Questions about New Hampshire primary

[Island Blue]

Okay, okay I know the New Hampshire primary is a long ways off, but I have a few questions for any of y'all who volunteered for Kerry there last year. First of all, do they welcome outsiders to come up and volunteer for the campaign? And if so, when do they need folks the most?

I didn't have an opportunity to volunteer anywhere last year because I was working so much, but I am already saving up some vacation time to volunteer in '08 should Kerry run. I'm not sure if it will be in New Hampshire or not, but I really would like to be a part of the process there. (I just don't know how practical it is to think about it.) Any advice would be welcomed.

P.S. I do believe I might literally freeze my ass off up there in January, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!

[JI7]

1. a few things

i didn't volunteer there last year although i did support Kerry early on.

i'm not sure how much this is an issue in New Hampshire. but in Iowa the people do tend to be "suspicious" of outsiders. they are more willing to listen to what those within the state and especially those in their own neighborhoods have to say. i would say this is probably true all across the country, especially in small population areas.

if you want to volunteer a good idea is to reach out to people who are like yourself in ways. if you are a vet then go to other veterans and tell them why Kerry would be a good candidate. if you are a student then go to other students and talk about those issues.

one thing i know i would not do is go to those who are older than me and tell them they need to vote for Kerry based on the reasons i personally like him. instead i would probably become knowledgeable about issues important to them and about Kerry's position on those issues and try to appeal to them using that. but i would NOT say something like "you need to vote for Kerry because i just think he is a wonderful guy and i love him etc etc".

but Iowa and New Hampshire are great places to go , especially in the early days to meet the various candidates. i regret not going last time. but i think i might for the 2008 elections. in the earlier days the crowds are smaller and from the Kerry events people were able to have actual conversations with him rather than just a quick q&a session.

[TayTay]

2. The New Hampshire Primary starts in Nov 2006

For all practical purposes. It starts off really slowly at first. A committee gets formed, the candidate files the $1,000 fee that gets them on the ballot in NH. And then they start going to all these little (and big) town and city committee meetings. They make speeches and line up as many small town (and big) supporters as they can. (Which gives some people in NH who don't deserve it big swelled up heads.) There is nothing better than having all the Presidential-wannabees calling up Joe Shmoe, City Councilman, asking for their support. (Gawd, it takes a lot of committment to run for President. I should think it is both an ennervating and humbling experience.)

The race really starts to pick up once the warm weather comes. Then you have parades, picnics and lots and lots of house parties. These can have anywhere from 10 to a couple of hundred people at them. As teh year goes on, the events get a little more high profile.Once the fall hits, then usually the real candidates with money ramp up on staff and events. (However, John Kerry didn't really do this. He was tanking in the polls in the fall of 2003. So, in Nov. he pulled out of NH, for the most part, and put everything into Iowa, banking on a slingshot effect that if he won Iowa, the Big Mo would carry him into a good showing in NH. He was right.)

I recommend it if you can come. It's a hoot. The early primaries are awesome and since NH is such a physically small state to play in, you will probably meet all the Dem (and a few of the Rethug) candidates. The joke in NH is:
Two guys meet at a diner and start talking about the primary
"Who you going to vote for?"
"I don't know yet, I leaning towards X, but I've only met him twice."

And you will definitely freeze. The last Jan primary was held during one of the coldest snaps in my memory. We had wind chills of -40 below but that includes the wind chill. That is friggin cold. But you can do stand-outs in that weather, right? (It was only -10 below or so in the day time.) I think Iowa is just as cold.

So, Whome, what did you do during the early primary season?

[whometense]

3. I was chained to a desk

at the Boston HQ making cold calls to NH phone lists. It wasn't 40 below zero (my daughter was up in NH doing viz during that cold spell), but the reception was pretty icy. :scared:

After the earliest days it got to be more fun. At the beginning it was r-e-a-l-l-y grim, though.

[TayTay]

6. I was actually afraid to make phone calls

during the general election. I liked going door to door, that was fun. I loved putting in info into the computer databases, that was fun too. But I was so afraid to call someone, with my deep Boston accent, and have then not understand what I was saying. (I just wanted to stay in New Hampshire. And canvass with the two shrinks from Newton and the IT guy from Cambridge. Now that's fun. OMG.)

Spoken at the speed of light
"Hi, I'm callin frahm the Keh-ree campaign and I'd like to ask if yah've made yuh mind up yet on who yuh votin fah this yeeah?"
"What?"
"Fah Prezadent. Have yah made up yah mind who yah ah votin fah fah Prezadent. Any ideer?"
"Ahm, what?"

I hate doing the calls. I hate talking on the phone anyway so this was just my ideer of hell. I'd rather go door-to-door. Heck, I loved doing the stand-outs, cuz you met really interesting people. (And standing outside as a human billboard on the street with dozens and dozens of other people with signs is fun. Really.)

Whome, did you make national calls from the Boston HQ?

[whometense]

7. Yeah.

I pretty much did a little bit of everything. Data entry, phoning. The phone calls got easier, but they were never easy. I'm not really a phone person either , so you can see how deep my devotion is. :o

My daughter came once early on to help phone, and ended up in tears. Those crusty NH "Independents." The office staff felt so terrible they sent her home with three t-shirts (including one from the '96 senate campaign).

