Sunday demonstrates Kerry's the front-runner

It may have been 5 degrees outside, but U.S. Sen. John Kerry managed to set the room ablaze when he visited the Hampton Fire Department today. Kerry, clearly gaining renewed attention and support after his strong win in the Iowa caucuses, electrified a raucous gathering here to rally the troops in the last 36 hours before Tuesday’s vote. Most attendees were already on the Kerry bandwagon, but there was still a smattering of undecideds in the crowd, along with several who can’t even vote in Tuesday’s primary but wanted to catch a glimpse of the candidate.

<snip>

At times, the rally took on the aura of a rock concert. Lines to get in stretched out along Winnacunnet Road , and overflow crowds were directed to an auditorium at the Hampton Academy nearby. Organizers claimed they had to turn about 500 people away.

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Organizers said Kerry had been running late all day due to massive crowds he encountered at other stops. At a “Rally for America ” in Nashua , 2500 people showed up. Hampton Firefighter Brian Wiser said the large crowds had been expected, and that momentum had been building steadily long before Iowa .

“We knew we were going to have overflow,” said Wiser, 37. “We’ve had other events at firehouses around the state, and we’ve been working hard all along to get the vote out. I just hope more people became Kerry supporters tonight.”

Kerry himself echoed that hope, while continuing to downplay any notion of frontrunner status. “I hope that it says we’re growing,” said Kerry of the crowds, “and all I can do is hope because I don’t know what’s happening elsewhere. I don’t have any relative measurement. But it feels good.”

http://www.politicsnh.com/archives/pindell/2004/january/1_25Kerry.shtml

See for youself: (RealPlayer link): rtsp://video.c-span.org/projects/c04/c04012504_kerry.rm

with Kerry as President is that Governor Mitt Romney will get to nominate his successor in the Senate.

then the dems can find someone hopefully one of the congressmen like Meehan, Frank, or another and they would win it back.

He'll be the first openly gay Senator.

They don't take any with them when they move from House to Senate, do they?

Love that man, been there for nearly 40 years now. That Teddy. In most states, Kerry would be a senior senator but hes a junior one because of Ted.

I was just being an anaylist ;). That would be something.

Yay.

Later.

RJS

Maybe he just doesn't know anything about NH politics.

Who knows.

Later.

RJS

Or against America.

Sorry, I forgot.

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Based on the fact that he reported large crowds at Kerry events.

:eyes:

But you are right -- Kerry is not the frontrunner. He's still the underdog. When he wins on Tuesday it will be a come-from-behind upset.

they could be 18. As someone whos around that age, its very hard to tell IMO.

I keep hearing that from many people- even from other camps.

Let's hope this momentum is real and carries him through tomorrow.

as he was expected to be two years ago.

Being the front-runner in NH is not going to get him elected President. Beating George Bush in the Red states is, if he can do that. Despite NH being a Red state, I don't believe it alone will give a decisive edge in the electoral college.

I am far more convinced that a Clark/Kerry ticket would win the election against Bush than I am a Kerry/Clark ticket, or any Kerry/X ticket. Kerry is easy for Bush to attack. The attacks are unjust, but that won't matter; Bush knows how to attack Kerry. Convincing 38% of Iowa and 35-ish percent of NH that he's the man is not convincing me that Bush won't take him apart in the general election.