New Hampshire Primary Season

Written in May 2007...

I moved to New Hampshire almost five years ago, and I followed the 2004 primary online and on TV. While having a significant interest in political issues I also have a significant distaste for politics itself. However, after the Iowa caucuses and Howard Dean’s ‘I Have A Scream’ speech, and shortly before the New Hampshire Primary I talked to my sister. She volunteered for the Kerry campaign and we talked about events surrounding the primary. I mentioned that I felt for Dean who was falling in the polls apparently due to a silly gaffe. I mentioned that his speech is type of event that I feel would take me out if I were a politician. It wouldn’t be corruption or scandal, I would simply do something so silly and ridiculous that no one would ever take me seriously again.

My sister described a news clip she had just seen of a lady who fainted when meeting John Kerry. The video showed Kerry standing above a pair of feet like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz after the house falls on the witch. She also witnessed part of a shouting match and/or scuffle between Al Franken and someone else not as liberal at a Democratic event. I mentioned that in the last day or two I had seen reports of numerous celebrities in New Hampshire stumping for their favorite candidate, some of whom I thought probably couldn’t have located New Hampshire on a map prior to their visit. It was with this call that I realized that while I followed the issues, the debates, and the politicians, I had missed quite the show.

So this time around I thought I would make more of an attempt to attend events and follow the race itself. I still have a distaste for politics. It bothers me that the bucolic back roads of New Hampshire become littered with political name placards, and it bothers me more that this appears to be effective in determining some people’s vote.

As an independent the two parties get on my nerves. Some of the petty back and forth reminds me of both junior high and kindergarten. The ‘I know you are but what am I,’ style fights, and the ‘Eew, a Republican touched me, he gave me cooties,’ type of disgust one side seems to have for the other is both sad and upsetting. However, I do believe in our overall system. I also think it’s smart that there are a few small states first in line to vote before the larger election blocks so that candidates actually have to meet and introduce themselves to individual Americans in order to have a successful campaign. Since I’m privileged to have a front row seat, I thought I’d pull up my chair and write about what I see.

Trials in Snowboarding

I’ve skied for several years, and am rather average. I get down the hill okay, but impress no one. A few years ago I thought I’d try snowboarding. Everyone was doing it, and it looked fun. So I headed up to one of my favorite slopes and rented a board and boots. They showed me how to lock you feet down to the board and then how to release them.

Out at the bottom of the slopes I sat on the snow and buckled up one boot leaving the other free so that I could push myself over to the chairlift. I watched the other snowboarders as I waited in line hoping to pick up on something. As I got closer to the front of the line I was paired up with two teenage girls who were also snowboarding. They appeared to have more of a clue so I basically just followed them. As our turn approached I saw that they had their board attached to their left foot while I had mine on my right. I figured it was just preference until we pushed out behind the chair in front of us, and it dawned on me that I’d likely break my foot if I left the board attached to my back foot with the nose of the board flopping out in front of me.

Not able to maneuver particularly well I dove to the right, out of the way of the oncoming chair. Having been a soccer goalie my diving ability was okay; however, I had never tried it with my feet strapped to the ground before. Basically, I belly flopped off the side of the chairlift, and my feet stayed right where they were. On my stomach with my foot and my board behind me and slightly uphill, I tried to flip myself over unsuccessfully. I needed to flip the board over in order to flip myself over, but couldn’t do that in my current position. So I tried to reach my boot to unhook myself, but couldn’t reach. I greatly resembled a beached whale unable to go forward or backward. That’s when the chairlift operator informed me that, “you can’t do that here”. While I would have greatly preferred to flop on the ground somewhere else where lines of agitated people weren’t watching me as I blocked the lift, I didn’t have much choice at that time. Finally I dug my elbows into the snow and inched forward dragging my board and foot behind me until I finally got to level ground where I flipped myself back over, unbuckled my boot, dusted myself off and got back into line.

Republican Debate

Having gone to several McCain events I was invited by his camp to attend last week’s Republican debate at UNH. Prior to the debate several candidates had their supporters cheering and carrying signs and shouting back and forth to each other on the college football field. Senator McCain’s supporters, however, were down the street having a beer. Supporters were encouraged to come to a local pub as the Senator planned to make an appearance prior to the debate. Having accidentally parked about as far away from the pub as humanly possible I was a bit late arriving and the place was full. I found a spot in the back off to the side where I could lean against a pool table and watch the video they were playing about the Senator, when I spotted someone familiar. I couldn’t figure how I knew this person. I was pretty sure it wasn’t work related. I was starting to wonder if he was the father of someone I either went to school with or played soccer with when I saw a flash bulb go off. Then I realized the Senator and his entourage had already entered the room. Finally, it dawned on me that it was Senator Lindsey Graham that I was convinced I knew.

At the debate I sat behind a row of guys supporting Ron Paul and the couple in front of them were McCain supporters. I had always thought when watching debates on TV that it was silly how candidate’s supporters applauded when their guy spoke. What I didn’t realize is that the atmosphere of a debate is similar to that of a sporting event where the crowd is excited for their candidate to score so they can cheer him on. The young men in front of me were very nice and very loud. The guys got a kick out of the couple in front of them, as the woman would elbow her husband if he applauded for anyone other than McCain. They asked her about it towards the end of the debate and she explained that he could applaud other candidates just not too loudly. What I have been pleasantly surprised by is that most primary events are very civil and courteous. National politics seem so nasty its nice to see that at least at the local level people still have manners.

It certainly was a good night for Senator McCain as he not only had a strong performance, but other candidates agreed with him and complimented him several times. My first impression was that Senator McCain had the strongest showings and Governor Huckabee did a good job too. Senator McCain showed his depth of knowledge and conviction on Iraq. When I got home and turned on the TV I was glad to see that others thought he was the winner too.

Can the Internet Grow Up?

As someone who spends a great deal of time online, I am both excited about the potential of the Internet and disappointed at its current level of discourse. The obvious complaint starts when I download my email every morning. If you want to view porn, take illicit medication, or try to get rich by sending money to the sultan of an unknown country, I’m a live and live type. If you’re not hurting anyone, knock yourself out, but please stop sending this junk to me.

While this is an annoyance I’ve learned to live with, my major disappointment is with much of the content of the Internet provides. This unprecedented new technology allows people to debate, discuss, and theorize about the great topics of the day, and so far it has been used primarily to replicate a teacher-less junior high classroom. Certainly there is some quality content, but debate is often reduced to swearing and insults put forth as insight. There’s an irony that this remarkable technical advance is being used as a platform for mindless blather. Being anonymous seems to bring out the worst in many people, and I question whether the people hurling insults would be so bold if they actually had to face their target. Then there is the plethora of base graphic content, the quantity of which seems insane. The hope is that this is just a phase as the Internet tries to grow up. There are a number of sites with quality content, and a number of positive developments, and hopefully the cream will rise to the top and adult conversations and debate will replace the excessive ‘adult content’.