I have been remiss with LPJ lately, because of all the candidates that have passed through, the editing of their videos, and holiday pressures. But I wasn’t going to miss the chance to put part of the conversation with frontrunner Mitt Romney up here. Enjoy:
Rick Santorum is an interesting guy. His politics are way to the right, and I doubt he could ever win a general election, but his beliefs come from his convictions. In a lot of ways he is similar to Ron Paul, except instead of religion being a minor influence on his policy positions they are the foundation for them.
After reading about Santorum and seeing him in debates I was skeptical he would be an engaging candidate, but his passion mimics charisma. After talking to him for an hour I got to feel like I liked him, if not his politics. On a personal level it’s funny how important that is. I think back to Primary Colors and other portrayals of Bill Clinton — it is that ability to connect that makes a politician.
I recorded the entire Santorum interview, from start to finish. There were a few choice cuts that I need to cull together, but first I put the whole piece up online. Check out the one below. If you’re short on time go about halfway in and watch to the end. It’s good to see the human side of these candidates, even if it’s a long shot they’ll ever be president.
One more presidential hopeful, I should say. Or should I say two more? Wait, three. Nope, four.
That’s the kind of week it has been, and the kind of week it’s going to be. John Huntsman and Rick Santorum were in the office last week, Buddy Roemer is in tomorrow, and next week is Mitt Romney. I’m shooting video, uploading and writing as fast as I can, but I haven’t deluded myself into thinking I’m going to stay caught up.
I’m also due in court next week to challenge a refusal of a request for records under the state’s Right To Know law. And I’m doing an outdoor piece for an online magazine. Busy week.
But I just wanted to make sure everyone knew Rick Santorum is a nice guy. His politics have made him a controversial figure, but after more than an hour with him at the Sun I have to say he’s a super-likable and pleasant man. And he’d be fun to disagree with over the dinner table, because he seems to enjoy explaining his views without getting confrontational.
Now that isn’t an endorsement, however, but seeing as most people don’t get the kind of time we get I figure I ought to share some of the insights that won’t make it into the newspaper. His politics are very conservative, so he’ll only appeal to certain voters. Others will revile him for those same politics. But given a chance to bring a guy home to have an engaging (and spirited) conversation, I think thus far he’d be it. I’ll put the video of the interview up once I’m done so you can see what I mean. Some parts of my job are so cool.
Buddy Roemer and John Huntsman both canceled for this week, leaving only “front-runner” Mitt Romney. I put front-runner in quotes only because the latest polls don’t actually place him at number one, but I’m not really sure that doesn’t mean he’s the front-runner.
I do worry the G.O.P. is going to face what I would call “the Kerry Effect” if Romney is nominated. Democrats never really rallied around Senator John Kerry, and therefore he was unable to unseat an otherwise vulnerable George W. Bush. Barack Obama could get the same window into a second term—so few conservatives seem excited about Romney it could be hard for the Republicans to turn out the vote. It does make for an interesting primary season: it’s only November, but the contest already feels over. There aren’t many viable options to Romney, at least not that voters are taking notice of. We’ll see if he can hold onto the lead, and if he does how he’ll fair in the real contest next November.
This week G.O.P. contenders Buddy Roemer, John Huntsman and Mitt Romney are all scheduled to stop by the Sun. New Hampshire is fantastic around this time every four years. Roemer already came to the office once, and Mitt and I spoke on the phone the day he announced his candidacy. I couldn’t ask for better access.
Speaking of politics, I heard a great critique of the contentious state of Washington and the electorate while driving home this evening. It lays out the disconnect between the way voters vote and the takeaway for the opposition. Voters don’t give mandates was the gist of the story, they reject. But the opposition takes the rejection of the party in power as an endorsement of their platform. They shouldn’t.
As someone who enjoys the discussion, not just seeing one side or the other prevail, I thought this was an interesting insight. I don’t believe, however, that we’ve heard the end of politicians claiming a mandate.
Well, I was right, Herman Cain moved to the middle seat next to Mitt Romney in the G.O.P. debate at Dartmouth last night. This morning among the slew of candidate emails I got (They must have thought I was watching. I wasn’t. I had to do laundry…) were attacks on Cain’s 9-9-9 economic plan from both Bachmann and Huntsman.