During the convention I spent a day there which included such activities as making signs for a rally and cutting and tying string for ID badges. Sort of like grownup kindergarten. A lot of the phoning later on was to get volunteers to show up for various events.

[TayTay]

8. Now I feel bad. Next time I will sign up for phone work

I'm a phone wussy. After all, I communicate all the time with my Rethug brother in Londonderry. I'm used to getting a hard time from Granite Staters. (I'll be chahmin.) Hey, maybe I can get my non-Rethug brother in Kingston to agree to host something. (Local stuff.) He's the Navy vet.

I really liked the Stand-outs though. (Which is nuts.) How can you like standing outside holding a sign on Library Hill in Nashua? That's just insane. I have no idea what good that does, but on days when the office had too many volunteers, they would send us out to the highway to stand there and hold signs. Or go to Library Hill, which was an intersection between two streets in a fairly pleasant section of Nashua with access to good restaurants. I really loved this. (TayTay is obviously insane.) You get to talk to other volunteers and meet interesting people. And I found all new ways to deal with drivers who shout strange things at you.

Do other states do stand-outs?

[whometense]

9. We did them in Boston too.

I spent one really blustery, chilly (fall-cold, not winter-cold) rainy afternoon in South Boston holding a sign and waving to cars. Kerry was attending a fundraiser there. It was fun, actually.

[TayTay]

10. See, it's addictive

I love doing that. I did that for Clinton back in '92 during a snowstorm. That was nuts.

[whometense]

11. I'd definitely do it again.

I loved how ALL the cabbies would honk and wave. They were by far the most enthusiastic passers-by.

[ginnyinWI]

14. we had them in Wisconsin

I think they called them "visibility" or something. I didn't do that, but did phone banks and also door-to-door. I am not a natural at either one (shy) but made myself, and got used to it. On balance it was a lot of fun to work with other Dems for a great cause. And we did land WI on the Kerry side (well, HE helped, too!!) :blush:

[JI7]

4. about Kerry's decision to pull out of NH

i read how the polls showed that Kerry's personal favorable ratings were high among the people. but many just viewed him as not having a chance. they viewed him as someone whose campaign is over.

so all he had to do was be viewed as a winner and a good place finish in Iowa was the key to that. also important is that in iowa his personal favorability numbers were high even throughout the very low points.

[kerrygoddess]

15. It was a smoke screen...

They had already done all the ground work there months before. The same with Iowa. Seriously. It was meme put out to the press to make everyone think they weren't paying attention, all the while they were working uder the radar. That is JK's style.

I was told in Nov, right after Veteran's Day, by a staffer in Iowa that we would shock the world and win Iowa.

[TayTay]

17. That makes perfect sense

Cuz there was an awful lot of activity up here in fall 2003/Jan 2004. I guess it shows that I love the primary, and I love all the hoopla that goes with it. It's fun to just drive around Nashua and Manchester and see all the campaigns and activity going on. Then there is the media in Jan which is unbelievable. It's a lot of fun. It should be even more intense next time because both Rethugs and Dems have open primaries with no favorites.

[TayTay]

5. New Hampshire is very protective of it's primary

So they really want to make the campaigners and their staff feel welcome. A lot of NH people offer beds and floor space to volunteers. This is part of the traditions of the primary. NH folks are used to out-of-staters coming in. (Cuz they always do and without them, there would be no 'First In the Nation' primary.)

However, they do get sick and tired of the phone calls reall early on. And the ads (that go on and on and on and on. I can still quote the ads for last time. They ran a lot on Boston TV which reaches vote-rich Southern New Hampshire.)

Come on up. You'll have fun. And you can choose to come up earlier. If you come in Jan., well, my house is one mile from the NH border. 1/2 hour from The Queen City, Manchester, NH, primary central.

[PresidentObama]

12. I can't wait to volunteer again...period.

Like you TayTay, I hated making calls. I was told by the local political veterans I did pretty well for a young caller, but I still was uncomfortable calling people not knowing if their in the middle of dinner or what. I think door to door, they get to see your smile and your energy. They don't get to see that through the phone. I loved entering data into the computers, that was fun as well.

All in all, I can't wait till 2008. I should volunteer in 2006, BUT I especially can't wait for 08'.

[Pirate Smile]

13. If South Carolina is early again, that could be a good spot to be working

at and very necessary. Just an idea.

[Island Blue]

16. Thanks for all of the input guys!

I turned in early last night so I missed my own conversation! Y'all gave some really good advice. I would really love to go up and help out in NH because it is a small state and the process there just seems much more personal than in other, larger states. It's always just looked fun to me, looking at it from an outsider prospective. (I mean I know it's a lot of hard work to.)

If I don't make it up there, I can always campaign in South Carolina like Pirate Smile suggested. I've heard it mentioned that the North Carolina primary might get bumped up to the week after Super Tuesday so that's also a option since I'm right here. I guess the thought of a road trip just seemed appealing!

I feel the same way about making phone calls that some of you do - I really don't enjoy talking on the phone, even at work when I have to. Tay Tay's Boston accent phone call reenactment was too funny. Several years ago,a friend and I visited Boston. When were getting ready to leave it was raining and I needed new windshield wipers on my car so I pulled into a gas station. The guy came out and I told him what I needed and to this day I have no idear what the hell he said at all! He put the wipers on, I gave him money, he gave me change and off we went. I know that doesn't have anything to do with NH or JK but that memory just popped back into my head.