ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: NEW HAMPSHIRE TIDBITS

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
January 10, 2008



MANCHESTER, N.H. — When on the morning of the New Hampshire primary you eat in a cafe that has large painted caricatures of presidential contenders of yore on an outside wall, you might run into some real live candidates.

That was the case Tuesday when I decided it wouldn’t be a New Hampshire election trip without a breakfast at the Merrimack Restaurant.

Located on Elm Street, downtown Manchester’s main drag, the unpretentious diner is a mandatory drop-in spot for presidential candidates.

On Tuesday morning, two New Hampshire radio stations plus a CBS network radio crew were broadcasting live from the Merrimack.

WSMN-AM of Nashua, N.H., was using the booth right beside mine. And while I was making my way through my “international” omelet, not one, but two presidential candidates showed up to be interviewed.

First was libertarian Republican Ron Paul, who had just flown in from Los Angeles after an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno the night before. “I had to come back to do this show,” the Texan quipped.

Before Paul finished, the next guest arrived — Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. The two congressmen greeted each other by their first names before Kucinich took the booth. Paul made his way toward the front of the restaurant, perhaps for a quick chat with one of the other stations.

Kucinich, whose local campaign headquarters was located in an office above the Merrimack, later settled into another booth for some breakfast.

On beyond Gravel: OK, Paul only pulled about 8 percent of the Republican ballots in New Hampshire (and, for the record, got a few thousand more votes than Gov. Bill Richardson) and Kucinich only got 1 percent of those who voted as Democrats, but at least you probably know their names. But that may not be the case for a majority of the candidates who appeared on the New Hampshire ballot.

There were 13 Democrats and 13 Republicans who never were included in any of the televised debates.

One of the Democrats is Tom Laughlin, the actor who starred in the Billy Jack hippie action-hero movies in the 1970s. One of the Republicans is a character called Vermin Supreme, who apparently views politics as performance art. He had ominous signs on Elm Street that said “Lies for Less.”

I met one of the unknown Republicans on Sunday night after finishing dinner at the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester. “I’m Mark Klein and I’m running for president,” said a white-haired older gentleman who handed me a full-color campaign pamphlet. Klein is a psychiatrist from Oakland, Calif.

I asked him why he was spending money pursuing such a long-shot candidacy.

“Because I’m an adult, I’m a parent and a grandparent,” he said.

I dunno. I think Billy Jack might have a better argument.

Coffee with Chelsea: I decided to get some caffeine while waiting for Richardson to show up at the Breaking New Grounds coffee house in downtown Portsmouth on Monday. There were two young women looking at the pastry counter who I thought might be waiting to place an order. I asked if they were in line. “No, sir, go ahead.” So I got my coffee and went to a place where I could watch the front door for the governor of New Mexico.

Waiting beside me was a woman with a reporter’s notebook. I assumed she was there for the same reason I was, so I asked her who she worked for. She said she was with the Boston Globe. I was surprised. Except for his appearance on the ABC News debate, Richardson’s free media attention seemed to be drying up more every day. But actually she wasn’t there for Richardson. She said she was part of a pool following around Chelsea Clinton.


Chelsea was there? It turned out she was one of the women by the pastry counter.

(I didn’t realize it at the time, but just a few blocks away and a few minutes before, Chelsea’s mom had choked up while speaking to undecided voters at another Portsmouth coffee house, creating one of the most discussed New Hampshire political moments of the young year.)

A few moments later, Chelsea began working the crowd. She extended her hand and introduced herself and made a pitch for her mom.

I couldn’t resist. Having read about the incident in Iowa in which Chelsea told a 9-year-old “kid reporter” from Scholastic News, “I’m sorry, I don’t talk to the press and that applies to you, unfortunately. Even though I think you’re cute.”

So I said, “I’m a reporter, so you’d better not talk to me.”

Chelsea just smiled. “Oh well, I can still say hi.”

I thought that was pretty classy. But I would have felt better had she said I was cute.

Older New Hampshire memories: Richardson isn’t the only New Mexican who ran for president but made a disappointing showing in New Hampshire. However, when former U.S. Sen. Fred Harris ran in 1976, he was an Oklahoman.

On Tuesday, Harris didn’t want to say whether or when he thought Richardson should throw in the towel if he came up short in the Granite State. Harris, a Richardson campaign contributor, is a former New Mexico Democratic Party chairman.

“Every campaign, every candidate is different,” Harris said.

