On March 9th, both of the Democratic candidates took the stage at Miami Dade College in Florida for their eighth debate. It was just one day after Senator Bernie Sanders upset win over Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Michigan Primary. But while Sanders was able to eek out a win, Clinton was still able to gain a greater number of delegates that night, mostly from her large margin over Sanders in the Mississippi Primary. After all of the primaries prior to March 15th Clinton's delegate total is at 775 while Sanders has a total of 552.
From the beginning of this debate, the moderators immediately asked pressing questioning of the candidates, wasting no time in getting started. Clinton was asked where she failed with regards to her loss in the Michigan Primary and why she has started to sound more like the Democratic nomination is already hers rather than continue to battle for it in the primaries. She responded by saying that her campaign was focusing on her other wins from that night, not her one loss in Michigan, and that this entire process is a marathon where you need to look for positive solutions to get things done. As Sanders stated just a few minutes later when asked about how his delegate count was far less than Clinton's, he said that his win in the Michigan Primary could possibly be one of the greatest political upsets in modern times. This statement and many others throughout the debate from Sanders were aimed at convincing the American public that he is by no means out of the race for the Democratic nomination even though Clinton has begun to pander to a more general audience.
Pandering was also one of the next issues brought up by the moderators when discussing Clinton's stance on immigration. Had she been "His-pandering" when she changed her stance on illegal immigrants from stating that she was "adamantly against them" in a 2003 interview to today's stance where she plans on attacking immigration reform in her first 100 days in office? Clinton fired back saying that she had supported the Dreamer Act that was proposed to Congress in 2003 and in every Congress since then, as well as stating that she is a strong supported in immigration reform. Throughout the debate on immigration Clinton frequently brought up her record on various Senate votes that she had participated in during her time in Congress. She even attempted to discredit Senator Sanders stance on immigration when she mentioned that he had voted against the 2003 Dreamer Act whereas she had voted for it. Sanders was not taking the bait however and defended his vote on that bill as well explaining what he would do with immigration reform as President of the United States.
It was clear that Clinton was put on the defensive from the beginning of the debate as a way to test her and see how well she could hold up after a surprising loss in Michigan. Her strategy was to use her Senate voting record to show how she has been in favor of immigration reform for years as well as stating that she would build off of Obama's current plans if she were to be elected president. Another strategy was to attack Sanders in as many areas as she possibly could so she could call him out on anything he said that might appear out of line, a technique called "the spread" that many debate teams, use according to an article written by James Hohmann for the Washington Post. Hohmann's article had an educated critique of the debate in general and on Clinton's performance in particular which helped to put the Democratic race in perspective. While Clinton's debate performance seemed strong there was still room for improvement, especially when it comes to how her campaign strategy should evolve over the next few weeks. Sanders proved in this debate that he too was in the race for the long run and should not be overlooked by Clinton who was beginning to change her rhetoric to a wider base in the hopes that she could skip over the Democratic convention and go straight to November.
Showing posts with label canvassing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canvassing. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Monday, February 8, 2016
Day Three: The Clintons
From the Christie event our team hit the road to go to a Clinton rally at Manchester Community College. While waiting at the Clinton event I was able to spot several journaists and members of the media including Willie Geist, Mile Barnacle, Sam Stein, and Lawrence O'Donnel. This event was such a unique experience because we were able to see Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton all at once. It was truly a historic moment, no matter if you agree with their politics or not, these are some of the most well known political figures of our time.
As Chelsea and Bill introduced Hillary, the crowd's intensity steadily grew so that everyone was severely excited by the time Hillary took the stage. She then talked for around 40 minutes about healthcare, making college affordable for young adults, improve our energy standards, work on giving women equal rights, and how we need to take back the country from those who want to destroy it. Her most notable quote from the rally was when she indirectly went after the younger generations who have been supporting Bernie Sanders in record numbers by saying "You may not support me, but I will support always support you." As someone who goes between supporting both Hillary and Bernie this quote struck me because it showed that Hillary is presenting herself as someone who cares more about getting young adults into public service because they want to have a say in their countries future rather than saying something that makes it seem as if she only cares about winning and nothing more.
