Hillary Clinton is blanketing New Hampshire with celebrity surrogates
Within two dreary January weeks, New Hampshire will have seen more celebrities visit than Granite state voters would likely see in an entire year under normal circumstances.
Aside from multiple presidential candidates roaming across the nation’s first presidential primary state, thanks to Hillary Clinton’s campaign locals are getting visited by a cluster of high-profile surrogates.
First, former President Bill Clinton gave two speeches last Monday in Nashua and Exeter, as well as a lunch stop in Manchester. The former president will be back in the state Wednesday, stumping for his wife in Keene, Claremont, and Hanover.
Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea Clinton, will also hit the New Hampshire trail next week, speaking in Concord, Manchester, and Portsmouth.
The former secretary of state’s surrogates extend far beyond her immediate family.
Former Saturday Night Live writer and cast member turned Minnesota Sen. Al Franken also visited New Hampshire on Thursday, attending various phonebanking events and meet-and-greets for the Clinton campaign in Concord, Dover, Durham, and Hampton.
On Friday, actor Lena Dunham starred in Clinton campaign events in Portsmouth and Manchester. Dunham was joined in Portsmouth by Abby Wambach, the recently-retired U.S. women’s soccer player, who stumped for Clinton across the state through Saturday in Dover, Concord, Salem, Lebanon, and Keene.
Screenwriter and actress Lena Dunham is photobombed by Abby Wambach.
Dunham and Wambach were also joined Friday in Portsmouth by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.
The much–written–about tradition of retail politics in New Hampshire endows surrogates a key role in maintaining a candidate’s presence in the state, according to experts.
“It’s a long slog with these campaigns,’’ Andy Smith, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire, recently told The Boston Globe. “It’s tough to keep your people motivated and focused and going. Having people in from somewhere else, be they minor or major celebrities, is one way to do that.’’
Clinton is locked in a tight primary race in the state, polls show, with Democratic opponent Bernie Sanders. While the Vermont senator can’t match Clinton in surrogates, he does have two sweet, high-profile stumpers: Ben and Jerry.
Presidential candidate surrogates from left, surrogate for Martin O’Malley: John Bivona, New Hampshire Director of the Martin O’Malley campaign, surrogate for Bernie Sanders: Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, surrogate for Jim Webb: Walter Anderson, Rockingham County Democrats at the Rockingham County Democratic Committee’s presidential candidate forum in September.
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