I’ve already told you about coming into Exeter a good hour ahead of schedule, and still seeing a horde of people already lined up around the block, waiting for Amy to show up at the Old Town Hall. I didn’t mention the freezing drizzle, but there was that too. Gotta love New Hampshire in February.
I’ve checked out the press arrangements ahead of time. This event does have some nice perks (more…)
When we roll into Exeter, N.H. a good hour ahead of schedule, there’s already people lined up around the block waiting for Amy to show up at the Old Town Hall.
Now Exeter is a fine town, home to Phillips Exeter Academy, a marvelous downtown, and some truly friendly people. But one thing Exeter is not known for is its parking. Another is the capacity of its meeting venues. Neither is in copious supply.
We keep driving. I need some space (more…)
The ninth debate is over, and Bloomberg won.
I don’t mean he (more…)
NOTE: The following transcription has been heavily edited to reduce profanity. Nevertheless, reader discretion is advised.
The cesspit that is modern politics has surpassed itself.
Scene: It’s the middle of the night and I just now finished fixing my writeup on Sanders and Yang after a couple of hours of desperately needed sleep. Some of that was not fit to read; glad I got to it. Sleeplessness and politics should never mix; this is how we got Eagleton in ’72, after all. I’m just about to go back to bed when (more…)
It’s easy to forget, but there’s a big chunk of New Hampshire that exists cheek-by-jowl with Vermonters that live on opposite sides of the Connecticut River valley. It’s a demographic the state doesn’t quite know what to do with; the urban centers (such as they are) are lumped in with mountain recluse compound-dwellers to form the Fifth State Senate District. Fifty thousand people live right along here; two thirds are Pantsuit Nation loyalists and the rest vote MAGA. There might be a moderate somewhere but if so he’s in hiding. The only reason there isn’t open war is only the MAGA faction is armed — and they just want to be left the hell alone.
You couldn’t pay me enough to canvass for a Democrat outside city limits. (more…)
It’s a miserable night in a way only New Hampshire can provide. Water is falling out of the air not as snow or ice but in actual lumps of slush. I can hear it going *splat* all around me as we slip and slither up to the door of the VFW hall where Tulsi is scheduled to speak. We’ve tried for her and missed twice now; as I understand it her defense committee needed her on the Hill — but of course the campaign doesn’t talk about that sort of thing; I had to (more…)
I’ve got upwards of 37,000 words assembled thus far and there’s an end in sight. So far so good, right? Time to take a quick step back from the task and survey the whole, to see if there’s any major adjustments that ought to be made before it goes too far to recover. On any other project I might instead be looking to see if it’s worth finishing, but this one’s gone too far for that. It’s got momentum of its own, and I wouldn’t dare try to stop; the book would devour me.
Which is a problem, because I’m thinking book, and events are going too fast (more…)
I have a strange urge to start this with melodrama: “The Manchester streets are quiet today…”
Except they’re not. From the broken-down mill town of Hunter S. Thompson’s heyday, this has become the most populous city north of Boston. Local small businesses prosper year-round; primary season is still important, but far less (more…)
It’s past midnight. Primary Day has come and gone in New Hampshire, and (unlike in Iowa) we have a clear winner: Bernie Sanders.
We actually have three winners, if we include the Mayor In Waxwork. Amy Klobuchar’s come-from-behind resurgence to a 20% return is enough to get her taken seriously going forward, which makes her the real story of today. If she can sustain that momentum through either South Carolina or Nevada, she’s suddenly a top contender. (more…)
Just spilled my Coke on Hunter S. Thompson.
I think he’d have been happier about it if (more…)
The Not Fake News 
You must be logged in to post a comment.