Stumping And Eating: The New Hampshire Primary
Courtesy of the New York Public Library
Today we continue our series on the relationship between food and campaigning in New Hampshire.
Today is the final push to get voters to the polls in the New Hampshire primary. Let's talk about the lunch and dinner events that candidates did leading up to today. Similar to the number of breakfast events which I discussed yesterday, I counted 41 lunches with campaign staff, volunteers (Republican Activist), and meet and greet voters' events. I found about the same number of public and private dinners among them spaghetti dinners . Among the dinners the First in the Nation Presidential Dinner Cruise on the M/S Mount Washington on Lake Winnipesaukee looked like a very posh event for those flush with discretionary money. Coffee with the candidate events served as the least expensive for campaigns and activist to organize and they seemed a necessary for gaining support of New Hampshire voters. Candidates met voters and coffee houses across the state, as well as in private homes. Republican activist hosted coffees in their homes as a way of convincing voters to support their candidate. At such events an event an activist host might serve cheeses, fruits, donuts and/or pastries. Moreover, New Hampshire’s WMUR-TV in collaboration with the New Hampshire Institute of Politics hosted a “Candidate Café” held at the Airport Diner in Manchester. The same station held a “Coffee with the Candidate” series at the Portland Pie in Manchester as well. Napoleon famously remarked that an army marches on its belly. The same could be said of candidates and their 2012 March to the White House. Below find a clam chowder from the Old Salt Restaurant in Hampton one of the stops on the New Hampshire Primary campaign trail and other related links. Please share your campaign and food stories in the comment section below.