The panic to clamber on top of rivals is interesting, but it misses the more important point — who would make a good president. We’ve met several of the candidates at the Sun, and neither of the two we were most impressed by were even allowed on stage last night. It’s a shame. But at least we know who many in the media consider the fringe and who they consider a serious candidate — all you had to do was look at who sat where at the table.
Just a quick thought: when you watch Tuesday night’s debate, see who is in the middle.
Romney has always been in the middle; he’s the frontrunner. When Perry got top billing, he was next to him. Then it was Bachmann, and at the corners were the fringes. Now Cain is moving up. Look to see if the debate organizers play up this horse-race aspect of the race on Tuesday, and put him in the center with Romney. See if they emphasize the current frontrunners, or if they try to give equal billing to everyone. The other debates have consistently pitted number one versus number two, but maybe this will be the exception. We’ll see.
So I found out today I had been spelling Michele Bachmann wrong. I had Bachmann right, but there is one L in Michele. I’d been using two.
I also found out some New Hampshire voters are not pleased she waited so long before visiting.
Bachmann is now a margin-of-error candidate in the Granite State. In June and July she was polling as high as 18 percent, second only to Mitt Romney. Now she’s hovering around 2 percent. Not a good sign, but in some ways it’s still early.
Not that she should be concentrating on New Hampshire anyway. She’s a strong candidate in Iowa and South Carolina, where social conservatives have a louder voice. Up here Independent voters and even Democrats can opt into the primary, making it tough for a candidate with her views to win. Plus the frontrunner owns a house here and governed one state a way. And libertarian Ron Paul has a strong network here. To expect Bachmann to make serious inroads is too much.
Still, not visiting for four months might be too long for someone serious about a White House bid. I met fans of her’s today who were cautious about her for exactly that reason.
If she pulls off another strong debate performance, however, she could easily shoot upwards. Still three months to go. Can’t wait to find out where things land.
Hopefully you caught my NHPR piece this morning. If you didn’t, I’ll post a link soon. I’ll have coverage in the Conway Daily Sun too, so don’t miss it.
Ed is not like Newt, or Rudy, or RP or Gary Johnson. Ed is waaayyy more mellow, although he too has political aspirations. He’s a local guy who believes he’s been screwed by the town of Bartlett. I’ve talked to him a bunch, and he is convinced his rights are being trampled on despite a number of court judgements arguing otherwise.
Now he’s running for Bartlett selectman in 2012, despite that race being more than six months away. I got a chance to talk to him today and shoot a portrait, but I was distracted by something in the background: his campaign sign. Seven months early, but he’s hard at it.
And did you notice how he refers to himself? “Hobo Ed.” Imagine if “Hobo Mitt” were to storm the campaign trail!
This is what I stumbled on today: a 145-foot long wind turbine blade on a trailer with ruptured brakes. Who even knew brakes could rupture?
It was a cool find, and I had a great time talking with the team transporting this thing to the North Country about it. It weighs five tons and is made out of balsa wood and fiberglass. To me it looks like an eel, a whale fin or a dinosaur part (think stegosaurus plate), but everyone who came up asked if it was an airplane wing. How unimaginative!
Last night I read this about the formation of Michele Bachmann’s political ideology, and tonight I finished Andrew Bacevich’s The Limits of Power: The end of American Exceptionalism. What differing worlds: Bachmann’s view is founded in faith, while Bacevich argues our best days are behind us if we don’t start owning up to our difficulties.
The blade exemplifies their differences perfectly: to Bacevich it’s the future, to Bachmann it’s a farce. It’s amazing that they both are part of serious political dialog, considering how far apart they are. And it’s equally amazing that both of them can find legions of supporters.
I’m watching the Republican convention roll inexorably toward New Hampshire, and this trifecta got me that much more excited. Ideology is a crazy thing, particularly if deeply rooted. Washington already has too much of it oozing out every window. I’m not sure more is called for, but we’ll see how the voters turn.
I had to think, however, that God and ideology determine the division of our energy sector. For some people, though, there’s more power in the devine than can be harnessed from wind. I wonder what that worldview would do in the White House.
Parting shot:
ErikEisele.com 