Hillary Clinton - October 10, 2007

I’m way late in writing this up, because this event happened on October 10th, but here’s my visit with Hillary Clinton…



Hillary came to the Derry Opera House, right down the road from my house. I would have walked there, but it was raining, so I drove the 90 seconds down the street. Ha!

Hillary’s speech was advertised as being about Innovation. I was sitting about 10 rows back from the front in the small auditorium space. The floor fit maybe 150 or so and the balcony some number more.

She started by saying she wanted to create good jobs, build the middle class, and use innovation to gain an edge in the global economy. As an example of the innovative edge, she sited the company she just visited, GT Solar, a local energy company that is actually exporting to China (how rare is that!).

Hillary said the global economy equals challenges. There’s jobs going overseas. Our productivity is going up but people are getting less in return. Living costs are going up, and only a small minority of people are doing well.

She says we Americans need to start working together and get back into the solution business. Her suggestions:
1. Apollo project – Invest in clean renewable energy for security, global warming, and job creation. We need national leadership. She’ll start a strategic fund, closing loopholes to the oil companies who are getting tax breaks. She wants to create the equivalent of DARPA (which was started after Sputnik went up). And we need to have the best minds in both public and private sectors working on this stuff.
2. End the war on science [Hell yeah!] – No muzzles on scientists. No politicization of science. Yes to stem cell research. Tax credit for research. Improve math and science education. Create a manufacturing base in this country because that is what our country was based on and we need to keep that to remain strong. We also need to have a feedback loop for engineers and scientists, so manufacturing here can do that.
3. Rebuild infrastructure – Create an emergency repair fund for roads, rails, sea ports, etc. Have a green building fund, to encourage environmentally sound solutions. Have a national broadband strategy.

Hillary wants to get back to “evidence-based decision making”. [Again, hell yeah, especially compared to Bush!]. Then she quotes Stephen Colbert and says that the President makes facts based on decisions, not the other way around. She’d like to get that in the right order.

She says we need a change to win in the global economy. And then she asks for the support of each person in the audience. Literally asks for it. She wants to change course and takes nothing for granted, so she is out campaigning for every single vote.

The speech part was about 15 minutes or so. They did a short “panel” discussion with two other folks about innovation and stuff. Boring.

Then come the questions from the audience.
Q: Inheritance Tax. What do you think of it?
A: Anything I propose, I pay for… let’s go back to pay as you go rules. Estate tax comes from the fact that we, as a country, never liked huge inherited wealth [I totally never thought about this before!]. She’s proposing >$7 million pays inheritance. That should make it pretty safe for most families.

Then she talks about how psychology says people will save more if the government offers to match some, so she says gov’t will match first $1K of saving for those with less than $60K income. And 50% for people with 60-100K income. If we don’t start doing these things, the inequality in economic sectors will get worse.

Q: We need to stop outsourcing high tech jobs! (citing Dell, Apple, and Autodesk)
A: We’re going to stop tax breaks for those companies that are doing this outsourcing. The tax code should reward companies that provide American jobs. And it’s not just low or high tech jobs. Everyone is in danger. Example, she’s seen things where X-rays are read in India for people in the US.

Q: Mom of 4. She’s got a son with Asperser’s syndrome and insurance is a nightmare.
A: Autism, she knows a lot about it. She’s done a lot of work on child development issues. Spends time talking about what she knows… She wants to put money into research, but that doesn’t help the family who’s having problems with insurance companies, so we need to crack down on them, too.

Q: A couple (65 and 67 years old) are paying $10K a year for their health insurance. That’s a lot of money!
A: Hillary’s seen a family in Portsmouth who was paying $18K a year! It’s awful. She touts her health plan, how it has choices plus a public option. She wants to see a competitive playing field in this area to keep costs down. And we need to lower Medicare costs.


So the event was nice. The science/tech stuff she talked about was right up my alley and I really appreciated her points in that area. She’s very smart and well-spoken. She obviously knows her stuff and seemed very strong and in control of the facts and her plans. I think she would do a very good job. That said, I didn’t feel all fired up and inspired by her. I think she’s an admirable woman, but do I want to stand out in the cold rain with a Hillary sign trying to get other people to vote for her? Eh. Solid candidate, definitely confident she can do it, but not inspiring my undying support.