In his presidential campaign, Harris said, he came in third in Iowa and was expected to do well in New Hampshire. But that year, there was a presidential caucus in Oklahoma — the state he’d represented in the U.S. Senate — between Iowa and New Hampshire. “The governor of Oklahoma was strongly backing Jimmy Carter, so I had to put all my resources there instead of New Hampshire,” Harris said.

Harris came in fourth in the New Hampshire primary. Raising money became next to impossible, and news coverage of his campaign quickly dried up, Harris recalled. “It became clear to me and my closest people that it was out of the question that I could win,” Harris said. “I knew in my own mind it was over.”

Still, his campaign went on.

“I couldn’t pull out,” he said. “The Service Employee International Union, which had endorsed me, wanted me to stay on at least until the Wisconsin primary. And I was waiting for my (Federal Election Commission) matching funds, which had been held up in the courts.” The federal funds were necessary to repay campaign debts — including a mortgage on his house.

When he lost New Hampshire, Harris, unlike Richardson — who acted as if his 5 percent showing was a victory — acknowledged he’d been beaten. In one of the funniest concession speeches ever, Harris said he lost because the “little people” he’d been fighting for in his campaign “couldn’t reach the voting levers.”

Harris moved to New Mexico not long after that race.

RICHARDSON TO BOW OUT.

I stole this photo from the New York Times. I hope Nathaniel Brookes doesn't mind. I forgot my own camera last night and besides, I wouldn't have been able to get me (the guy in the hat) chasing Richardson from his "The Fight Goes On" speech to his escape vehicle.

So apparently sometime between telling his New Hampshire supporters that he was still in the race and the time I finally landed in Albuquerque after a day of airport hopping, Richardson decided that five percent really isn't a mandate to go on. Check Associated Press story HERE.

The campaign is neither conforming or denying it, of course. All the national stories say an announcement is scheduled for tomorrow, but at this writing I've received no word. Stay tuned.

THE FIGHT GOES ON!

Another single-digit showing, another rousing victory speech. Dogs bark, the Richardson carnival goes on.

My analysis of Richardson's New Hampshire showing is HERE. Some of the experts I talked to said he might be staying in to increase his chances to get chosen for vice president or another major appointment in a Democratic administration. But I'm not sure how much it's going to help to get more 5-percent finishes.

But I can't worry about that right now. I have to catch a plane back to New Mexico.

OUT FOR BREAKFAST

And the Merrimack Restaurant in Manchester was crawling with politicians.



My analysis of where the Richardson campaign is can be found HERE.

All my New Hampshire photos are HERE

Ans, for nostalgia sake, all my Iowa photos are HERE.

NH PRIMARY EVE

It's the day before the primary. Gov. Bill Richardson has several stops today, but, unlike the frantic pace of the day before the Iowa Caucus, his schedule is pretty relaxed.

I followed him around in Portsmouth, where by chance he appeared in the same downtown coffee shop (Breaking New Grounds) where Chelsea Clinton was grabbing a cup to go. I managed to catch unforunate expressions on both after they exchanged greetings.

Be sure to catch tomorrow's New Mexican for more coverage.

ON THE GROUND IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

Believe it or not, Manchester is a lot warmer than Iowa was, at least the frst couple of days I was in Iowa.

You can find my story about Richardson's chances in the New Hampshire primary HERE. I saw him up in Concord yesterday morning and I must say the speech he gave there was one of the best I've heard him give in any of his campaigns. I can't help but think his standing in the race would have been a lot better at this point had Richardson's speeches and debate appearances been as good as his talk in Concord.

Speaking of debates, my analysis of last night's debate on ABC can be found HERE .

Basically, Richardson didn't do a bad job in this debate -- when he was able to squeeze in the discussion. But for much of the debate he was the fifth wheel in the "final four" debate.

And I suppose if he were a front-runner there would have been more attention paid to Richardson saying he would negotiate with "The Soviet Union" if he's elected.

Check out my snapshots HERE. (Keep clicking at the bottom of that page and you'll find pictures I took here last summer.)

SO THERE'S A "FINAL FOUR" IN THE IOWA CAUCUSES?

My analysis of Bill Richardson's fourth-place finish in Iowa, in which he won two percent of the delegates, can be found HERE

My sidebar about the caucus I attended at Lincoln High School in Des Moines is HERE .

And there's more pictures of Caucus night on my FLICKR site.

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: SONG FOR AMERICA

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
January 4, 2008

We’re a relatively young country, but the United States of America has a rich history of music. Not only that, we’ve got a rich history of songs about our rich history.

Just ask Ed Pettersen. Ed is a poet, picker, and “punk-blues” purveyor and producer living for the past several years in Nashville.

