MANCHESTER, NH – The Democratic party leadership gathered in Manchester on Monday afternoon for the last time in this year’s election cycle. Elected officials, candidates, party officials, and a standing-room-only crowd of volunteers filled the Manchester Harris-Walz campaign office for the last time before voting starts on Tuesday.
NH Democratic party leader Ray Buckley served as master of ceremonies for the line-up of speakers which included U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster and U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, running to retain his seat in District 1; gubernatorial candidate Joyce Craig and Congressional candidate Maggie Goodlander, running for the District 2 seat; and state Democratic leaders Sen. Donna Soucy and State Rep. Matt Wilhelm, who all had one last chance to preach to the converted.
Wilhelm, who serves as House Democratic leader, laid out the stakes, saying, “Our values are on the line. We’ve got to make sure that we protect our rights and freedoms. We’ve been playing defense for the last two years we’re ready to go on offense and start building the type of future that we can all be proud of and that we all know is possible.”
Said Soucy, “The legislative races are crucial. We are three votes away from reclaiming the majority in the Senate. Imagine if Joyce has the corner office and we have Democratic majorities in both chambers. Think of the difference we can make in ensuring people have personal freedom, access to affordable housing, access to affordable health care, all of the things that are on the line right here in New Hampshire, the only state in New England that doesn’t provide full access to abortion, that never codified Roe vs. Wade. We have so many things that we can do.”
Shaheen was emphatic in her delivery saying, “We know we’ve got two very different visions for this country. We’ve dramatically seen them in the last week or so. We’ve seen what Donald Trump’s vision is. He talks about himself. He’s made offensive, lascivious, lewd, sexual remarks. He’s called his opponents names. He’s called for people to shoot Liz Cheney and those who disagree with him. Just yesterday he talked about how he called out people to shoot the press who were standing there at his rally. He wants to deport millions of Americans. That’s the vision that Donald Trump has.”
Moving from Trump Shaheen called out NH state Republicans for trying to have it both ways.
“Did you pay attention to the Vance-Trump rally last night? Do you know who didn’t show up at the Vance Trump rally last night? Trump’s big supporters, Chris Sununu and Kelly Ayotte.
They didn’t show up, said Shaheen, “because they’re trying to pretend they support Donald Trump to Donald Trump’s followers and that they don’t support him to the rest of New Hampshire. Well, we’re not going to be fooled by that.”
Kuster is New Hampshire’s longest-serving Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives and Monday’s event is possibly the last campaign speech she will make as a sitting member of Congress. Staying true to form, Kuster kept to the two-minute time limit, and was brief and direct.
She has been stumping in multiple states for the last few weeks, returning to NH for this last push. She described the Democratic advantage simply. “We have a bigger coalition, that’s the bottom line. We just need to be able to talk to every single person”
Each speaker in turn made their final pitch and pep talk for the gathered canvassing volunteers. In elections that are so close like the New Hampshire races the ground game usually is the difference between winning and losing. New Hampshire Democrats have been hosting hundreds of get-out-the-vote events involving thousands of volunteers during this election cycle.
Congressional candidate Maggie Goodlander acknowledged with gratitude the effort and its value toward potential victory.
“You’ve been working your hearts out every single day, and I am so honored to be in this fight alongside you. I’ve traveled all around the Second District, and every day on the campaign trail has been different, but one of the through lines has been every time I have encountered one of you come into one of our field offices, this has been a through line, because I always meet someone who’s never, ever worked in a field office before, who’s never knocked doors, who’s never made phone calls. You have been an extraordinary inspiration to people all across the state and all across this country. And I am so grateful; thank you from the bottom of my heart, for everything that you’re doing.”