Now that they’ve moved up the primary, I don’t know how I’ll be able to see everyone, but I’ll keep trying!

John Edwards, July 29, 2007

Today I went a few miles down to Mack's Apples in Londonderry to see John Edwards at a "town hall". The only difference between this and the house party format was that it was not in a house and there was more people there (possibly because it's in a well-known spot or because they did more publicity).

I have a bunch of photos up on my flickr account, including the bigger version of this one:


Let's see. He arrived on this bright and sunny day in the big field. He gave a speech for 15-20 minutes and then answered questions for at least another 30 minutes. Then he shook hands and kissed babies (well, I didn't see that part, but it could have happened).

Once again I met a bunch of people (and saw several I had seen at the Richardson event). Nobody was decided, not everybody was even a democrat. NH is really fun for this stuff.

I sat about 10 feet from Edwards while he spoke and took furious notes. Let's see if I can summarize them before I pass out from being so tired.

The speech:
He started by saying Elizabeth was doing well (and their 30th anniversary is tomorrow!). He talked about his cycling with Lance Armstrong and Elizabeth ratting him out to their son about the fact that Lance slowed down to let daddy keep up with him.

He launched into his standard dialog: Washington is broken. The system is rigged and it's rigged against you. It's rigged by the Insurance companies, the drug companies, the oil companies... We need a Big Change.

He jumped over to say how democratic candidates should not be going after each other, they should be going after what's wrong with the government (reference to bickering between Obama and Clinton). Then he said what he doesn't want to see is one set of insiders take the place of another set of insiders after this election. [sorry to insert my cynicism but like he's not an insider?]

So his issues
- Healthcare system. He wants universal coverage, mandate subsidies for premiums, no pre-existing condition clauses, take it with you if your laid off. Paid for by taking back the Bush tax cuts for the rich. Then he told a personal story of a 50 year old man in Appalacia who had a cleft palette and couldn't speak his whole life until last year because he didn't have good health care. In the US. Edwards was outraged by this. He said the people need to rail against this and stand up to lobbyists.
- Global warming. Companies don't want change... they're doing well, they don't want to shake things up. We need to make laws to do it, cap carbon emissions 80% less by 2050, auction the rights to produce carbon and use that money to invest in renewable energy. No nuclear pants. Ask for patriotism and sacrifice of the american people in not being dependent on oil. And also, we have to lead. We need to be able to ask China and others to treat the environment right, but not until we're doing it.
- Economic inequality. The 2 americas is not rich and poor. It's the multinational corporations and those wealthy folks, and everybody else. He wants to speak for the Americans who can't feed and clothe their children. Need a higher minimum wage and one that is indexed to go up automatically.
- College for everyone. Everyone should be able to go to college. If you graduate high school and want to go, work 10hr/wk your first year and get college paid for [maybe I missed something about how this is supposed to work]. He's done it in a low income section of NC and says it's working well.
- Tax system. Make it fair for everyone. Go after Romney and Guliani (who he says are like "Bush on steroids" [I'm not sure what that means]).
- Take care of what has been the destruction of American leadership in the world. Stop the war in Iraq. Close Guantanamo. No torture. No illegal spying on citizens. No secret Prisons. Then he stopped to say, "Why do I even have to say this? What kind of shape is our country in if these things have to be spoken out loud in comparison to the existing policy?" It was a good moment.
- Do the world good. Stop Darfur. Help world provide clean water and sanitation. Educate the children of the world.

Then he said, "I cannot change all problems by myself. I'd like to make that promise, but I can't because a single person, even in the Oval Office can't do it. But you all are the movement. The Civil Rights movement started with individual people standing up for what they wanted and that's what we need now."

