MANCHESTER, N.H. – While most of the other candidates for president were in Los Angeles for the latest Democratic National Committee debate, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard was, well, technically at the Rex Theatre for a mixture of holiday cheer and New Hampshire Primary politics.
Due to a series of bills on the house floor on Thursday, Gabbard could not get a flight to Manchester in time to attend the event, titled “An Evening with Tulsi and Friends,” but she participated by Skype in the event, which sought to break the mold of a normal campaign event by celebrating volunteers, sharing family stories and adding music alongside a traditional question and answer period.
“We just wanted to give an opportunity to invite New Hampshire residents into our campaign family,” said Gabbard Campaign Deputy National Campaign Director Caitlin Pomerantz. “We have an amazing group of staff and volunteers that give their heart to the campaign and we just wanted to share that heart tonight.”
When Gabbard took questions from the audience, she explained her “present” vote on Wednesday regarding two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump came from the judiciary branch of the government not being given a chance to break deadlock between the legislative and executive branches, also seeing the impeachment process as part of a larger, zero-sum partisan struggle she opposes. Instead, she voiced support for a censure motion against Trump and also called him unfit to lead.
New Hampshire Libertarian Party Vice Chairman Richard Manzo praised Gabbard and Andrew Yang for their lack of time spent attacking Trump versus discussion of policies and asked what it might take for Gabbard to join the Libertarian Party. Gabbard responded that her goal is to reform the Democratic Party, but that third parties are important for democracy.
Paul Gagnon of Manchester, a Republican, came to the event not expecting the “house party” atmosphere, but he left with a positive impression.
“I am a little surprised that Tulsi is as low in the polls as she is, in fact many Republicans I know were hoping she could do very well. They were hoping that she might even hop parties. She has the best chance of becoming the first woman president in the next few years,” said Gagnon. “Right now, the Democratic Party seems to be somewhat radicalized, and I know Tulsi is not in that chain of thought.”
Thomas Jordan went to Southern New Hampshire University last week to see U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and left not fully committed, but fairly close to committing his support for Sanders.
Since then, he’s seen former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick in person and researched the policies of Andrew Yang. He came to the event tonight with his soon-to-be nine-year-old son Alexander.
Alexander got to ask Gabbard a question, but Jordan still remains undecided.
“If I went into the polling booth today, I think I would surprise myself at what the outcome would be,” he said.
Still, he was impressed with Gabbard’s ability to stick with her convictions and appreciates what she sees as her efforts to reduce America’s military presence in the rest of the world and attempts at bipartisanship.
Jordan believes Trump committed impeachable offenses, but like Gabbard, thinks that the impeachment process may have only exacerbated partisan division rather than addressing Trump’s offenses.
“I have immense respect for Tulsi Gabbard, it’s not easy being an outlier,” he said. “I think decision to vote present yesterday was a tough decision to make. I go back and forth on it. At some points it’s important to have your voice heard as a representative, but at other points its important to stand for what you believe in.”
But regardless of policy, Jordan appreciated the style of the event.
“I think it was very charming. I really appreciated how welcoming it is. The atmosphere was definitely like something you’d find in a Christmas Special. It was homey and it was accessible,” he said. “At the Bernie Town Hall, you definitely knew you were at political event. This was very different from that.”
According to Pomerantz, who also played the guitar and sang during the event, this was the first event of its type for the campaign, but more may be coming in the future.
Full video of the event is available on the campaign’s Facebook page.
