On the ground with Hillary in NH

From Jo Anne Bander

Some of you already know that I am on the ground with the Hillary campaign in New Hampshire (where I have been since January 5th) while others will read it here as first notice. I am, and it is cold, and the work is hard--but fascinating. As I canvassed today, going house to house with lists identifying houses with registered Democrats and Independents (we did not call on Republicans), I looked up at a granite high school with letters engraved on the cornice stating TRAINING FOR CITIZENSHIP. I can't tell you how successful they are today in promoting citizenship, but I can tell you that Democracy is alive and well here.

No matter what you are reading about who is winning (according to the polls and purported pundits), I do feel sure that we really will not know until the votes have been cast and counted. There really is a large percent of the citizens of New Hampshire who are Independents who still are undecided, just as there are many Democrats who are still truly undecided--even though these are people who vote. Suffice it to say that they are really struggling and trying to reach their decision by reading, getting out to meet the candidates(one man I talked with was going to hear Hillary tonight and Obama tomorrow), watching the debates and tv coverage, talking with friends--and even responding to a knock on the door and talking with canvassers like yours truly. In the conversations I had, and they were many, the struggle is most often between Clinton and Edwards.

They have it easy in a way that we in Florida do not; they do not worry about whether or not their vote will count. They are also not letting Iowa's voters decide for them and Floridians should not be influenced by either New Hampshire nor Iowa.

What we should do, however, is ignore the bias of the media which seems determined to elevate Obama and disparage and downplay Clinton. I watched the debate here last night with Clinton, Obama, Edwards and Richardson from the beginning to the very end and then continued to watch the spinners and commentators and the replays of key moments. Tne editing eliminated many of Hillary's finest moments and the commentary ignored her accomplishments and clear and reasoned comments.

Whatever the results on Tuesday (and I do expect Hillary to have a great election), we still have a long way to go. I for one am in this race for the long pull. Stay tuned for my on the ground reports from New Hampshire and additional commentary as the 2008 primaries continue into early February and beyond. And for those in Florida, who are at this time still disenfranchised from having our votes count by virtue of the date of our primary, do make sure you get out and vote. We still have high hopes that the Democratic Party will get smart and let our delegates in.

From the Clinton Campaign,
Jo Anne