airtime (13:24) than any candidate except for Clinton (14:26) and Obama (16:00).
Kudos to the Dodd campaign for providing the exact time counts.
Of course, since we spent some time in DC a few years ago, we are (hyper) aware of old Wolf's love for old Wolf's voice.
One night at Chef Geoff's (shout-out Geoff, the Choate graduate owner) on New Mexico Avenue (long before the 13th Street location), we had the pleasure of being seated at a table directly behind Blitzer's.
And that night we had a side of Blitzer to go along with our serving of Blitzer.
Blitzer on Blitzer is a wonderful thing.
We're not live blogging the debate. Certainly not.
But we couldn't resist Mike Gravel's line when asked about veterans.
Watching this debate, in the Saint Anselm auditorium, with poor audio BLASTING from huge speakers scattered throughout the room well, we wish we had some of Gravel's "meds" right now.
Or a good single malt scotch.
We're at the CNN/WMUR/Union Leader debate. With press credentials. With 575+ other Clackers.
Our buddy James Pindell "scored" Team Obama's official talking points for the night. Most likely not from Team Obama.
The talking points are interesting because they show just how "messaged" presidential politics is these days.
Even when you're dealing with the "Change" candidate.
* Barack Obama intends to use this debate to show Democrats in New Hampshire and across the nation that he is the candidate who will turn the page on the failed politics of the past so we can come together and meet some of the greatest challenges we’ve faced in generations.
* Whether it’s fighting to end the war in Iraq – a war he opposed from the start – or outlining his plans to make health care and college tuition more affordable, Barack Obama has been laying out a substantive agenda for change.
* All across the country, we’re seeing crowds we’ve never seen before. People are coming to the first political event of their lives. Just last weekend, we had 300 people in Berlin, 1,500 in Conway, and 5,000 in Hanover. People in New Hampshire and across America are hungry for change and they’re seeing that our campaign is not just about winning an election, it’s about transforming our country.
* That’s why hundreds of people braved the rain and chilly temperatures to attend our New Hampshire canvass two weeks ago. They knocked on more than 13,000 doors, and talked about why they support this movement for change. That’s the kind of strong grassroots support that’s at the heart of this campaign.
* Barack Obama certainly isn’t the candidate who’s had the longest experience in Washington. But he is the candidate with two decades of experience bringing people together to solve common challenges as a community organizer, civil rights attorney, law professor, state Senator, and now U.S. Senator.
* Barack Obama believes that complicated problems deserve real answers and these debates tend to help those who offer sound bites, not solutions.
Q&A
On health care plan
Barack Obama has laid out a universal health care plan that cuts costs by up to $2500 per family and covers every American. Once the plan is implemented, if there are still Americans who are not insured, we will find a way to cover them. But the major reason that 45 million Americans don’t have health insurance is not because they don’t want it, it’s because they can’t afford it. That’s why this plan focuses heavily on bringing down the cost of health care for every American.
By cutting the cost of health care, Barack Obama’s plan will strengthen our middle class. Because when families pay less for insurance, they’ll have more left over to pay for other basic necessities. And with costs going up for everything from college tuition to gas, Barack Obama believes we need to do more to lift up our middle class.
On the substance versus style critique
In the last several weeks, Barack Obama has laid out a foreign policy vision that restores American leadership in the world, rebuilds our military, secures all loose nuclear weapons within four years, and doubles our investment in weak and failing states. And he’s laid out a universal health care plan that will cut costs for every family by up to $2500 and cover every American. On energy, he went to Detroit and told automakers they had a responsibility to raise our fuel standards so we can save our planet and break our dangerous dependence on oil. He’s talked about how we can stand up to private lenders and reform our student loan system so we can make college more affordable.
The gentleman on the right is Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley.
Governor O'Malley is in town to help kick-off New Hampshire's big debate weekend by acting as a surrogate for Hillary Clinton at the NH Democratic Convention.
He did a great job in the 15 minutes he spent with us - health care reform, the War in Iraq & the Orioles' record.
The three Clackers surrounding the Governor are Jerid Kurtz of Buckeye State Blog, Dean Barker of Blue Hampshire and James Pindell of The Primary Source (and Boston Globe).
We sound like a broken record, but Team Clinton is a juggernaut.
We don't agree with all of her politics, but there is no denying that she has the best run campaign in NH on the Democratic side.
That counts for something.