However great these speeches were the venue that this event was held at was not the bet to accommodate such a large crowd. Because there were so many members of the mainstream media at this event the number of people allowed in to the arena was very limited. This meant that I had to stand just outside the glass wall that separates those from the room were the Clinton's spoke and the overflow room where I stood. It was slightly annoying to be forced to stand in the overflow area because there was clearly enough room to stand near the back where the media was stationed. But with this being the only downside to this event it was begrudgingly overcome.
By the way, did I mention I shook former President Bill Clinton's hand and almost got a selfie with him? Because I did and it was awesome!
Chelsea and Bill Clinton introducing Hillary Clinton.
The woman of the hour, Hillary Clinton in the flesh.
My almost perfect selfie with our 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Day Two: Campaign Headquarters and VERMIN SUPREME
After an intriguing morning at the Rubio event our vans decided to continue into downtown Manchester to look for some food because standing for 3 hours tends to make a person quite hungry. Initially we were going to eat at the quintessential Red Arrow restaurant but because it was so busy our groups split up. A small group of us went to an Irish Pub called The Shaskeen which had delicious and authentic fish and chips fare. I even got to meet up with my Uncle Tod and catch up after not seeing him for a few months. Post lunch we met up with our fellow liberal leaning friends before going to visit the campaign headquarters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
The Clinton campaign headquarters in Manchester seemed to be hidden in plain sight and took us some time to find them. It turned out they were on the top floor of an office building on a side street in Manchester, but because of building restrictions, were not allowed to display any signs to promote their candidate. This made it difficult for us to find their office and seemed an unfortunate area to pick to house a campaign's headquarters. It seemed unusual that such a well known campaign would not want to be in an area where they could clearly be seen from the street by people passing by. Once inside the office we met a welcoming volunteer whose name was Mary and had flown up to her home state of New Hampshire from Florida on January 6th just to volunteer for the Clinton campaign. Mary was helpful and patient as we asked her questions on her day to day activities, personal opinions on candidates, and campaigns in general (during both 2008 and 2012 she was a strong Obama supported and worked endless days to get him elected). Yet Mary's friendliness could not seem to cover up the sense that the Clinton headquarters were being run like a business with a certain air about them that seemed somehow too professional.
Bernie Sander' headquarters on the other hand were unmistakably marked with signs outside the building and wall papering every available inch of space inside. The young woman who first greeted us was named Erica and she was a college student that had been volunteering with the Sanders campaign since September. Erica not only answered our questions but gave us a tour around their offices and offered us any literature and signage that was leftover from the last few weeks of intense campaigning. There was even a gigantic Bernie mural with props that people could take pictures with! Overall the Sanders campaign seemed more eager than the Clinton campaign was to have college students touring their facilities and learning more about the presidential election process. It seemed like each campaign was reflected by the ways their offices were set up and who was at each office when we stopped by.
After visiting each of the Democratic candidates headquarters we had planned to see if we could visit Donald Trump's headquarters which were around Manchester, but due to timing issues we decided to skip this stop and head straight to the Carly Fiorina Super Bowl pre-game party at The Yard Restaurant. And what a good decision this was. As soon as our van was parked our driver and unofficial leader Frank spotted Vermin Supreme.
Yes. The Man. The Myth. The Legend. Vermin Supreme.
I know, most of you may be thinking, "who is Vermin Supreme?" Well, Vermin Supreme is a candidate running to be President of the United States just like Bernie, Hillary, and Donald are all trying to do. He's run every four years since 2004 and tends to take his campaign to the extreme (yet with this election cycle he seems perfectly normal compared to what we've seen already). Most notably Vermin is known to wear a boot on his head and come up with slightly nutty campaign proposals. For instance, promising a pony to every American or making sure we are prepared to handle a zombie apocalypse which was his 2012 platform. And while he may look like a crazy old man to most people, I think he is the embodiment of our democratic system in the United States; to think that anyone who meets the Constitution requirements to run for president can in fact run and receive votes (he got 41 votes in 2008 and 833 in 2012) is frankly amazing.
