Ever wonder what they mean by "retail politics" when referring to the small states with early contests in the nomination campaign, like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina? It means direct, one-on-one contact with many voters. It doesn't matter what office you seek, in these less-populated states with many rural and small-town voters, you have to answer their questions if you expect their vote.
One elder official related his failed run for Treasurer in our rural county. He recalled having gone into a local bank and shaking everyone's hand and mentioning his candidacy. Later, after he lost, he returned to the branch on business, and his teller told him, "I am so sorry you lost the election. I thought you should win, but you didn't ask for my vote, so I figured you didn't want it."
The gentleman reassured her, "Oh, no, ma'am, I came in here and thought I spoke to everyone that day, and if I didn't speak to you, it was just an oversight."
She replied, "Well, you asked everyone else here that day, but not me, so I thought you must not want my vote for some reason . . ."
That's the way people vote in these areas. New Hampshire citizens are so hopelessly drunk with power they'll switch from a candidate who forgets their dog's name on their second meeting. So full props to Hillary for taking on an annoying lefty (pardon the redundancy) in Iowa, as reported by NBC's Athena Jones:
At a campaign stop here, Hillary Clinton sparred verbally for several minutes with a man who pressed her on her recent vote to call Iran's army a terrorist organization.
Randall Rolph, from nearby Nashua, asked why he should support Clinton's candidacy when she did not appear to have learned any lessons from having voted to authorize force in Iraq.Clinton thanked him for the question and explained her Iran vote would lay the groundwork for using diplomacy and sanctions to pressure that government.
Clinton accused the man of being a plant who had been sent to ask the question, to which he took exception, saying the question was a result of his own research.
"I apologize," Clinton said, explaining that she had been asked the very same question in three other places.
The crowd applauded when the senator ended the back and forth by saying the two had a disagreement and offering to put Rolph in touch with her staff, who could provide him with the text of the legislation, which she suggested he had misunderstood.
Read the whole story at the link above. Of course, reading the resolution she voted for as leading to an attack on Iran is ridiculous, but you have to say or nod at lots of ridiculous notions to run successfully for the Democratic nomination. So give Hillary Clinton credit for not just pacifying the fool with typical political double-talk. (I know she knows the lingo). Also, the guy obviously belongs to the nut-case far left wing of the party, and she didn't pander to him.
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Filed under:
2008 Presidential Race, Democrats, Hillary, Iowa, Primaries
Tags: Democrat, Hillary Clinton, Iowa, presidential campaign, primaries
Comments (13)
I told you, the nutroots ha... (Below threshold)1. Posted by kim | October 8, 2007 5:42 AM | Score: -1 (3 votes cast)
I told you, the nutroots have flipped because the big boys and girls are having to tell them that even with Iraq pacific, and bin Laden dead, it still ain't over. There is a Manichean struggle with which the extreme left is in denial.
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1. Posted by kim | October 8, 2007 5:42 AM |
Score: -1 (3 votes cast)
Posted on October 8, 2007 05:42
2. Posted by kim | October 8, 2007 9:46 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
There was tense Manichean struggle in that last comment. I don't think bin Laden is dead, but truly, what would his death change? Certainly, some things.
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2. Posted by kim | October 8, 2007 9:46 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 8, 2007 09:46
3. Posted by P. Bunyan | October 8, 2007 10:01 AM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Did anyone doubt that one Bill's wife had a lock on the nomination, she'd start pretending to be a "centerist"?
3. Posted by P. Bunyan | October 8, 2007 10:01 AM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on October 8, 2007 10:01
4. Posted by P. Bunyan | October 8, 2007 10:04 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
one=once
4. Posted by P. Bunyan | October 8, 2007 10:04 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 8, 2007 10:04
5. Posted by Erik | October 8, 2007 1:22 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Please correct your article, the man was an INDEPENDENT, not a lefty. I wonder why you had to incorrectly label him a "lefty"? How about this, he's an American with a question... but I know that threatens the right and the left these days. GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT! If you got that info from NBC, then check the facts before you use them in a headline.
5. Posted by Erik | October 8, 2007 1:22 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on October 8, 2007 13:22
6. Posted by Jim Addison | October 8, 2007 2:35 PM | Score: -2 (4 votes cast)
The man was a moonbat nut case.
That's about as far "left" as you can go before falling off the table . . .
6. Posted by Jim Addison | October 8, 2007 2:35 PM |
Score: -2 (4 votes cast)
Posted on October 8, 2007 14:35
7. Posted by kim | October 8, 2007 4:37 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
'Independents' covers a lot of territory. Basically, it's everyone who thinks they have a unique perspective on politics not adequately addressed by a party.
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7. Posted by kim | October 8, 2007 4:37 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 8, 2007 16:37
8. Posted by bryanD | October 8, 2007 9:34 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"Hillary snaps at Iowa lefty over Iran"-ja approvingly!
So Hillary's *kind of "Right"*...
Since the war is Right (-wing)...
Which makes the Good Doctor NOT right wing...
In fact, possibly a PINKO~!
8. Posted by bryanD | October 8, 2007 9:34 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 8, 2007 21:34
9. Posted by bryanD | October 8, 2007 11:17 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
BREAKING NEWS!
Notorious Armenian genocide was NOT genocide according to the Bush administration. Turkey's threat to invade Iraqi Kurdistan has NOTHING to do with this announcement!
Like Ahmadinejad per the Jewish holocaust, this Event requires more "study".
Repeating: US scrotum hanging like a speed bag in a welterweight's training gym has NOTHING to do with it!
Nine-eleven! With justice for all!
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/10/06/1191091425314.html
9. Posted by bryanD | October 8, 2007 11:17 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on October 8, 2007 23:17
10. Posted by kim | October 9, 2007 7:16 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
bD, it doesn't seem unreasonable that historians not legislators should determine whether or not The Armenian Debacle was a genocide. In fact, historians have decided it was such. Lawmakers, and headline writers, can do what they like, but it is scratching in the sand.
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10. Posted by kim | October 9, 2007 7:16 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 9, 2007 07:16
11. Posted by dectra | October 9, 2007 8:34 AM | Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
The fact that she addressed him without having "shock troops" there to weed out those without her own views (like bush does) speaks volumes about the fact she is a competent, smart leader worthy of my vote.
11. Posted by dectra | October 9, 2007 8:34 AM |
Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on October 9, 2007 08:34
12. Posted by kim | October 10, 2007 10:51 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
So, you like being snarled at? Wrongly?
Why am I not surprised?
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12. Posted by kim | October 10, 2007 10:51 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 10, 2007 10:51
13. Posted by kim | October 10, 2007 10:53 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
dectra, thank you. You've exposed for me the masochistic underpinnings of the left's love of radical Islam.
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13. Posted by kim | October 10, 2007 10:53 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 10, 2007 10:53