They Just Love It Here

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

While I have only been in New Hampshire, at the time of this post, two days, the differences between it and my home state of New York are large and obvious. Today we traveled approximately twenty minutes north from Manchester to Concord, the state capital.

The Door Mat for the Secretary of State

Our first stop of the morning was a visit with the Secretary of State of New Hampshire, William Gardner, which was where many of the differences between the fine states became evident. Bill, as the office staffers referred to him as, was very welcoming to his office and sat down with us at a conference table outside his office. He discussed the history and importance of the New Hampshire Primary, which I wrote about in an article for Union College's Concordiensis (and I'll post to it once it goes up on the Concordy's website).

Gardner's position is a unique one; he has to be reelected by the State House of Representatives every two years. Gardner, who was originally elected to the NH House of Representatives in 1973 as a Democrat, has been elected by Houses with both Democrat and Republican majorities. It seems that his priority is protecting the state's first in the nation status, which he has done with success every four years.

He stressed the importance of the NH primary because it gives a chance for the "little guys" to make a big difference.
Before we left, Gardner shared with us a very interesting story showcasing New Hampshire's diverse roots since that is a criticism of NH's primary. After talking about John Paker Hale, the 1st Senator to call for the abolition of slavey, Gardner stated that Jackie Robinson was able to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers because of New Hampshire.

Branch Rickey, the President and General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, wanted to integrate baseball, and therefore on August 28, 1945, he signed Jackie Robinson to a minor league contract and joined the Montreal Royals. While Robinson was ready to play in the major leagues, Rickey did not want to take the chance of exposing him to a dangerous situation so he was sent to Montreal. Rickey did not want to set back the process of bringing Jackie Robinson to Brooklyn.

When a scout was sent to New Jersey by Rickey to observe a 2nd baseman, the scout was instead amazed by the pitcher on the mound, Don Newcombe. The Dodgers signed Newcombe and Roy Campanella, a catcher, and sent them to the minor league team in Nashua, New Hampshire. Rickey believed that if Newcombe and Campenella could make it in Nashua, Robinson could make it in Brooklyn.

The 2012 Primary Ballots

Campenella--8 time All-Star, World Series Champion, 3 time NL MVP, Hall of Famer
Newcombe--4 time All-Star, World Series Champion, 1965 NL MVP/Cy Young Award
Robinson--6 time All-Star, World Series Champion, 1949 NL MVP, Jersey number retired by all of MLB.

So, pretty successful, in my opinion...Thank you, New Hampshire.

Gardner, a man of history, was excited to talk to us at length and I enjoyed being in his presence after reading so much about him in the weeks leading up to this trip.

After our meeting with the New Hampshire Secretary of State, we met with Thomas Rath, a long-time NH Republican Party activist. He was a Senior National Advisor to the Presidential campaigns of Dole, Alexander, G.H.W. Bush, G.W. Bush, and Romney. He was also a delegate at the 2008 Republican National Convention.

A few quick quotes from Rath:

New Hampshire's long primary process: "We are always in the futures game here" "It starts very early and never really ends" "We must be thinking about what happens next"

On the electorate: "It is the most sophisticated electorate in the country"

"[The Primary] is an enormous privilege we should never take for granted"

The week leading up to the primary: "It is the best 8 days of politics. There is nothing like it. It is like Mardi Gras for politics."

New Hampshire State House

After a nice lunch, we took a tour of the New Hampshire Statehouse, the oldest state house in which the legislature occupies its original chambers.

We entered the State House through the Hall of Flags. The Hall contains 88 Civil War battle flags, which have been on the same poles for 150 years. Unlike New York, New Hampshire does not place their Civil War flags in climate controlled, light controlled vaults. Instead, they aren't climate controlled and it shows through their bad condition. The tour guide said that New Hampshire hasn't redone the Hall because of money and ideology.

The tour guide also stated that New Hampshire is number one in politics and Air & Space. There was an exhibit for the 1st American in Space, Alan Shepard, which included his picture and some moon specimens. New Hampshire is also the home of Christa McAuliffe, who was selected to become the first teacher in space in the Space Shuttle Challenger.

Allen Shepard

The "frugally-operated government" is run by 400 members of the House of Representatives, the largest state legislature in the United States, making it truly the people's house. Each member is paid $100 dollars a year (they have two-year terms) plus travel expenses. The leadership determines the seating in the House and is in session from January through June. Each member represents approximately 3,200 citizens each. 

During our tour, we had the privilege of meeting with two members of the House of Representatives and Union College alum, Robert Williams '51, Democrat, and David Robbins '73, Republican. They presented us with a NH state flag that flew over the State House this past flag day.

The Senate, in comparison, is much smaller, with 30 Senators in a much smaller room.

Bartlett, Jr.

Bartlett

I also happened to find the portraits of Governor Josiah Bartlett (and signer of the Constitution) and Josiah Bartlett, Jr...both relatives of West Wing President Josiah Bartlet.

"If you live in New Hampshire, you wind up in Concord" (Either as a Representative, an inmate in the State Prison, or in the State Mental Hospital"