Obama, Clinton rallies prove hot tickets

Manchester, N.H. -- Big crowds can be illusory; they don't always translate into success at the ballot box. But both Barack Obama -- presumably riding a wave -- and Hillary Clinton -- trying to find one -- could take heart that lots of folks wanted to see them Sunday as they stumped in New Hampshire.

With polls in the state showing that Obama's victory in Iowa has not gone unnoticed, his audiences filled gyms, auditoriums and overflow rooms -- close to 1,000 in Manchester, an estimated 3,000 in Exeter, a couple thousand in Derry, more than 1,000 in Salem, 2,000 or so in Keene.

The Times' Maria La Ganga was with the roadshow and reports that at the Salem event, the auditorium at a local high school was so packed that the media corps traveling with Obama was turned away by the fire marshal guarding the doors. Not even peeking was permitted.

As so often happens, the candidate's schedule quickly went awry and the crowds that came to see him in the latter part of the day needed patience. The Salem event, for instance, was set to start at 4:15 p.m. (EST); it started more like 5:30 p.m.

Those awaiting Obama included ABC's Diane Sawyer, who conducted an interview set to air Monday on "Good Morning America." An excerpt was released, echoing one of the notes Obama struck on the trail. Here's the teaser: ...

Sawyer: "Do you get angry at (Clinton)?"

Obama:  "Not really. I find the manner in which they’ve been running their campaign sort of depressing lately. It was interesting in (Saturday night's) debate, Sen. Clinton saying don’t feed the American people false hopes. Get a reality check. You know? I mean, you can picture JFK saying, we can’t go to the moon. It’s a false hope. Let’s get a reality check. It’s not, sort of, I think what our tradition has been."

Clinton, after some door-to-door campaigning, was greeted by large and buoyant crowds at rallies in Nashua (about 3,700 people) and Hampton (close to 1,600). In both locations, overflow rooms were used at local high schools to accommodate people who couldn't get in.

Her third-place showing in Iowa called for changes, and one involves her willingness to take audience questions. Indeed, according to The Times' Peter Nicholas, she now spends most of her time answering questions; in Hampton, he reports, she stayed so long fielding queries that people started filtering out. That freed up space so that a new wave of people from the overflow room came in -- and so began a new round of questions.

Some who came to see her won't be able to deliver the help she needs most now -- votes in Tuesday's primary.

For instance, her listeners in Hampton included Al Ricko, a 72-year-old retired police officer. And he was impressed: "She's very bright," he said. "She says the right things, so I'm supporting her."

One problem: He's a Massachusetts resident.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[MK, Los Angeles, California]

You might want to read the Washington Times article about Clinton's Nashua event. Apparently, most of the crowd were bused in from New York where they had been put up by the campaign in hotels since Friday and/or were paid volunteers from Massachusetts who were again bused in to make the crowd look bigger than it was. Apparently, lots of people started leaving not long after the event began so as to catch a ride back on the buses bought and paid for by the campaign to their homes outside of New Hampshire. First planted questions, now planted crowds to give a false sense of excitement.

[Takashi]

MK: Bused in from new york? And even bought by the campaigne?

a) Illegal.

b) Obama would be all over that information.

The rumors would have been flying by now. Oddly though, they aren't. Clinton's got guts, and she needs glory, but the only way she's going to get it is if she starts appealing to a younger crowd at a wide range (I'm 19, but a lot of young people seem to be trying to refresh themselves at the white house with a heavily stylized man with some uplifting and unimportant speeches.)

Hillary is behind because she's doing things the old school way, and yeah, its her and her campainge people's fault, but all these people falling for this style over substance Barack boy need a reality check. After all, they are the ones screaming for the world's respect to be put back into america aren't they? They are the first ones to mention how stupid the country is, and how we need a leader who will triumph over foreign affairs and commit to peace.

This guy is nice, but he ain't tough.
If america really wants change, but for the better, then they're going to have to make the first lady, 'The First Lady'.

[Obama black racist]

We are absolutely sick of obama saying hes not running on race, but thats all he offering and all we are talking about!!!!, NO NEWS MEDIA, especially CNN will talk about his in-experience, flip flopping on serious issues, lack of voting in the senate, sides with George Bush on continuing and the war and voting against bringing the troops home, he is a self proclaimed Black Racist. What’s wrong with this picture America? It’s disgusting that media is afraid to speak out on obama for fear they would be attacking a black man, who cares, this is America, but it’s ok to lie and attack a white woman who has proven what she can do for our country. Woman of NH wake up! Obama keeps touting Change, what change? Race? That’s not change that’s going backwards 50yrs. I HAVE NOT HEARD OR READ THE CHANGE OBAMA TALKS ABOUT? THE CHANGE IS PUTTING AN INEXPERIENCED BLACK MAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE, EVEN THOUGH HE IS NOT THE BEST CANDIDATE? If obama is the dem nom, you will see another Republican President in 2008!

[tim howe]

the obama camp are sch amazing liars. there are busloads of supporters for obama in nh too. dont care to mention them huh? ths is always done for nh.
ive never seen a more complaining bunch of whiners that the obama cult. pathetic.

[anne villa]

"OBAMA PORTRAIT MUSIC VIDEO" on Youtube - Don't Miss It!

For those of you who still have not heard:

There is a WONDERFUL and INSPIRING music video on Youtube.com entitled "Obama Portrait Music Video by Bjarne O."
You can use the free downloaded high-quality stereo version from the composer's website in DVD form to show at house parties. Even people who knew nothing at all about Obama have been moved: either a thrilling introduction, or further inspiration for those of us who already know and fight for Obama.
The music soundtrack, which incorporates excerpts from the famous 2004 speech, can also be downloaded separately in high-quality.

It is an uplifting and informative campaign tool - so please, SPREAD THE WORD!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mCPwbozpIzM

Together for Obama,
Anne

[JaneBecker]

What we need is a real litmus test of the candidates - like, who would you take home at the end of an evening?

http://thedamedomain.blogspot.com/2008/01/caucusing-for-president.html

[Terri]

I also read the Washington Times article about supporters being bused in to the event.

It's a little silly to blame Obama supporters for something the Washington Times wrote, isn't it?

Here is the link:

http://video1.washingtontimes.com/bellantoni/2008/01/clinton_recruits_outofstaters_1.html

[Blaise]

Who cares that Clinton's been busing in people? They want to support her; let them support her. As long as they're not planting questions anymore, it doesn't seem like an important point of contention.

There has been plenty of criticism in both the media and across the internet against Obama over his experience. No, he doesn't have the international diplomatic experience of Biden or Richardson. Yes, he's only been a Senator for a few years. But he has been working in a very real way to improve people's lives in this country for the majority of his adult life. He has worked as a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago. He has worked as a community organizer in inner-city Chicago. He has worked on a state-wide basis as a state Senator, and he has nation-wide experience with his three years in the Senate. While most junior senators spend their first years watching and learning, Obama took steps to work with Republicans on bi-partisan legislation on a number of international issues, including nuclear proliferation, the genocide in Darfur, and dependence on foreign oils.

The important thing to realize is that while he has less experience than some other democratic candidates (don't even bother bringing up the international experience of the Republican candidates - nil), he has always shown good, solid judgment and he's a man of true principle. These things are just as important as the experience issue. We just have to make a decision as to what we value most as voters.