As the New Hampshire primary draws near, the candidates know that this is the time of greatest uncertainty. Campaigns are won or lost based on what happens in the final weeks.
In Exeter, New Hampshire, the town we’ve been following in our series Primary Place, voters find themselves at the center of an ever growing effort to win their affections.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Jon Greenberg has more.
On television, they get ads.
On weeknights, they get phone calls.
And on weekends, they get canvassers.
CUT: When you’re at the door, tell them why you support John. {fade down} Share with them why you are out there in the cold, knocking on doors. –:07
Saturday at the Me and Ollie’s Coffee shop, Ariel Holland, a staffer for John Edwards, gets about a dozen volunteers ready to hit the neighborhoods with maps and lists of names.
SFX – Obama group hub-bub
A few blocks away at the Exeter Library, the state field director for the Obama campaign, Rob Hill, is getting a roomful of supporters focused on what lies ahead.
CUT: The 30 days that we have left between now and when people go to the polls I think is very clearly the most critical time of this campaign and {fade down} it just so happens that as an organization, we are absolutely hitting our stride at a perfect time.” :13
And on Hall Place, a street across from the library, the Romney campaign is holding its very first canvass in Exeter. In honor of the occasion, or perhaps for my benefit, they have brought out one of their bigger guns.
CUT: [knock, knock] Hi sorry to surprise you, my name is Tagg Romney, I’m Governor Romney’s oldest son.” :08
As the Romney team heads down Hall Place, their target is voters who are still making up their minds. They find one in 86-year-old Alma Hall.
CUT: I’m undecided yet. But I’ve eliminated several, believe me//Well hopefully my Dad isn’t// But he’s not one of them.// Well, that’s good to hear.//I promise you that.// In addition to being a good leader, he’s a good man, a good Dad. And he was a great business leader in addition to all that//I know//So I think he’d make a great president.// I know, well, good luck to you.// Thank you. We’d love to have you on the team.// Thank you.// Bye-bye// Good by. :27
Tagg Romney finds three people on this short street who declare that they are committed to his father. One person says Romney has always been her pick. I go back to Alma Hall’s house to see what holds her back. She is torn between Romney and John McCain. She has reasons to trust Romney.
CUT: To me, he’s going to try to straighten out our difficulties, like with health care, which is so important to people in my age group. :11
But Alma sees much in John McCain.
CUT: I think he’s a man that knows what’s going on right now which some of the others don’t know. And I have good feelings for John. I really do.”
And what will help Alma decide?
CUT: I’m sure that along the way, there’s something that going to hit me that’s going to say “You know, he’s the guy. He’s gonna try.” But that’s about all I can tell you.”
Two hours later, on the other side of town, near one of Exeter’s largest mobile home parks, Kevin Moulton is wrapping up a morning canvassing for John Edwards. Kevin holds back little when he goes door to door. He tells people about his mother and her trouble with her health care bills and he finds that people in the park connect with his story – and one person in particular stands out.
CUT: The lady who I spoke with this morning had an epileptic son. So she’s telling me she’s leaning toward John Edwards because John Edwards’s plan covers everyone. //That wouldn’t have happened to have been Anita Jordan, would it?//I don’t know.” :20
It was Anita Jordan and Anita is the sort of voter who makes these final days so very unpredictable. Back in the summer, she liked Barack Obama. Then in the fall, we were talking in the home of one of her neighbors when canvassers came by.
CUT: They dropped off this pamphlet which is NH for Hillary and this is so different from Obama’s” :11
The campaign handout listed Clinton’s priorities in simple bullet points. Among them, universal health coverage and college tuition assistance. Back then, Anita was more than impressed.
CUT: Right there. I don’t even have to read the other side. I’m a hundred percent behind her. And I wasn’t until I just read this a second ago.”
But now on this December morning as she and her son make Christmas ornaments, her views have changed again. Anita liked what Kevin had to say about Edwards and the 74-page booklet that outlines his position on every issue from A to Z..
CUT: He wanted me to commit to Edwards but I’m like, I could tell you that I am, but I’m not there yet. I’m 75% maybe. I don’t know.” :09
Anita has to laugh at herself.
“Every time I see something, I am like “Oh, I agree with that. Oh, that’s good.” And then something changes and “Oh, I agree with that.” I feel like I’m like the wind. It’s probably going to take me until I’m walking in that booth to get that final thing because I am like the wind.” :16
Many voters in both parties are like Anita. For campaign managers, it is a reality that tests their mettle. All their phone banks, ads, and canvassing can be derailed by the last thought that crosses a voter’s mind as they vote.
For NHPR News, I’m Jon Greenberg
