Howard Dean in Portsmouth New Hampshire

Written by: Marcia Moody on Jul 15, 2008 7:15 PM EDT

One of the reasons that so many people in this day and age turn to the internet and especially the blogs for real news and information is because  of how miserably the press fails us.  So typical, was the story that appeared in the Foster's Daily Democrat about Governor Howard Dean, the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and his recent visit to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  Their story was entirely about the New Hampshire Primary and that topic wasn't even mentioned one single time in Governor Dean's speech nor did it turn up in a most interesting Q &A session.  As so often with the press, any story is an opinion piece that the editorial department is interested in and not what actually happens.

I was fortunate enough to be one of the attendees at the event which was a House Party given by our New Hampshire Speaker of the House, Terie Norelli.  It was at 2:00PM on a hot Friday afternoon.  When I arrived, I saw many of my friends and colleagues.  Senator Martha-Fuller Clark, Representative Jim Powers, Representative Jackie Calli-Pitts and my wonderful Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter were among those I was able to chat with.  Though the party was supposed to be for only 40 or 50 people and was not open to the public or the press, nontheless there must have been about 100 people there and some press people did manage to get to the house and hang around outside.

Governor Dean arrived and right away someone from the press cornered him in the sidewalk before he cound get to greet Speaker Norelli and Congresswoman Shea-Porter who were waiting for him on the porch.  He looked great and like the Howard Dean we all know and love, he bounded up the steps with such energy and enthusiasm with that huge smile on his face and greeted Terie and Carol.  Just a quick aside, Terie Norelli was the very first member of the New Hampshire House to endorse Governor Dean when he ran for President himself 5 years ago.  An earlier discussion took place when one of the Obama campaign people asked Carol who should introduce Governor Dean.....she (as the ranking politician) or Terie.  Carol very graciously said, "Of course, Terie should introduce him.  After all it is her house".

After the three of them posed for pictures he came in the front door and greeted those of us standing there waiting for his entrance.  He laughed when he saw me, took my hand and said, "Haven't I  just seen you VERY recently?"  The joke was I had just attended one of his events the day before in Portland, Maine.  I grinned and nodded yes.  Before he could go any further, an announcement was made that since it was so hot in the house that we were to all go outside and asemble in the yard for the event.

Once outside, Terie spoke first and introduced several people including all of us Representatives, the Senator, the Mayor and a former Republican Representative Sandra Keans.  Sandy was on my Resourses Committee last term and is a really good person.  Terie said, "And here is Sandy Keans who has changed from the Republican she never was to the Democrat she has always been".  It is true.  She is now running as a Democrat and has all along held true Democratic beliefs and values.

Next Terie intruduced Carol Shea-Porter.  Carol made a very brief speech and urged us to remember just how critical this coming election is.  The RNC has target her as one of the top 10 Congress people that they want to bring down.  They have already spent over $1million  on TV attack ads.  Then she turned it back to Terie who introduced Howard Dean.

Howard was there to tell us all how important it was to return all these good Democrats back to office in November and to elect Barack Obama as the next President.  He talked about McCain's total lack of understanding of the the economic crisis we are facing.  He mentioned how people in Berlin, NH have lost thousands of jobs because of the closing of the lunber mills.  Now those people have to drive over 50 miles one way just to find work with gas prices at $4 plus a gallon.  However, his two big issues were to get the young people involved and the neighbor-to-neighbor door knocking campaign.  He told us how as Chairman of the DNC, they decided to try an experiment in the  2006 Virginia election.  He said, "As a good doctor,  I wanted control groups."  There were six.  First, the dreaded robo-calls, then the personal calls, the targeted mailings, the targeted TV and radio ads, the college kids knocking on doors. and finally the neighbor-to-neighbor group knocking on doors.

He said that all groups showed a 1% to 2%  increase in voter turnout and results, but one group in particular...the neighbor-toneighbor group had a 12% increase.  That is so significant.  That is why he said it is so important for us to participate in that program.  He turned to our State Party Chairman, Ray Buckley and Ray said that here in NH we have 1,500 people signed up for the program.  Then Howard said when they first came out with this concept, which consists of you knocking on 25 of your neighbor's doors at least 3 times between now and November, people in Oregon accepted the challenge and said that they would do even better, knocking on 40 doors 4 times

Then the most interesting part of the whole afternoon came with the Q & A.  The first question was,"How do you answer letters to the editor that say that the person writing was a former Democrat and is so disgusted, that they have switched and now will vote for John McCain?"  Howard said, "I can almost guarantee you that such letters are a plant.  That they really come from Republicans that are using all the RNC talking points.  Be very leery of those kinds of letters, as they are typical of the Republican strategy to divide us".

Another question was by a lady who asked,"How as a pro-choice woman talk to a pro-life woman?"  This was a follow-up to Howard's other topic that he talked about today,  that of including Evangelical Christians in the Democratic Big Tent.  His answer was that first of all no one he knows is for abortion.  The need is, to cut down on aboutions by education and making use of every available means of birth control.  Next you should respect the other woman's right to her opinion.  But, that you should emphasize that whether of not to have an abortion is a decision to be made by a woman, her family and her doctor NOT BY GOVERNMENT.

Then came the zinger question.  My friend JJ (John Joyal) a big union leader at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.  He was a huge Dean supporter here in NH during Dean's campaign and he is a huge supporter of Carol Shea-Porter.  He said, "Governor, I just have one simple question...what do you think of an Obama/Dean ticket?"  With that Howard threw back his head and gave one of his wonderful, great full bodied laughs.  He said, "There is NO WAY I am even going to touch that one, but thanks for asking anyway."  Then JJ, with raised fist, yelled, "Give 'em hell Howard!!!" the old campaign slogan here in NH.  Everyone cracked up.

The last question was about framing and immigration.  Howard said that the Republicans have used immigration to scare everyone just as they did  with the gay issue in the previous election.  He said of course we have to control our borders for security reasons and we have to stop uncontrolled  over the border mass immigration.  However, except for a few Native Americans, all of us have immigrants in our families.  Ther promise of America is what made so many immigrants seek a better life here.  Those Irish, German, Aisian and yes, Mexican families that came here and are honest hard working people deserve to be able to become citizens had have the benefits that citizenship bestows.  "Those that are already here and meet this criteria I say if George Bush can't find a 6 foot 4 inch Saudi running around in the desert, how can he expect to find  12,000,000 Mexicans and toss them out of the country?"

With that he concluded his speech and milled around for a few minutes chating with people and shaking hands.  I tapped him on the shoulder and said, "I like your tie."  He gave me a big hug and lifted his tie to look at it and said," I know you do."  For those of you who know what I am talking about....he was wearing the whale tie that we gave him.  So ends this report.  I am looking forward to seeing many of you in a couple of days at Netroots Nation.     Marcia Moody

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