CONCORD, N.H. — Get personal.
That’s the message to the presidential candidates from New Hampshire voters.
The rest of the country settles for seeing candidates on the television screen. But here in Concord’s coffee shops — yep, presidential contenders still shake hands and kiss babies.
“In New Hampshire nobody votes for anybody they haven’t at least met once. We’re really spoiled with that,” says Don Brueggemann, manager of Bagels Works, just one of the cozy shops that line Concord’s Main street.
It’s a place where you can get out of the cold, have a cappuccino, and apparently meet many of the presidential hopefuls.
A block away is Caffenio, another of the town’s small breakfast spots where Jessica Aguilar calls her customers by name. She’s just about that familiar with the candidates.
“They’ve all been through here,” Aguilar says. “Obama’s office is right up the street, Edwards’ is down the street, Huckabee’s just up the street. They’re all here.”
With candidates from both sides on each other’s heels, we can expect to see some retail politics in a bid for support from those left undecided. And here in Concord, sometimes that personal touch can sway those voters.
“It’s up close and personal. I met Obama here and he’s just a regular guy,” says Daniel Lord, a Caffenio regular.
But as the candidates descend upon New Hampshire in the upcoming week, can they overstay their welcome?
“It’s kind of like having relatives visiting you over the holidays,” says Brueggemann of the Bagel Works. “You’re glad to see them and kind of glad to see them go as well,”
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If only these barstools could talk.
The Barely House Restaurant and Tavern boasts the best burgers in New Hampshire, but that’s not all they’ve got.
“We like to think we’re campaign headquarters for 2008,” says Brian Shea, owner of The Barley House. “Our motto is ‘The road to the White House starts at the Barley House.’”
Shea gestures to the Concord State Office. Located directly across the street, this prime piece of real estate could very well become the epicenter of all things political in the coming days.
For now though, the lunch rush has died down leaving only a couple customers at the bar.
John Cook and Bill Panuski, two Barley House regulars, are less than enthusiastic about the upcoming New Hampshire Primaries. Until the Clintons are mentioned, that is.
“I saw Hillary and I shook Bill Clinton’s hand,” boasts Cook.
But that was not the first Clinton sighting for the Barley House.
“We have a new tradition we’ve started. The candidates, when they come in, they sign barstools. This all started with Bill Clinton,” says Shea, owner of The Barley House.
The former president and possible future first husband apparently got tired during a recent Hillary speech on the statehouse lawn. Shea was more than happy to provide a stool.
“He needed a seat, so one of his campaign people came in, he borrowed a stool and then he signed it,” says Shea. Now in his collection are bar stools autographed by Bill Clinton, Sen. Chris Dodd (D); Sen. Mike Gravel (D) and Sen. John McCain (R). And soon Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) is scheduled to make an appearance.
As for any extra special guests of The Barley House?
“Katie Couric came in. She’s been in a couple times. One time she came in and ordered a burger with Campaign Trail Ale beer,” says Shea with a smile. “I thought that was pretty neat.”
(Larissa Padden, a magazine-newspaper-online graduate student, is covering the New Hampshire primary for the Utica Observer-Dispatch.)
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