And with a team that includes Janet Reno, he put together Song of America, a big, old, various-artist collection of songs outlining the strange and complicated history of this great land — both the official version and various alternate views that go beyond the wars, political campaigns, and other stuff they teach in school. There are patriotic tunes, protest songs, musical retellings of historic events, and songs about changes in our society.


Janet Reno? Yes that Janet Reno. This is her dance party. She’s the aunt of Pettersen’s wife, Jane and it was her idea to put together such a collection after she heard Ed sing a few history-related folk songs at a family get-together. The former attorney general is listed as an executive producer for Song of America.

This three-disc set is a good companion to another three-disc set, Freedom: Songs From the Heart of America, released by Columbia Legacy a few years ago as a soundtrack to the PBS series Freedom: A History of US. Freedom covers a lot of the same ground as Song of America.

In fact, many songs like “This Land Is our Land,” “Home on the Range,” “The Times They Are Changin’,” and “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” can be found in both collections. But Freedom consists mostly of historic recordings — original songs by Louis Armstrong, Gene Autry, Paul Robeson, Kate Smith, Bob Dylan — while Song for America consists of all-new versions of songs recorded by contemporary musicians especially for this project. And Pettersen’s collection covers one important aspect of the American story that Freedom, for reasons I’m not sure of, barely touches upon — displacement and immigration.

Ed Pettersen, right, with Scott Kempner,left

The first disc of Song of America starts out with “Lakota Dream Song” sung by Earl Bullhead (and produced by Albuquerque’s Tom Bee of SOAR — Sound of America Records), establishing the fact that the story of this country isn’t only the story of Europeans.

There is another song about Native Americans called “Trail of Tears,” performed by the duo Will and Jehnean. Then there’s a tough version of “Apache Tears,” written in the early ’60s by Johnny Cash and performed here by rocker Scott Kempner (formerly of The Dictators and The Del-Lords).


There also are songs of the Irish, like “Thousands Are Sailing to Amerikay” performed by Tim O’Brien, and European Jews, like “Sleep My Child (”Schlof Mayn Kind”). There are two songs about Mexican immigrants: Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)” done here by Old Crow Medicine Show, and Alejandro Escovedo’s “Wave” performed by Gary Heffern & Chris Eckman. (Singer Heffern, an acquaintance of mine, is an interesting study in immigration himself. A Finnish orphan adopted by American parents, he returned to his homeland a few years ago.)

The issues of race and slavery also are prominent. Two of the strongest tracks are James Brown’s “Say It Loud, I’m Black and Proud,” covered by Nashville soul revivalists The Dynamites with Charles Walker, and a hopped-up hiss-and-vinegar “John Brown’s Body” by Marah, who sound stronger than they have in years.

There’s also the recurring theme of rebellion. “John Brown’s Body” is a prime example. Pettersen sings “The Liberty Song,” a Revolutionary War tune that the liner notes say “was perhaps our first protest song.” Harper Simon (Paul’s kid) does a defiant “Yankee Doodle” (backed by Country Joe on pennywhistle!) that ends in a crazy guitar grunge-out. And there’s even a version of Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message” by Atlanta rapper Shortee Wop.

And there are songs from the working man and woman’s perspective. Freedy Johnston sings a bluegrassy take on the Industrial Revolution lament “Peg and Awl,” while country star Suzy Bogguss does a sweet, jazzy “Rosie the Riveter,” a salute to women working the factories during World War II.

There are plenty of musical highlights here. Bettye LaVette sings a soulful take on Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia.” Chris and Rich Robinson, of The Black Crowes, team up with their father, Stan, as Folk Family Robinson and sing a spirited “Reuben James” (a song co-written by Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Millard Lampell).

For pure weirdness, I’m very taken by raspy-voiced folkie Malcom Holcombe’s “The Old Woman Taught Wisdom,” a 1767 song based on an extended metaphor urging King George and the Colonies to patch things up. And speaking of Brits, John Wesley Harding sings a version of “God Save the Queen,” with a horn section that gets more discordant with each verse.

If there’s one problem with Song of America it’s that some performers tend to get maudlin and reverent about their material. There are a few slow spots when you try to plough through the whole album all at once. But even in some of those slow, maudlin, too-reverent songs, you can gain unexpected insights. I hadn’t heard or thought of Alan Jackson’s tear-jerking Sept. 11 lament “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning” in several years. But hearing country duo The Wrights sing it, part of the refrain stuck with me:

“I’m just a singer of simple songs/I’m not a real political man/ I watch CNN but I’m not sure I can tell you/The difference in Iraq and Iran/But I know Jesus and I talk to God.”

