Johnny on the spot…
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During a November 2002 broadcast of CNN’s Capital Gang, Al Hunt predicted John E. Sununu would lose to the Democrat, Jeanne Shaheen.
HUNT: John Sununu is a smart fellow, but he’s cast some dumb votes, like tax loopholes for corporate crooks. And Jeanne Shaheen will parlay that to a very, very close victory.
Of course, we all know that Mr. Hunt was wrong, and Sununu went on to win that election. And now, some five and a half years later, the two have crossed paths. "Dumb votes" notwithstanding, in addition to labelling Sununu "a smart fellow," Mr. Hunt can now label him a hero as well… literally. Today’s dead-tree version of the NH Sunday News has the story in a short piece written by Scott Brooks:
Manchester– When a piece of chicken got stuck in journalist Al Hunt’s windpipe Friday night, Sen. John Sununu came to the rescue.."John was terrific," said Hunt, 65, executive editor for Washington at Bloomberg News. "He quickly jumped up, put his arms around me, did the (Heimlich) maneuver. Within about two seconds, it came out.".Hunt and Sununu were sitting next to each other Friday night at the Hanover Street Chop House in downtown Manchester. The table was packed with powerbrokers, politicians, and prominent journalists, including Bob Novak, New York Times managing editor Jill Abramson and Hunt’s wife, Judy Woodruff..Hunt said he stood up at the table, trying to purge the piece of chicken, when Sununu sprang into action.."It was really, really quick," Hunt said. "Some people were saying they didn’t know it had happened. But as I say, he was fabulous."
Who knows if this will help Sununu’s re-election campaign, but it certainly helped Al Hunt. Congratulations to the Senator for being johnny-on-the-spot. One can only wonder what might have happened if Hunt’s prediction back in 2002 had been right…