John Edwards at Keene State College, Keene, NH

This one does have a story though.

The Edwards event was right after the Clinton event but an hour away, and the Clinton rally carried over so long that by the time we got to Keene, they'd stopped letting people in. He was speaking on the second floor of some university building, and upon entering we (my dad, my aunt Dyan, and my uncle Richard) were told that absolutely no one would be allowed up the main staircase, by order of the fire marshal.

This just intrigued my father, a firm believer in sneaking. We made as if to sit with the others who had been shut out and listen to the speech over a loudspeaker, but lo and behold, around a corner was an unguarded elevator. Dad sort of leaned into the button all casual-like, and we shuffled into the elevator.

It wasn't guarded on the second floor either.* All four of us were able to walk easily through the press entrance at the back of the room. From there, I ended up in a small clutch of photographers at the end of an aisle. But as they left, I was able to slowly sneak up the aisle—until I was sitting cross-legged in front of the first row of seats, less than a yard from Edwards.


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* That's how the security tends to be at these events, really, at least in New Hampshire—once the event has actually started, no one will really notice where you go. At a second Obama event, we got stuck in the overflow room again, but when I got up to go to the bathroom I got lost and ended up in the main room. (Cameraless, unfortunately.)

Mike Huckabee and Chuck Norris at Parker's Maple Barn, Mason, NH

Seemingly everything Huckabee did in New Hampshire revolved around a) Chuck Norris and b) food. So here he are Huck and Chuck at a pancake house. Apparently around 400 people were lured to the event by the promise of free pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage—which I rather appreciated, but I was glad I wasn't vegan.

Chuck Norris is much shorter and wimpier in person, though I imagine he's the sort of person who, if you told him this, would kick you in the shins.



I'm missing a few photos from this event that my computer ate, mostly of the young blond Huckabee supporters and their cute blond children, motivated by my culture shock and the distressing realization that some of these kids were going to grow up to be big gay heathens. Maybe even the kid in the baby carrier with the homemade sign reading "HUCKABABEE!"

Luckily I was distracted from these and other horrors by the arrival of the news team from 236.com (link goes to a video covering all the Republican events we attended), the humor site of the Huffington Post, who stopped to ask my bearded father, "Mr. Norris, how did you get into the martial arts?"

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