MANCHESTER, NH – Accepted political wisdom says that whichever party holds the White House can expect losses in Congress during mid-term elections. However, Democrats in New Hampshire’s largest city are feeling confident that 2022 will be the exception to the rule if their outlook during the final weekend before Election Day is any indication.
On Saturday morning Democrats gathered at their Manchester office on Mammoth Road to kick off a canvass with speeches supporting incumbent U.S. Representative Chris Pappas and U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan.
Pappas and Hassan provided stump speeches to the assembled volunteers explaining the significance of Tuesday’s election, with additional speeches from Assistant U.S. House Speaker Katherine Clark (D-MA) and U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh.
Walsh told the crowd he didn’t listen to polls that had him down by four points just before Election Day shortly before he was elected as Mayor of Boston nine years ago, but he won due to the people that supported him. He compared the people in the audience to those who supported him and like Pappas, Hassan and Clark, reminded them of the importance of Tuesday in relation to a variety of topics like healthcare costs, keeping jobs in America and electing a government that works for everyone.
“On Tuesday it’s about the passion and desire to move the country in one direction, or if you don’t have that passion and desire, to allow the country to move in a different direction,” he said. “It’s not about polling; it’s about where we want to go as a country.”
Manchester residents and volunteers Joan Murray and Norma Chenevert were at the event, and like Walsh, they feel that it’s too soon to give up on Democrats’ chances on Tuesday.
“[Today] is a way of everybody knowing that it’s not over yet, everybody knows the need to double and triple up on everything they do today and tomorrow,” said Chenevert.
The previous night, spirits were also high at the Manchester Democrats Countdown to Victory Dinner.
Awards were given to Manchester State Representatives Tim Smith and Matt Wilhelm as well as State Representative Candidate Jess Grill in addition to speeches from top-of-the-ticket New Hampshire Democrats and U.S. Ro Khanna (D-CA).
Khanna echoed the bullish sentiments of the earlier speakers on Friday night as well as the speakers on Saturday as well. However, he also cast a vision for the party beyond Tuesday.
“We can push history; it doesn’t always happen in one election cycle, but I know over time we’re the party that’s on the right side. We’re the party fighting for multi-racial democracy, we’re the party fighting for patriotism and not nationalism, we’re the party that’s fighting for an actual economy for working-class families under this president’s leadership,” said Khanna. “We’re going to win this election and over this decade, we’re going to build an American that is worthy of our [country’s] ideals.”
