I am one NH resident who will be glad when the primary is finally OVER! I'm averaging 3 - 5 phone calls per day which I am screening out on my caller i.d.; today's mail brought 4 pieces of candidate's literature, and I had a Barack Obama worker show up at the door. We had a nice chat, but I'm not convinced. From the environmental standpoint, I'm perturbed by all the print mail. It's not as if I'm not getting lots of campaign emails as well. Why both?
Back to the Obama canvasser. First, I admire him for going door-to-door in my neighborhood. He was Sudanese, graduated from USM in Portland, has become a US citizen, is a member of the Army National Guard Reserves (they paid for his education) and was deployed in Iraq from 2003-2004. He was eloquent about Obama, and mentioned how NH may well decide the next nominee in each party.
I think our political system is really broken if the NH primary really makes that much difference. Our state is not representative of the nation, and I don't think we should be deciding for everyone else. But, the Obama rep pointed out that the rest of the nation is watching us, and will follow our lead. I guess he's right about that, which places the burden of responsibility on our shoulders to make a wise choice.
I'm torn between Obama, Clinton and Edwards, and probably won't make up my mind until I'm standing in the booth. Obama is the most eloquent of the 3 and I like his message of unity; Edwards has the right take on the corporations, and I like his populist message; Clinton has the most experience, in my judgment, and has worked all her life for the underdog and to try to make a difference. Her gender makes her attractive to me. Plus, I think the Clinton political machine may be needed to counteract whoever the Republican candidate is. I think what scares me the most about this election is that it reminds me so strongly of the 1968 primary in California, where I was excited to cast my first vote ever and agonized between Robert Kennedy, who had the machine, the populist/socialist positions, and Eugene McCarthy, who had the right positions but no political machine. Kennedy was killed right after I voted for him, in front of all of our eyes right after his victory speech. This has no bearing, perhaps, but it leaves me with an uncomfortable feeling. The United States isn't Pakistan, but thinking back to that California night, I have to wonder.
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