And then we got to questions:
- Campaign finance? A: The only way to do it is to publicly finance campaigns. These things should not be money-raising events.
- Subsidizing health care premiums (something about single payer versus something...)? A: Cap the overhead for premium-based ones and then offer government-sponsored that is single-payer.
- Foreign policy and China (the big bad is not our friend)? A: They're full of messes with human rights and environment and such. They support Sudan against Darfur region, lots of bad stuff. Need to put pressure on them to do right and work with them.
- Iraq war and vet care? A: Start taking people out ASAP and finish over a year or so. Get Sunni and Shia together to negotiate. Work with surrounding countries since they want stability. Have rapid deployment teams in Kuwait and the gulf, and put more in Afghanistan. This is where it got interesting. He said we need to be prepared for a civil war on the light end. And then he said we also need to be prepared for the worse, which nobody is talking about: Genocide. Sunni may try to wipe out the Shia. In that case it becomes int'l effort for human rights. On vets, he goes on about taking care of them as individuals and good funding and such.
- College loans out the wazoo? A: Skip the middle man, make them government based so there's not extra costs.
- Art teacher asks about No Child Left Behind? A: It's a mess. Lots of good description of why it's a mess. But he doesn't say he's getting rid of it. Just that each child needs to be assessed at the beginning and end of the year and assessed in ways that are meaningful for them (where they may be good at math or art or other stuff and that's how to lead them and assess them). And punishing the "failing" schools is the stupidest thing ever.
- Immigration and war on terror? A: No big fence, though a fence in certain places could be an option. Crack down on employers hiring illegals. No kicking people out or amnesty, but a path to citizenship. A smallish fine that could actually be paid. Must speak english.
- Population growth and economic dependence on Military Industrial Complex? A: Get rid of nuclear weapons and yes shifting to a peace-based economy would require adjustments in education and what we do with money and time.
- Global warming? A: Americans need to demand action. Politicians will follow.

Then he offered to answer all of our questions personally if we email them to him because he couldn't take all the questions. He talked about how great NH is for the ability to ask hard questions of candidates and any candidate not willing to stand and answer shouldn't be president.

General impressions:
The man is a good motivational speaker. I kind of rolled my eyes at his mentions of being not an insider, and some of the other rhetoric that sounds great but is lacking evidence of being doable. At the same time, he is very nice to listen to and absolutely seems earnest and honest. He may have the overshininess of a politician, but in no way do I get the impression that he doesn't care about the things he talks about. Still, it's a show me the money situation for me. I haven't seen any evidence that he has done the types of things he'll need to do as president. Maybe he has, but he didn't help promote that information in his speechifying. I got to shake his hand afterwards and he's got a firm handshake. He also seems skinnier in person than on tv. Or maybe that was the jeans versus a suit... :)

Bill Richardson - July 27, 2007

And so my little portion of Campaign 08 kicked off tonight with a house party in Derry, just a few miles away from my home. Bill Richardson was the candidate. Many of the folks I talked to had not ever been to a house party and neither had I (for those outside NH, house parties are a very common way to get these close contact events with candidates that you always here about... in NH you don't have to go far or do much to shake hands with candidates or ask them questions).

And since people had liked my reports the last time I did the round of candidates, I went so far as to take notes this time. I guess I'm a bit of a reporter... who forgot her camera, so you get the crappy phone pic:


The setting: a very nice home, the living room, about 15 people sitting in the room with another 20 or 30 standing in the attached open kitchen space.

The event was scheduled 7-9 and I wasn't sure what time to get there so I got there about 6:50 and was one of the first. I chatted with some nice people from Derry, mostly older, a developer, a marketing guy, an environmental scientist... the crowd was quite a mix, though most of the few people in their 20's and early 30's were part of the campaign. Those whippersnappers!

Richardson arrived around 7:30 and got right to talking. He gave what he told us was the shortened version of his stump speech (15 minutes. he says the long one is over an hour). Immediately he hit on several issues that mattered to me and he seemed quite quick and witty (woot! I like witty).

For those that don't know, the man has extensive diplomacy experience with places like Syria, Iraq, and North Korea. He grew up in Mexico City and New England, he was in Congress, he was Ambassador to the UN, he was Secretary of Energy (and really believes in renewable energy), and as governor of New Mexico he's lowered taxes, made education a priority, and promoted business innovation by having tax breaks for tech companies. The dude has really done stuff, not just argued about it on a floor of a building. I'm sorry if this sounds like an endorsement, it's just really refreshing to see somebody who actually has a track record of doing the things you would like to see done.

