Tuesday, Governor Bill Richardson was in New Hampshire for three Town Hall events. He started off his day in Manchester at Southern New Hampshire University where he fired up the crowd of students, faculty, and community members. He spoke about the Obama-Biden plan for foreign policy, the current economic crisis, and energy independence. Richardson told the crowd that Obama was against huge golden parachutes to corporate CEO’s, would make the concerns of Main Street a priority in his Administration, and that Obama believed the current financial crisis required bipartisan oversight.
Next, he spoke to a group of Latinos in Nashua on the importance of electing Barack Obama the next President. He stressed that Senator Obama understood the concerns of Latinos and would fight for health care for all, immigration reform, and economic development. Richardson told the crowd that Barack has a long history of standing up for Latino’s going all the way back to his community organizer days on Chicago’s South Side. Si se puede! To join Latino’s for Obama click here.
On his last stop of the day, Governor Richardson spoke to a great crowd in Laconia. He encouraged the folks in Laconia to get involved and help Barack Obama win New Hampshire by canvassing, making phone calls, and writing letters to the editor. You can even write them online here. Find out how you can get involved in your area by calling or visiting your Local Field Office. All in all, Governor Richardson and those who came out to see him had a great day. Thank you for coming Governor, you really got us fired up!
Freezing rain blanketed the roads as I parked in front of the storefront windows of the Laconia office. With a hand-made sign above the door showing the way, I entered the office to the sound of a ringing bell.
Eileen, a Belmont resident, had just secured her first supporter of the day and was ringing the office bell to announce her victory.
A political newcomer, Eileen is working for Barack because she believes the country is in need of “drastic change.”
“I am so extremely worried about the direction our country has taken,” Eileen said. “We need a president with the credibility to bring about real change.”
Eileen has been dropping by the office a few times a week to make calls and write postcards. She is also housing a volunteer, and hosted an environmental house party several months ago.
“As Senator Obama often says, the stakes in this election are too high to gamble on electing the same old Washington insiders responsible for the mess that we’re in,” Eileen added.
Lakes region volunteers like Eileen will be working day and night to make sure that New Hampshire doesn’t miss its moment to bring about real change for the nation.
Stop by the Laconia office at 664 Main Street in downtown Laconia or call us at 603-528-0008.
Next stop: Plymouth.
“I’m impatient with a school system that is leaving too many children behind,” Barack said during his return to Kennett High School in Conway earlier this evening.
Barack spoke to jam-packed high school gymnasiums today in Alton, Conway and Laconia. At every stop he made, he affirmed, “I’m not going to be a president who just talks about how teachers are great. I’m going to reward them for their greatness.”
Crowds of seniors, students, parents, and in some cases, infants, turned out to listen and ask Barack tough questions about his vision for America. As always, he gave clear, direct answers to every question.
In response to a Kennett High student’s question, Barack framed the importance of reforming education in America:
The globe has shrunk economically, environmentally, and in terms of accessibility of knowledge. Everything is interconnected, and the pace of change is accelerated. It is harder for us to insulate ourselves from the effects of events overseas… Kids here are competing with folks in Bangalore and Beijing, and they need to be ready.
Barack added, “If we invest in early childhood education, we can start closing that achievement gap” and prepare our kids for a 21st century information-based economy where the knowledge of our workforce is our greatest asset. He reminded the crowd that the nation gets back $10 for every dollar it invests in early childhood education.
The Obama plan for early childhood education drew praise from Laura of Wonalancet, a teacher at a local high school who brought six of her students to Conway to witness the democratic process in action. She confessed that while she wished all children could receive the early education they need from their parents, Barack’s plan will level the playing field for millions of children.
“He understands that we need to invest in kids early to make sure they reach their potential,” she said.
Powered by a grassroots movement for change, Congressman Hodes arrived in Washington as an outsider. He confessed to the crowd at the open house for our Laconia office on Sunday that he had never visited the U.S. Capitol until he arrived as a newly elected member of Congress.
Inside the packed office, he said that he decided to endorse Barack after seeing the strength and depth of the movement behind him. “Barack understands that the way to achieve real and lasting change is to build a movement,” Hodes said.
Congressman Hodes first worked for a presidential candidate in 1968, when he came to New Hampshire to knock on doors for Eugene McCarthy. But, he said, “I have never felt so passionate about a presidential candidate I am working for as I feel about Barack Obama for president.”
Bill, from the neighboring town of Gilford, agreed, saying “Both Hodes and Obama get the importance of building a movement and organization around reform.”
He added, “It is the only way we’ve ever really changed anything in this country.”
As a boy in 1943, Laconia’s Gerald Knight watched his parents pack old winter clothes into a box. The clothes were then shipped to a Dutch family who were suffering under the fuel ban imposed by the occupying Nazis. The van den Bergs, who received Gerald’s old coat, replied with a thank-you letter soon after the war ended. This incident awakened Gerald to the lives of people overseas, and filled him with a sense of wonder.
That return letter not only initiated a lifelong friendship between the two families, it also ignited Gerald’s passion for world culture and geography which still enchants him today.