It’s true. Songs aren’t just important to our history. Sometimes the lyrics can serve as the basis of our foreign policy.

CAUCUS DAY

My story about Bill Richardson's last-day campaign effort can be found HERE.

My snapshots of Iowa -- sorry, not very many so far -- are HERE.

And get a load of this report about a deal between Richardson and Obama. The Richardson camp is denying it, for the record.

About three hours until the caucusing starts.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: IOWA OBSERVATIONS

DES MOINES, IOWA — Before I left New Mexico, I was joking with friends that I expected to be tripping over Bill Richardson’s “Road Runners” — supporters from New Mexico who are campaigning for the governor here in the land of the eastern goldfinch.

So I shouldn’t have been surprised when only moments after stepping off the plane at Des Moines International Airport on Tuesday, I heard someone call my name.

It was Geno Zamora, former chief counsel for Richardson’s office and candidate for state attorney general.

He was heading back to Santa Fe after roadrunning for Richardson for several days in Iowa. Zamora said he’d spent hours on the phone talking up Richardson to potential caucus supporters and also had done some basic grunt work, taping up banners and greeting people at Richardson appearances.

“It’s my 10th anniversary,” he said. “I had to choose between my wife and the governor.”
Zamora said he and his wife, Sheila, were going to the Fiesta Bowl, which took place Wednesday in Glendale, Ariz.

A few minutes later, as I went outside to pick up my rental car and felt the cold wind in the near-zero weather, a football game in Arizona sounded like a great idea.

Weather or not: Of course, being the political junkie I am, after feeling the cold blast, my next thought was what effect the weather — which Des Moines locals say is the coldest in months — would have on the caucuses.

Conventional wisdom is bad weather would hurt candidates such as U.S. Sen. Barack Obama who are counting on new, young and first-time caucus-goers while helping U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, reputed to have a polished get-out-the-vote machine, and former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, who is strong with unions and has a base of longtime supporters going back to the 2004 election.

But some have speculated the cold and ice might hurt Clinton, who is depending on support from older voters.

What about Richardson? I’m assuming he’s less worried about the temperature remaining in single digits than he is about his poll numbers doing the same.

The good news is the weather forecast shows it might get all the way up to 30 degrees today.

I’m still wondering why Iowans and New Hampshirites are more qualified than, say, Hawaiians for taking the first crack at picking the president.

TV madness: Since arriving here, I’ve made it a point to watch some local television, mainly to check out the political ads.

It’s no surprise — they are thick and they are maddening. Just as New Mexico television will be come late October.

I’ve seen seemingly endless ads for Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Fred Thompson ... but no Bill Richardson.

Not on television at least. Two or three times on Iowa radio Wednesday, I heard a spot for the governor paid for by Star Pac, an anti-war group that has endorsed Richardson because of his promise to get all troops out of Iraq in his first year in office.

Only a couple of months ago, Richardson was leading the Democratic pack in number of television commercials. However, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus, by early December, he had fallen well behind Obama and Clinton. Obama by Dec. 2 had purchased more than 10,000 television and radio spots in Iowa. Clinton had bought more than 7,700. Richardson was in third place with 6,984. All but about 1,100 of Richardson’s spots ran before early October.

On Wednesday, Richardson told a small group at an event in Dubuque that candidates shouldn’t be chosen on the basis of who has the most money or has run the most ads.

Do the math: Richardson had appearances Wednesday in seven Iowa cities scattered all over the state. A grueling schedule to be sure.

But the more Richardson talked about it, the more grueling it became.

At his morning stop in Dubuque, the candidate said he had events in eight cities.

By Wednesday afternoon, he told a group he was appearing in 10 cities.

I’m not sure whether the number grew to 15 by the time he got to Iowa City — his seventh and final event of the day.

But give him credit: Whatever you can say about Richardson, at least the governor takes questions from the public at most of his campaign appearances.

An article in the Des Moines Register on Tuesday called Clinton on the fact that she hardly ever takes questions at her rallies, reporting: “Out of her 21 campaign rallies in Iowa since Christmas, Clinton has done three audience Q&As.”

While only a fraction of Iowa voters actually take part in the caucuses, the ones who do take them seriously. People I interviewed at Richardson events say they’ve gone to hear most, and in some cases all, the candidates. They actually read the position papers and compare. They ask intelligent questions and expect serious answers.

You can debate how well Richardson and other candidates answer the questions. But at least they put it on the line.