The Clinton campaign headquarters in Manchester seemed to be hidden in plain sight and took us some time to find them. It turned out they were on the top floor of an office building on a side street in Manchester, but because of building restrictions, were not allowed to display any signs to promote their candidate. This made it difficult for us to find their office and seemed an unfortunate area to pick to house a campaign's headquarters. It seemed unusual that such a well known campaign would not want to be in an area where they could clearly be seen from the street by people passing by. Once inside the office we met a welcoming volunteer whose name was Mary and had flown up to her home state of New Hampshire from Florida on January 6th just to volunteer for the Clinton campaign. Mary was helpful and patient as we asked her questions on her day to day activities, personal opinions on candidates, and campaigns in general (during both 2008 and 2012 she was a strong Obama supported and worked endless days to get him elected). Yet Mary's friendliness could not seem to cover up the sense that the Clinton headquarters were being run like a business with a certain air about them that seemed somehow too professional.
Bernie Sander' headquarters on the other hand were unmistakably marked with signs outside the building and wall papering every available inch of space inside. The young woman who first greeted us was named Erica and she was a college student that had been volunteering with the Sanders campaign since September. Erica not only answered our questions but gave us a tour around their offices and offered us any literature and signage that was leftover from the last few weeks of intense campaigning. There was even a gigantic Bernie mural with props that people could take pictures with! Overall the Sanders campaign seemed more eager than the Clinton campaign was to have college students touring their facilities and learning more about the presidential election process. It seemed like each campaign was reflected by the ways their offices were set up and who was at each office when we stopped by.
After visiting each of the Democratic candidates headquarters we had planned to see if we could visit Donald Trump's headquarters which were around Manchester, but due to timing issues we decided to skip this stop and head straight to the Carly Fiorina Super Bowl pre-game party at The Yard Restaurant. And what a good decision this was. As soon as our van was parked our driver and unofficial leader Frank spotted Vermin Supreme.
Yes. The Man. The Myth. The Legend. Vermin Supreme.
I know, most of you may be thinking, "who is Vermin Supreme?" Well, Vermin Supreme is a candidate running to be President of the United States just like Bernie, Hillary, and Donald are all trying to do. He's run every four years since 2004 and tends to take his campaign to the extreme (yet with this election cycle he seems perfectly normal compared to what we've seen already). Most notably Vermin is known to wear a boot on his head and come up with slightly nutty campaign proposals. For instance, promising a pony to every American or making sure we are prepared to handle a zombie apocalypse which was his 2012 platform. And while he may look like a crazy old man to most people, I think he is the embodiment of our democratic system in the United States; to think that anyone who meets the Constitution requirements to run for president can in fact run and receive votes (he got 41 votes in 2008 and 833 in 2012) is frankly amazing.
Pictures from inside Clinton campaign headquarters and outside of Sanders campaign headquarters.
Vermin Supreme ladies and gentlemen.
Casually posing with Vermin Supreme and fellow classmates!
Left to right: Emma, Jenny, Frank, Vermin, Cassidy, Silas, me
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Candidate Signs in Action
Governor Kasich's signs could be seen as soon as we crossed the New Hampshire border.
Signs for Trump, Jeb!, and Fiorina were not far behind.
Day One: Clinton, Burritos, and Debates
cToday was the day! Today we woke up and got on the road at 8:30 in the morning and made our way to the great state of New Hampshire (stopping along the way at The Blue Ben Diner to grab some fabulous breakfast of course!).
As soon as we crossed the border into New Hampshire from Vermont it was clear that the primary is less than a week away. We saw sign after sign for all of the major candidates: Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders. Driving into downtown Concord, New Hampshire's capital, it was clear that this state is invested in their legacy of being the first state to vote and how dedicated they are to this freedom.
The first campaign I was able to interact with during this trip was with the Hillary Clinton campaign with my friend Jenny. We walked to their campaign headquarters in Concord and were able to sign up right away to canvass around neighborhoods. While this was an enjoyable experience it seemed like the Clinton headquarters were not as populated as I was expecting them to be in the capital of one of the first primary states. Yes, the people we interacted with were friendly but they did not seem as energetic as I was expecting them to be about their candidate or about campaigning in general.
