Precision Posted July 9, 2022 Posted July 9, 2022 I live in NH so everyone in the state has a funny story to tell whether you wanted to be part of it or not. Presidential candidates tend to be like migrating geese, here then gone but on a 4-year cycle. A few experiences that stand out for me.... Met Lamar Alexander at King Cone in Merrimack. He was doing his walk across NH or something. The guy was wearing blue jeans with his trademark red/black flannel shirt, it was 85 degrees and sunny outside. I thought the poor guy was going to pass out. Went to a no-labels event in Manchester a few years ago. Wife and I got there early, a woman greeted us and had us "sit over here". Well, lucky us, we were behind and just to the right of the podium with about 30 cameras facing us. Ended up being on CSPAN for 6 hours that day! In my town the school is shut down on voting days and we vote at the gymnasium. Candidates and supporters congregate about 20 feet from the gym entrance with signs banners and sometimes balloons. The republicans in one group and the democrats in another. Well, I show up with the kids to vote and stop by to speak with people I know in both camps. They are friends, neighbors, teachers, guys from the fire department, just regular folks. Someone (don't remember who) asks me who I'm voting for. I said I don't know and looked down and asked my young daughter who should I vote for (I think my son was on the ground eating dirt at the time)?. She says "whoever cheers loudest" so one group starts cheering and the other does as well not knowing why. About a half dozen little kids are jumping up and down with 15 people cheering and it's 2:00 in the afternoon. Everyone's laughing and I have tears coming down my face now thinking about it......I guess you had to be there!
Orlando Buffalo Posted July 9, 2022 Posted July 9, 2022 The funniest one for me was when we were at the Taste of Buffalo- or similar event- when Schumer was up for reelection one year and he was glad handing everyone. My father was grabbed by Schumer three separate times as we were walking around, and on the third pass Schumer says something along the line s of " I appreciate your voting for me" to which my dad politely responded by stating we don't vote in NY anymore. Schumer at that point moved on even more quickly than usual. It was at that time I realized I am not built for politics. 2
leh-nerd skin-erd Posted July 9, 2022 Posted July 9, 2022 I met David Paterson, then Lt Governor of NY, through a friend. I did some work for him, and in my travels, sat with him in his family room and talked for about an hour about our upbringing and political views. I shared that I skew conservative, which lead him to tell a story about his Dad and how he taught him to get along with people. Later, when he became Governor, I had to meet his wife, Michele for something and I dropped by the Governor mansion. She was kind enough to offer a tour, which I declined due to her busy schedule, but I did get to see the FDR swimming pool on the mansion grounds. To be honest, it was a little overwhelming and quite awesome to be treading on the tile floor in the room FDR used to go to for exercise. Very nice and decent people. 2
ChiGoose Posted July 9, 2022 Posted July 9, 2022 I was on the oppo team for a campaign in Chicago a while back. I went to an event of one of the other candidates as a tracker to take notes on what they were saying to the crowd. The event was pathetic. I think there was as many campaign staff there as guests. The candidate also didn’t seem to be planning on giving a speech, they were just taking individually to the people there. I grabbed a slice of pizza and found a quiet corner to watch football on the tv while waiting to see if the candidate would make any remarks. The candidate actually came over and sat down next to me and started a conversation. I was noncommittal and mostly let them do the talking, which was mostly about how much they liked Bill O’Reilly’s books, which I found odd since they were running as a Dem. Ultimately, I left early and called it a wash. I don’t think I even filed a report, I just told the manager about what happened and that there wasn’t anything usable to the campaign. Mostly I was annoyed I missed half the football game… That being said, doing oppo is a blast and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in getting involved in a campaign. 2
B-Man Posted July 9, 2022 Posted July 9, 2022 I went to Washington DC in the summer of 1980. I wandered into the Capitol building, which was easy to do back then, and started looking around. A large group of people got my attention and the was Ted Kennedy giving a quick interview, he was trying to unseat President Carter at the time. Next I was looking around the hallway of statuary and not paying attention, I proceeded to step in front of a large man who was rushing through the area. We collided and I apologized, as he continued to move away I realized that it was Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill . 😄 1 1
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