This is going to be short. No links because it is a first-hand report from an attendee at the annual Jefferson/Jackson Dinner held last evening in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Much speechifying at the JJ event: Ray Buckley handing out awards to faithful democrats, then CSP and Annie Kuster giving long speeches, then Maggie talking and talking before introducing Jeanne, who talked before introducing Clinton.
Poor Clinton looked gaunt and haggard while he stood on the dais behind or next to Hassan and Shaheen, occasionally smiling or laughing at a joke, but when he finally got to talk, he was much more relaxed, made a few jokes, and then got wonkish about health and employment figures.
The crowd was very receptive to Clinton, as to the ladies, so it was a love-fest. A crowd of 1200, five hundred more than expected during the planning stage.
Anyway, the NH Democrats are fired up.
CSP is Carol Shea-Porter, our three term Congresswoman, first elected in 2006, then Tea-Partied in 2010 and returned to office in 2012. This year the Koch Brothers have sent in more money, but the element of surprise is gone. Their agenda in 2010 was to get rid of the New England Energy Compact, which could not be effected by removing CSP from Capitol Hill. Sometimes an ineffective scheme gets through just because it is so implausible. Nobody expects stupid.
Annie Kuster, who annoys me no end with her emails, has apparently done something right or nothing wrong -- a conclusion one has to take from the fact that Republicans have been reduced to attacking her looks. She's not a "looker" in their book. Imagine that!
Really, if the Republican party is to survive as a political organization, they're going to have to get a better class of members. The Democratic party, on the other hand, has to start appreciating their members more. How does one underestimate by 500 people? By not paying attention to the membership.
OK, not as short as I promised/planned.