However, Jenny and I were able to meet and do some canvassing with an older couple named Annie and Henry. These two have been involved in politics in some way or another since George McGovern ran for president in 1972. They were what I thought more people from the Clinton campaign were going to be like. They were impressed that both Jenny and I were taking such an active interest in politics at a young age and were hopeful that our generation would be able to fix some of the problems that their generation had not. Annie and Henry were dedicated, informative, and energetic to get out the vote and make changes in our country. And I love that. To be able to have two generations working towards the same goal is something you definitely do not see everyday, but I'm glad I got to experience that moment.
After canvassing for a few hours, we returned to our hotel room in search of dinner. We found it at a Mexican Burrito shop where (I kid you not) I got a "Feel the Bern-rito." And it was pretty great! Beef, beans, cheese, rice, guacamole, and spicy mayo was a combo that you could only find in this shop; and the only dinner to get in order to truly get the New Hampshire primary experience.
Finally we ended out night with our own debate watching party at our hotel. This debate was sure to be an exciting event and it did not disappoint. It all started with a mis-calling of the candidates names forcing awkward interactions as Ben Carson was forced to wait to be called onto the stage, with the cameras focused on him the whole time, while almost all of the other candidates were called before him. Throughout the debate, Governor Chris Christie confronted Senator Marco Rubio about his inability to answer a question by simply dancing around it. These interactions showed that Christie wasn't afraid to show voters that he is still in this race and that Rubio may not be the next best candidate. While I finished watching the debate it was hard to focus on after such a long day of traveling and volunteering, so I'll try to post a good analytical article about the debate tomorrow morning.
As soon as we crossed the border into New Hampshire from Vermont it was clear that the primary is less than a week away. We saw sign after sign for all of the major candidates: Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders. Driving into downtown Concord, New Hampshire's capital, it was clear that this state is invested in their legacy of being the first state to vote and how dedicated they are to this freedom.
The first campaign I was able to interact with during this trip was with the Hillary Clinton campaign with my friend Jenny. We walked to their campaign headquarters in Concord and were able to sign up right away to canvass around neighborhoods. While this was an enjoyable experience it seemed like the Clinton headquarters were not as populated as I was expecting them to be in the capital of one of the first primary states. Yes, the people we interacted with were friendly but they did not seem as energetic as I was expecting them to be about their candidate or about campaigning in general.
However, Jenny and I were able to meet and do some canvassing with an older couple named Annie and Henry. These two have been involved in politics in some way or another since George McGovern ran for president in 1972. They were what I thought more people from the Clinton campaign were going to be like. They were impressed that both Jenny and I were taking such an active interest in politics at a young age and were hopeful that our generation would be able to fix some of the problems that their generation had not. Annie and Henry were dedicated, informative, and energetic to get out the vote and make changes in our country. And I love that. To be able to have two generations working towards the same goal is something you definitely do not see everyday, but I'm glad I got to experience that moment.
After canvassing for a few hours, we returned to our hotel room in search of dinner. We found it at a Mexican Burrito shop where (I kid you not) I got a "Feel the Bern-rito." And it was pretty great! Beef, beans, cheese, rice, guacamole, and spicy mayo was a combo that you could only find in this shop; and the only dinner to get in order to truly get the New Hampshire primary experience.
Finally we ended out night with our own debate watching party at our hotel. This debate was sure to be an exciting event and it did not disappoint. It all started with a mis-calling of the candidates names forcing awkward interactions as Ben Carson was forced to wait to be called onto the stage, with the cameras focused on him the whole time, while almost all of the other candidates were called before him. Throughout the debate, Governor Chris Christie confronted Senator Marco Rubio about his inability to answer a question by simply dancing around it. These interactions showed that Christie wasn't afraid to show voters that he is still in this race and that Rubio may not be the next best candidate. While I finished watching the debate it was hard to focus on after such a long day of traveling and volunteering, so I'll try to post a good analytical article about the debate tomorrow morning.
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