So he structures his speech as "Here's what I'll do in my first 6 days", because he says, "I'm a man in a hurry" to get things done.

Day 1: The middle east. It's all about negotiation and diplomacy. He will make Iraq and the region work by talking to parties, appealing to everyone's own needs in negotiation, pulling out of Iraq, putting in a Muslim peacekeeping force, and then spend some time on environment stuff to get us on the path of stopping oil dependence.

Day 2: Education. Teachers are not paid enough and don't get enough respect. There should be a minimum wage for teachers ($40K). We needs stronger science and math education. We need more civics and language. The math and science education would be greatly helped by a national "arts in the schools" funding. He's done this in NM and says it's doing great things. Kids into sculpture and music excel in math and science. Also for the student loans that go on forever, people should be able to work them off with a year of service... doesn't have to be military, just something for the betterment of the country.

Day 3: The economy. The country became great by being entrepreneurial. Now we need to do that again in things like renewable energy and biotech. Make new industries out of emerging fields and create good companies and jobs. Make tax incentives for these types of companies to do their thing.

Day 4: Healthcare. Put limits on HMO's and Insurance ability to shaft us (my words, not his). Also let's do a little more to prevent obesity! Stem cell research! Give our vets a heroes healthcare and let them get care wherever they want.

Day 5: Energy. JFK talked big to get big things done. Let's think of the legacy of the country, not just our immediate needs. First thing: energy independence. Reduce greenhouse gases, go to renewable energy, get back in on Kyoto, and actually ask our citizens to sacrifice a little.

Day 6: Reinforcing what we were and what we should be. Close guantanamo. Bring back habeas corpus. No torture. Kyoto. International coalitions to get things done. Stand for democracy and human rights.

Then it was to questions and answers... He was really big on reaching out, bridging gaps, promoting diplomacy to solidify coalitions among countries we agree with, and also diplomacy to negotiate with countries how are doing things we don't like. He was very good at responding to the issue, didn't seem to sidestep, and on something like Immigration, was willing to step up and take a side that not everybody likes (no building a wall, allowing for a path to citizenship with strong fees and structure). In the question about "how the heck can we believe any politician about energy since ya'll have been promising energy independence for decades", he said that not only was he Energy Secretary so has experience from that end, but NM is in the top 2 states for clean energy.

Another thing he said (which happened to be about immigration and he was referring to speaking with the Mexican pres, but I loved the comment in general): "Diplomacy is talking straight to your friends". Meaning that if your buddy is doing something that stinks, you have to just tell them you feel that way, so for Mexico giving them some instruction for how to maybe keep their citizens on their side more might be a good step.

Favorite silly comment of the night (when talking about the environment and the need for concern about global warming): "Al Gore has it right! I just hope he stays out of the race!" LOL

I did get in a comment which also resulted in me being a goof... In a flurry of final questions, he called on me I said that I think the education of our kids in math/science and making a base of future innovators is critical to the success of our country in the future. By the time 8 people asked questions and he got back to answering them all, my comment was mistaken as a question and he started repeating what he had said earlier. After 30 seconds I said, "Oh no, you don't have to repeat yourself about your education plan. I just wanted to bring up the issue because your campaign manager over here has been writing down the issues that came up and I didn't want this issue to get lost in the shuffle." only I said it more like "I just wanted to make sure he wrote it down in his little book." :P

So at the end of the time he walked through and shook hands. I would have shaken his hand but he was reaching for some shrimp cocktail. So rather than saying anything productive or sticking my hand out, I looked at him and said, "Did you get anything to eat?" He said, "No. I don't need to eat." I believe that last part was facetious.

General impressions:
I really like this guy's record of actually doing things. He also committed to stating his cabinet before the election and including independents and republicans in his circle. He's very well-versed and did not seem to be spitting out canned responses (though I'm sure a bunch of it was repeated stuff). He was personable and seemed like a very nice man. By the time I was face to face with him at the end he seemed a bit dazed, but this is 9pm on a Friday when he's been talking all day long, so I suspect that was where that came from, rather than a deer in headlights or dopey type thing.