by Jill Zuckman
Manchester, N.H. – As Granite Staters dig out from a nor'easter Monday, the presidential candidates will be trying to get their attention one last time before Christmas.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was forced to cancel a town hall meeting Sunday night in Laconia due to the inclement weather, but he's got a heavy schedule of house parties and town meetings Monday through Wednesday. He's also going to make news in Hillsborough today with the endorsement of Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000 who broke with his party over the Iraq war and declared himself to be an Independent.
Also on the Republican side, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will each make quick, one-day visits Monday to the state. And Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) visits Concord and the North Country Thursday and Friday.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is back Wednesday and Thursday after his smash visit with Oprah Winfrey last week. He'll be holding house parties and town hall meetings from Manchester and Nashua to Derry, Portsmouth and Rochester.
Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) will be bringing along musical help to set the stage for his town hall meetings. Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne will open for Edwards in Lebanon, Keene, Nashua on Tuesday and on the seacoast Wednesday.
Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) will hold a house party Monday in New Ipswich. And Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) will talk with voters in Sunapee, Claremont, New London and Hillsborough Monday, with additional stops Tuesday and Wednesday.
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Comments
Sixty years ago the intellectual elites of Europe and the free world admired and envied the United States. Today the US and particularly its foreign is intensely disliked. What has changed ?
When the US first carried the biggest stick, it was reluctant to use it and careful to use it sparingly. Think how the US agonized over World War II and how generous it was in the aftermath.
The presidential campaigns of Ron Paul and to a lesser degree Barak Obama have the capacity to reverse the almost universal dislike of the US. I say Obama to a lesser degree because he seems to be sliding against his will into the “tough guy” foreign policy rhetoric that to appeals to a significant percentage of the US electorate.
This “tough guy” rhetoric crosses party lines JFK did it in the sixties Bush does it today,. It has been the rhetoric of every president since the Rossevelt / Eisenhower days.
However nutty you may think Ron Paul is or how ever naive you suspect Obama to be, they both display a kind of old fashioned humility that made the USA the acknowledged champion of the free world. When Ron Paul says “its not because we are rich and free that they hate us but because we are over there” it demonstrates the big guy trying to put himself in the little guy's shoes.
What I find disturbing is the quasi censorship of Ron Paul by Big Journalism and Big TV. If Paul's views on government, health care and welfare run against the perceived wisdom then by all means trash his ideas on these matters. However silencing a presidential candidate who says no to war, no to torture and yes to trade and dialogue is not a smart move. Once again the rest of the world watches Clinton, Guiliani and others making it plain the US is there to be the world's policeman if not the world's schoolmarm. Having the odd candidate however screwball say - The US does not have a mandate to impose it's views on the rest of the world is a breath of fresh air.
Posted by: G Warwick | December 17, 2007 8:02 AM
America will get a great christmas present next year when George Bush and Dick Cheney fade into oblivion.
Good riddance.
Posted by: Bush/Cheney/Impeach/Imprison | December 17, 2007 10:41 AM
Bush is on the way out and the only way America can become more corrupt is if they elect that Mayor from New York.
Posted by: medvedev | December 23, 2007 1:36 PM