President Harry Truman’s tough and pragmatic leadership, which led to the reconstruction of Holland and other parts of the world, inspires Gerald to this day.
The daydream fascination with world culture of Gerald’s youth cemented into a career teaching geography to high school students. For nearly three decades, Gerald taught students at Laconia High School, helping his students to see the world from the perspective of other people across the globe.
“Whenever possible, I tried to describe places overseas in terms my students could understand,” he recalled, “So they’d learn that Belknap County was approximately the same size as Hong Kong but had less than one-hundredth as large of a population.”
Revelations like these produced a response in some students similar to the one he felt when that thank-you letter first arrived at his childhood home. Passing on his sense of wonder kept Gerald motivated throughout his career.
Frequent travel gave Gerald more experiences to draw upon in teaching his students. He has visited Russia and other parts of the old Soviet Union nearly forty times alone. As he traversed the globe, his admiration for the qualities demonstrated by Truman in rebuilding the world order after World War II only grew.
The father of two sees Truman’s toughness and decisiveness in Barack, as well as an international perspective that Gerald values highly. Because of his work leading a book club in the Lakes region, Gerald was invited to meet Barack at a Nashua Pride baseball game in August. Their conversation, he said, reinforced his view that Barack is a true leader.
As his six decades-old friendship with the van den Bergs proves, people from different backgrounds can come together to look out for each other. Gerald believes that Barack is a leader who knows and values how much we rise and fall with each other’s successes, both in this country and in the world.
The following was posted to the New Hampshire and Women for Obama blogs yesterday:
Hello from New Hampshire! It is a sunny, breezy day at the Rotary Riverside Park in Laconia. Over 400 people from the community are sprawled out on the lawn across the river from a beautiful old mill building, having brought their lawn chairs and blankets to sit back, get comfortable, and listen to Barack. One thing does stand out – many folks in the audience are young and women.
Before Barack arrived I spoke to some of these women.
When I asked Dianne from Laconia why she supports Barack, she immediately replied “He is just so charismatic.” Her friend, Alice from Nashua, is anxious about healthcare and the war. These are issues that many women across the state have told us they are concerned about.
Donna Wilson and her niece Katelyn sat near the front, near Katelyn’s mother, who was an interpreter at the event. Donna was visiting from New Jersey, while Katelyn, who is 11 years old, lives in Brookline, New Hampshire. Katelyn cares about the environment and is particularly concerned about the people close to her who have been affected by diseases like leukemia and diabetes. Health care once again is a top priority.
After Barack spoke, Donna and Katelyn rushed up to me. Donna immediately said “Barack is so honest and direct. When fielding questions, most politicians take you in circles and never answer the question. Barack gave a complete and honest answer to each question today. I just had to let you know that I was very impressed.”
Judy Goguen of Alexandria, New Hampshire, attended the event with her granddaughter Dakota. The two of them were so motivated by Barack in the past that they participated together in the Walk for Change, and today (as you can see in the picture below) they are sitting together in the front row.
When asked what it is about Barack that inspires her, Judy passionately replied, “I was in high school when JFK was running, and I haven’t seen anyone like him until now.”
So many of these women are filled with hope; and an urgent need for change. It is their personal stories and commitment to our campaign that will help us transform our country together. Their dedication and strong sense of civic responsibility inspire all of us. As one woman said, “Living in New Hampshire is like living Democracy. I think we are the only state where each town holds monthly meetings, rain or shine, in order to continue democracy at the most local level.”
“The great thing about New Hampshire is that I get to help choose the next president after seeing the candidates in person,” Angie of Laconia said as she waited in line to hear Barack speak.Angie was one of over 400 people pouring into Rotary Riverside Park to find out more about Barack and his vision for America. With a cool breeze whistling in the background, the crowd spread itself across the greens using lawn chairs and blankets before a modern gazebo strewn with red, white and blue bunting. Change was in the air for this audience filled with undecided voters like Angie. People heard the news that Barack had raised $31 million in primary dollars via donations from 258,000 grassroots supporters and were curious about the growing excitement around our campaign. Joyce from Laconia had yet to make up her mind, but told me that she liked what little she had seen of Barack so far. “Things are such a mess right now,” she added, “that I am looking for honesty and credibility.”Barack hit a pitch-perfect note with his opening statement, making a clear case for the real change he represents.
As energized supporters lined up along the bridge behind him to spell out his name in giant purple letters, Barack delivered honest, direct answers to questions from the audience. Before Barack spoke, Mark from Laconia told me that he came to the event as an undecided voter.During the question period, Mark asked Barack about fair trade agreements because of his job’s vulnerability to being outsourced to countries with unfair labor practices.After the event, Mark stated, “I’ve asked this question of lots of presidential candidates and Barack is the only one that’s really given me a straight answer without any sound bites.” Mark left the event “strongly leaning” towards Barack because of his candor and straightforwardness. I checked in with Joyce afterwards and she said that she was interested in learning more about Barack. “He delivered the credibility that I am looking for,” she added, “His answers aren’t rehearsed or packaged and I feel that we can trust him.”Our campaign will continue to pick up energy as more and more people meet Barack face-to-face.
