In his initial visit to New Hampshire last week, Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, checked off several obligatory to-dos for any first-time presidential candidate.
He sat down for a taped interview with WMUR, New Hampshire’s only statewide TV station. He then paid a visit to the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester, a frequent backdrop for candidate meet-and-greets. Scott’s staff had even pre-stocked the diner’s booths with some invited guests.
“The privilege of coming to New Hampshire is not something you should take for granted,” Scott said as he addressed more than a dozen reporters who’d come to see him.
The past few days have been busy ones for Republicans looking to share in that privilege. In addition to Scott, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy also visited the state in recent days, all looking to make a good first impression as the 2024 Republican presidential primary field takes shape.
The candidates touched on similar issues in their campaign stops -- the need to take on Democrats on cultural issues, and America’s exceptionalism -- though they differed significantly in tone.
Scott, for one, was generally upbeat and optimistic.
“I think the future is incredibly bright and the American people are doing just fine; we have to get the American government right,” he said in his Red Arrow visit.
Scottwas then peppered with questions on abortion, a fraught topic here, and across the country. In that maiden interview with WMUR, Scott had promised to sign a 20-week abortion ban into law as president. Asked if he would support a total ban, Scott avoided a direct answer.
“I would simply say that the fact of the matter is, when you when you look at abortion, one of the challenges we have is that we continue to go to the most restrictive conversations without broadening the scope,” he said, adding: “I am 100 percent pro-life, and I never walk away from that.”
There were fewer reporters on hand an hour later when Ramaswarmy spoke to local Republicans in the Manchester Millyard. But the biotech and finance entrepreneur turned conservative provocateur didn’t stint when it came to espousing his own brand of American exceptionalism. It was less sunny, and harder-edged, than Scott’s.
“I said I’m the first presidential candidate who will shut down the FBI,” Ramaswamy pledged. “I will shut down the department of nuclear energy. I will shut down the nuclear regulatory commission – anything that stands in the way of actually living out our American ideals.”
Sporting a navy blue suit and red tie identical to the ones in the image of him plastered on his campaign bus parked outside, Ramaswamy spoke crisply for more than an hour. Along the way he promised to end affirmative action via executive order, and deploy the US military to attack Mexican drug cartels. The 37-year-old also urged the small, mostly gray-haired crowd to winnow a GOP field only beginning to take shape.
“There are two people in this race that matter: myself and Donald Trump,” Ramaswamy said. “You guys will face that choice.”
Greg Paladino, a Manchester stock trader, was attentive throughout Rasmaswamy’s remarks. He said he agreed with plenty of what he heard, but he also predicted a tough go for hardline candidates in 2024, absent a catastrophe on the order of a new pandemic, a financial meltdown or China taking over Taiwan.
“It’s only going to be where there is a real crisis that those middle-of-the-road, semi-political people are going to wake up,” Paladino said. “But until that happens, there’s no chance. I don’t think Vivek can get through. I don’t think Trump can get through.”
The 2024 forecast was more optimistic at the GOP’s Amos Tuck Dinner Friday evening. The state Republican Party raised more than $250,000 – a record.
The guest of honor was DeSantis, who pointed his audience to his record as governor of Florida.
“Politics is not entertainment; it’s not about building a brand or virtue signaling on social media,” DeSantis said. “Ultimately, it’s about delivering results, and our record in Florida has been second to none.”
DeSantis steered clear of a recent addition to that record: Florida’s new six-week abortion ban he signed into law last week. But DeSantis won a standing ovation when he invoked his efforts to forbid classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity.
“And I don’t care if Disney doesn’t like that,” he said. “I’m standing up for the truth, and I’m standing up for what is right.”
What that means for 2024 remains to be seen. DeSantis is expected to officially jump into the race next month. Vicky Gulla of Spofford, for one, who was among the dozens of local activists who hustled to have their picture taken with DeSantis, said he’s everything the party needs in its next leader.
“He’s able to actually accomplish things,” Gulla said. “He doesn’t just speak in blather. He actually has a political philosophy and he sticks with it. And you’ve got to love it.”
Republican voters — here and elsewhere -- have lots of time to sort out what they may love in a leader. But as the past few days in New Hampshire indicate: spring is in the air and, for 2024 hopefuls, courtship of local voters is starting.
