Today the New Hampshire Democrat Party held an event featuring former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It is the first time Clinton has been to the Granite State since ending her reign in the State Department. The event was held at Nashua Community College in Nashua and was a “Get Out The Vote” event for Senator Shaheen, Governor Hassan, Representatives Shea-Porter and Kuster.
Clinton arrived over an hour late due to a flight delay and despite the freezing weather and crazy winds, protesters stuck around to be sure Clinton got their messages. One of the biggest was, of course, Benghazi. Clinton hadn’t been to the Granite State since 2008. This was her first campaign visit in the Granite State. Bill Clinton headlined the Jefferson Jackson event a few weeks ago in Manchester (there were also protesters in attendance). After Clinton’s deplorable “What difference does it make?” comment during congressional testimony, not too many Americans are thrilled with her behavior.
There were several protesters who were there specifically to target Shaheen and Hassan for not holding town halls. And yes, the NH GOP chicken was also in attendance with a new sign “Jeanne Shaheen too chicken to campaign with Obama.” This after Shaheen was asked in an interview if she would have Obama campaign with her. She claimed he was too busy in Washington. Of course, Obama has been campaigning and fundraising with other candidates across the country. Shaheen votes with Obama and still supports him yet seems to understand that Granite Staters are not happy with Obama in general.
There were estimates being thrown around that there were about 700 people in attendance. It was interesting watching those drive into the event as it seemed about half were from out-of-state based on their license plates (many from Massachusetts and surprisingly New York). Considering Clinton hasn’t been to New Hampshire in 6 years, it doesn’t seem to be a huge turnout. Clearly Clinton’s popularity isn’t as high as what her “Ready for Hillary” team would have people believe.
Many people honked their horns and showed a thumbs up to the protesters (those driving by and not attending the event). Attendees were usually cordial or ignored the protesters other than a few middle fingers and thumbs down. There was one interesting “sign” from Democrat Representative Jan Schmidt‘s husband. He told the protesters to do something that was extremely profane and rude to the women protesters using his hand. Not very becoming of a Representative’s husband while driving in her vehicle that has New Hampshire State Representative plates attached to it.
With the elections coming up in a few days, it will be interesting to see if Clinton’s visit helped push Democrats to actually get out the vote. The purpose of her visit was to get New Hampshire Democrats off of the couch and out to the polls next Tuesday. Democrats often have difficulties during mid-terms getting high numbers of voters to help at the ballot box. It’ll be interesting to see if Clinton’s visit makes a difference. If she decides to run for office, it won’t be her last visit and it certainly won’t be the last time she is protested in the Granite State.
Cross-posted from Examiner
More photos from the protest: