Volunteers Drive, Fly, Bus to NH for Primaries

MANCHESTER, N.H., Jan. 8, 2008 -- Less than 200 miles long and almost 70 miles wide, New Hampshire certainly carries some undeniable geographical appeal for presidential retail politics.

The compact state is good for the candidates, of course, but also for the campaign volunteers who descend upon the Granite State from across the country come primary season, eager to put feet to pavement to prove allegiance to their presidential picks.

They do for the all important first in the nation primary state what they often don't even do in their home states. They drive undecideds to campaign events. They go knocking door-to-door. They stand for hours at crowded intersections during rush hour, smiling, chanting and waving signs for their candidates, many of them on hiatus from their real lives to be ground soldiers here.

They say there's an intangible satisfaction in the process of campaigning face-to-face in New Hampshire, and that somewhere along the way, they find a community that inspires them.

A Bipartisan Community

Lenny Gail, a 40-something volunteer for Sen. Barack Obama's, D-Ill., presidential campaign who arrived from Chicago just Sunday morning, says: "Looking around, it's an awfully invigorating atmosphere both for our candidates -- who we are all hoping and expecting to be the next president -- and also for democracy."

Gail, an attorney, jokes that he's two decades older than the average Obama volunteer on the ground in New Hampshire but that the stakes are so high in this presidential election that "when Obama became a top-tier candidate ... I said 'I'll go to New Hampshire -- I bet I can be helpful there' ... doing whatever the campaign tells me to do."

Virginia Miller flew to New Hampshire from the Washington, D.C., area Friday following the Iowa caucus to support Sen. Hillary Clinton's, D-N.Y., presidential bid because she believes "one person can make a difference." She campaigns for the presidential races every four years in New Hampshire and says "to be part of a movement of people who believe that they personally can help make a change in this country is an awesome thing."

First-timer Susan Doban, a Brooklyn architect who is also part of Clinton's New Hampshire effort, boarded a bus from New York and slept on the floor at the YMCA in Concord to go door-to-door for her senator over the weekend. She remarked that New Hampshirites "seemed to respond to people who wanted to go this distance for Clinton."

And 19-year-old college student Molly Sterlacci headed north Saturday from Virginia to volunteer for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and plans on following the campaign to South Carolina after Tuesday's primary. For her first experience canvassing, she's put in time waving signs, telephoning and helping out at town hall meetings. "Showing our presence" on the ground here, she says, means something.

Value Added for the Granite State

To New Hampshire residents, there's value in that.

Donna Richards, a New Hampshire independent who was undecided till just two days ago, says the campaign foot soldiers from across the country are an integral part of the process.

"We'll ask them: How far have you come and what have you put on hold to do this?" She says, "They're very engaged and they're very involved and they're very articulate. People get excited about it here. ... They can speak in the candidate's stead very capably."

Though volunteers Gail, Miller, Doban and Sterlacci all indicated that they openly support their respective candidates back home, none had participated yet in this election cycle in these kinds of efforts.

Miller says it's because canvassing on the ground is "what New Hampshire's all about." In New Hampshire, she says, "people live and breathe this."

"There are all these little details, and all these things to think about, and people want to make the right decision and make the right choice," she says, "People have such a responsible attitude about taking this seriously."

"I believe at the heart of the New Hampshire resident, it is a civic responsibility," says McMahon, who is also a state organizer for the Clinton campaign. "While you think of it as a movement, we think of it as a personal responsibility toward our community and ultimately to our country."

Ricia McMahon, a New Hampshire state representative, says the state is "very receptive to all people coming to campaign" and that voters like to make themselves "knowledgeable about all issues."

Putting Faces to Names

"There's a saying in New Hampshire: you just can't make up your mind till you've seen someone at least six times," Miller says.

Independent voter Richards agrees. "People like to meet candidates because we can and because that's the strongest way to get a feel for who someone is. It's different when you meet someone, look them in the eye, listen to them for an hour -- instead of 30 seconds when the moderator interrupts them and they're on to the next thing."

She thinks the media control over the process as well as the schedule (this year's primary is the earliest in New Hampshire's history) are ultimately a detriment.

Independent and Undeclared

Independents outnumber registered Republicans and Democrats here. On primary day, those registered as undeclared can pick the primary they choose to vote in, vote and then return to their undeclared status.

For Richards, 42, being an undeclared allows her the maximum amount of choice at the ballot box. "We keep open minds until the last minute," she says.

But some believe that New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary and attendant attention is unfair to the presidential process.

Riding the wave of free publicity and media momentum from a New Hampshire win (and the fundraising, polling and endorsements that come with it) has the potential to influence voters in other states looking to hitch their presidential wagons to a political star.

Others point out that state demographics -- and therefore attitudes -- don't reflect the nation's. One of the whitest states in the country, less than 1 percent of New Hampshire's 1.3 million residents are African-American compared with 12 percent nationally. It's also one of the wealthiest states, with the fewest number of poor people of any state in the country and is the sixth highest in family income.

While she has spent her entire voting life in New Hampshire and welcomes the primaries and the clout that comes with it, "I don't think New Hampshire should have an advantage," Richards says but adds quickly, "and not because New Hampshire isn't a great venue. I think the process itself needs to be fundamentally changed so the American people can speak as a whole versus 50 people in Dixville Notch."

"I kind of feel bad -- to me, it's almost already over. No one's cast a ballot, and the media and the pollsters and the pundits have determined who they think is going to get the nomination and be elected."