Campaign Diary home >> Headed to New Hampshire
Headed to New Hampshire
Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Location: Davenport, Iowa
Place: About to hit the road
Today I leave Iowa.
I leave much behind that I will miss, but I will find in New Hampshire much that would be better left in Iowa.
In New Hampshire, I will find more liberal conspiracy theories. For example, did you know that Bush adviser Karl Rove killed Paul
Wellstone? He also killed Mel Carnahan.
In New Hampshire, I will find more silly signs. My favorite, so far: "Undecideds for Dean."
In New Hampshire, I will find more silly T-shirts. My favorite: "NAFTA SHMAFTA."
In New Hampshire, I will find more phony theatrics. John Kerry will still "spontaneously" take off his suit jacket in the middle of
every speech.
In New Hampshire, I will find more hypocrisy. A case in point is Tom Harkin's speech at Howard Dean rallies. Senator Harkin has been
in Washington for 30 years and speaks with about 40 labor union signs behind him, but neither fact prevents him from proclaiming the
victory of "people power" over "Washington power" and over "special interest power."
In New Hampshire, Howard Dean will still be angry.
I myself once irritated the good doctor by questioning if he was a citizen of Vermont when he was 21 years old. (He wasn't.) Dean
had said in hundreds of stump speeches that when he was 21, it wasn't enough for him "as a citizen of Vermont" to want good schools
only in Vermont, because the country once had a sense of unity. Dean has since made his speech more accurate.
In New Hampshire, John Edwards will still give the best stump speech in the country, which will still worry me as a Republican.
It will concern me, as it should concern Karl Rove, because the Tarheel senator's newest stump speech communicates a message as
impressive as its charismatic messenger.
So, watch out John Edwards. We all know what Karl Rove did to Paul Wellstone.
Next stop: New Hampshire
Duke senior Justin Walker, a "political junkie" from Louisville, Ky., is on the Democratic Party campaign trail as part of an independent study project. He is filing periodic dispatches for the Duke Web site.
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