Presidential election looks very different from N.H. town halls
| Milford, N.H.
The iconic images of the 2016 presidential race are outsize personalities and massive rallies peopled with 鈥渁ngry voters鈥� who, in some respects, often function as convenient props, cheering on cue. It鈥檚 a聽narrative that makes for great political theater, especially with billionaire celebrity Donald Trump in the fray.
But here in New Hampshire, the fight for the White House is also taking shape in a decidedly distinctive way. In the intimate setting of town halls up and down the Granite State, the one-liner isn鈥檛 always the best wrench in the rhetorical toolkit, and the scenes are notably more subdued.
Not that these are wan affairs. In New Hampshire, politics is mogul skiing backward down a double black diamond. But the dynamics are different from a packed hall, where calls to 鈥渕ake America great again鈥� or 鈥渟tart the political revolution鈥� draw roars or approval. In front of an unvetted audience and facing unscripted questions, candidates must often reach into the substance of policy solutions to get nods of approval. And they must often tread into new territory 鈥� following where the audience leads.
Such town halls are a staple of presidential campaigning everywhere these days, but here they are a tradition rooted in the Yankee soil like the beech and birch of the White Mountains. Here, town halls are the symbolic lifeblood of the primary, and in this election in particular, they are offering those who care to look a very different perspective of the presidential race.
Perhaps the most obvious example of how New Hampshire can shape the race in its own way is on the issue of opiate drug addiction. Nationally, it barely figures in polls. But in New Hampshire, nearly half of people know someone who has used heroin in the past five years 鈥� 60 percent, for people under 35, according to .
Candidates say the intensity of the issue here took them by surprise. Some, like Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, fresh from a victory in Iowa, adapted the issue to existing law-and-order talking points. 鈥淚f you look at what is happening right now on our borders, it鈥檚 an absolute disgrace,鈥� he said, referencing his own聽聽聽鈥漎ou have drugs flooding into this country. If you want to turn around the drug crisis, you have to finally secure the border.鈥�
He concluded his comments without taking questions.
Along similar lines, Donald Trump told a town hall meeting in Farmington, N.H., last month that the solution to New Hampshire鈥檚 drug problem is to build a wall across the southern border to stop the drugs pouring in.
But others have taken a different approach 鈥� particularly the three governors in the race who have experience dealing with the issue at home: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida.
Governor Christie has turned the issue into a centerpiece of his campaign.听Exiting a town hall meeting in Bow, N.H., on Tuesday, Governor Christie says that he was stopped by a woman disappointed that no one had asked him about the state鈥檚 鈥渁wful, horrible drug problem.鈥� Hours later, in Milford, N.H., he opened the town hall meeting with his mother鈥檚 lifelong struggle with nicotine. When she fell ill, 鈥渘o one told me: 鈥楧on鈥檛 treat her, she鈥檚 made a choice, she鈥檚 getting what she deserved.鈥� 鈥�
鈥淲e need to stop making moral judgments on their choices and start helping them get on with their lives,鈥� he said in last month, which went viral. The governor also announced a $100 million program to convert a former prison into a treatment center for prisoners with drug problems.听鈥漈here鈥檚 a stigma with heroin, he says. 鈥淲e keep it quiet.鈥�
In this way, the governors have viewed the issue as a chance to deepen the conversation on criminal justice and expand the traditional GOP base.
The issue has had a similar impact on the Democratic side.
In her first campaign event in New Hampshire, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was asked a question from a retired physician on opiate addiction. That question put the issue on her radar, .
Three months later, Clinton鈥檚 campaign proposed a $10 billion plan to combat opiate addiction, including treatment and recovery programs instead of jail last September. In addition, for every $1 that a state invests in a comprehensive plan on the issue, the plan proposes adding $4 in federal funding.
Republican Jeb Bush featuring the experience of his daughter, Noelle, with drug addiction.听Like Mrs. Clinton, he says that heroin addiction was the first question he was asked on his first day in the state.
The 37-page Bush 鈥淧lan for America,鈥� released last month, calls for access to treatment and reduced mandatory sentences for nonviolent offenders. 鈥淏ecause prescription painkiller abuse is closely related to heroin use, treatment and recovery efforts must address both,鈥澛�.听
For Governor Kasich, his standing ovation came not with a plan to seal the border but when he told a group of business leaders that Republicans have an obligation to do more than create surpluses or cut taxes 鈥� a point he has made repeatedly in town halls.
Whether the governors鈥� substantive style of campaigning in town halls here will make a difference is in doubt. The governors currently sit fourth, fifth, and sixth in the , well behind Mr. Trump and several points behind Sen. Marco Rubio and Senator Cruz.
But the town halls remain a window onto a different campaign even for front-runners on occasion.
On Thursday, Cruz added a personal touch to his speech at a forum on addiction and recovery at the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Hooksett, N.H. He discussed the overdose death of his half-sister, Miriam, and his father鈥檚 successful battle against alcohol.听
The solution won鈥檛 come from Washington, he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be friends and family, churches and charities, loved ones, treatment centers, people working with people to overcome their addiction.鈥�
