In New Hampshire, Pennsylvanians trying to make a difference
BEDFORD, N.H. — Jeb Bush’s lawn signs outnumber Hillary Clinton’s by 20-to-1 in this rural Republican town, but that didn’t discourage U.S. Sen Bob Casey, D-Pa., from campaigning here for his fellow Democrat on Sunday.
His role? To galvanize a team of Clinton volunteers before they headed out to knock on doors of Democratic and undecided voters in a final push two days before New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary.
He made two more similar stops in other parts of the state Sunday, and he wasn’t the only Pennsylvania politician here over the weekend.
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., served as Senate colleague Marco Rubio’s official spokesman after Saturday night’s debate at St. Anselm College.
Former U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel, DMontgomery, also was here to
support Ms. Clinton, who had campaigned for him in four congressional races in Pennsylvania.
And former Republican Gov. Tom Ridge stumped for Mr. Bush, whose presidential brother made Mr. Ridge the country’s first secretary of homeland security.
“Pennsylvania is a strong swing state in general, and it also has strong leaders with a lot of credibility so their support is meaningful,” said Ngiste Abebe, who traveled from Washington, D.C., at her own expense to campaign for Ms. Clinton in Bedford.
“Pennsylvania is one of those states that’s critically important,” said Ms. Abebe, who attended graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University in 2010 and 2011. “New Hampshire voters and Pennsylvania voters both take this decision very seriously because they know they can be the tipping point for one candidate or another.”
With Pennsylvania’s primary nearly three months away, stumping in New Hampshire gives supporters a chance to get involved sooner and to help in early states, said Mr. Hoeffel, who has been working the phones, knocking on doors and energizing other volunteers in Conway, N.H., near the Maine border.
But not all Pennsylvania surrogates have been helpful to the candidates they support.
Rick Santorum gave Mr. Rubio’s rivals fodder for attack ads last week after he endorsed the Florida senator but, during a televised interview, was unable to name a single Rubio accomplishment.
“As we saw, surrogates can do harm to the candidates they’re trying to help. Thus it’s really valuable to have solid, no-drama surrogates on the stump for you, and the crop of Pennsylvanians on the campaign train in New Hampshire fit that bill nicely,” said Chris Borick, a political scientist at Muhlenberg College.
In Bedford, Mr. Casey gave a quick pep talk to about a dozen volunteers gathered in a private home that was doubling as Ms. Clinton’s headquarters in the town. Signs directed volunteers to bathrooms, a phone bank and an area for canvassers to strategize.
The kitchen counter was filled with chicken salad sandwiches and other food for the volunteers, and the entry way was stacked with essentials including mandarin oranges, crackers, hand warmers and campaign literature for volunteers to grab on their way out the door.
“Make sure you’re giving people information beyond what she’s accomplished. This is a woman of tremendous character and dedication and integrity,” Mr. Casey told the group. “She does the hard work. When she gets focused on a problem, she brings together all her experience and all her knowledge, and then she brings other people on board.”
Christine Pattison, 50, of Bedford said the senator’s words would help in her conversations with voters at some of the 40 homes she planned to visit to drum up votes for Ms. Clinton.
“You get a script, but you want to back it up, and this gives us something to back it up. Now I’ll be able to talk about how she works with peers,” Ms. Pattison said. “It helps when they’re on the fence.”
Mr. Casey didn’t support Ms. Clinton in 2008, though. He campaigned for Barack Obama.
“He was the strongest candidate for us at that time, but I really believe her experience as secretary of state makes her stronger now. She’ll be a better domestic president because she knows so much about the world,” Mr. Casey said.
“Ridge, Toomey, Casey and Hoeffel all line up very nicely ideologically with the candidates they are endorsing and should feel very comfortable reaching out to voters in a place like New Hampshire,” Mr. Borick said. “I’m sure that Bush, Rubio and Clinton feel very much at ease with these Pennsylvania political figures pitching for them and lose little sleep worrying about a Santorum-like gaffe like we saw last week.”