The University of Rhode Island
Department of Journalism

On the campaign trail with Joe Lieberman
Feb. 4, 2004 -- Professor Linda Levin took a group of students to New Hampshire for a taste of presidential-primary journalism. Senior Jennifer DeHuff shares her account of covering Sen. Joe Lieberman (who dropped out of the race Feb. 3):

NASHUA — From our view of the Red Roof Inn directly off exit 1 on the Everett Turnpike in New Hampshire, it looked as if our hotel for the next couple of days would be cold and desolate. My partner, Molly Entin, and I, were prepared for a grim stay in New Hampshire, consisting of pre-dawn awakenings, cold leftovers and mobs of paparazzi. While it may have seemed bleak at first, we gathered our wits and were determined to return to Rhode Island with a captivating story.

We started off Sunday at the Lieberman headquarters, where we got his itinerary for the rest of the day. It directed us to Cahoots Bar and Grille in Manchester, where Lieberman was to greet supporters. He arrived a little late, and right away I noticed his bloodshot right eye. He made his rounds at the bar, shaking hands and posing for pictures, and when he came around to our spot at the bar, I asked,

"Senator Lieberman, we are dying to know, can you speak any Hebrew?"

To this he meagerly answered, "Not really, but I pray in Hebrew."

Good enough, we mused. For some reason we were expecting a more remarkable answer, but understood his campaign people were hurriedly shuffling him along. The senator had to make another appearance at a town rally in a few minutes.

We followed the "Lieberman Bus" down a few streets and around a few corners to another venue, where an overcrowded ballroom of Lieberman supporters awaited his arrival. Complimentary ice cream and coffee were served, which made up for the elbow jabs and pushy little kids.

Once again the senator arrived fashionably late, and an ecstatic crowd chanted, "Let’s Go Joe!" and with beaming faces pumped their Lieberman signs in the air. I scanned the crowd, and for reasons that escape me, I thought that the number of people in the room must have well exceeded its maximum capacity. I whispered in Molly’s ear that it was a fire hazard, and we chuckled just as the throng began to quiet.

Lieberman’s voice boomed with enthusiasm as he thanked the fans. Arms widespread, he said that he had never before felt so welcome in any state.

"I feel like family here," he said smiling, and the crowd again swelled with applause.

"I can’t help but tell you folks," he said. "I feel in New Hampshire a powerful wave of Joe-Mentum!" The crowd went wild. Fathers clapped their hands loudly, even with disinterested toddlers propped on their shoulders, a miniature flag dangling in tiny hands. Women bobbed up and down with excitement, and every inch of the room was covered in Lieberman paraphernalia, from the banners on the walls to the buttons on every lapel.

His charisma was intoxicating. He talked of a fresh start for America, tax cuts for the struggling middle class, women’s rights, health care, national defense, Social Security, and so forth, but I was drawn more to the crowd than to the speaker, and was amazed at their reactions. Every face was on Joe, and seemed to say, "Give me hope, Mr. Lieberman," or maybe it was just my imagination. The words flowed from the senator’s lips like chocolate to a hungry group of middle-schoolers, as he attempted to convey to the crowd his "experience, independence and integrity." He claimed to have attained these traits since his early days in Congress, throughout his service as Connecticut’s attorney general, as a vice presidential candidate, and hopefully to the White House. Every word seemed to romance the group, which would wait patiently for a gap in the speech to applaud.

After the senator took questions from members of the audience, Molly and I returned to our hotel. The candidate was making no further stops that night. We needed our rest for the next day.

At 9 a.m. we hopped on the Lieberman campaign trail. Our destination was Concord, where we would hear the senator speak on the State House steps. We arrived early and sat down for some hot chocolate at a coffee house down the street from the State House. We picked up a couple newspapers, the Laconia Citizen and the Manchester Union-Leader, both of which endorsed Lieberman. In an article in the Union Leader, Lieberman was reported to have spoken to women voters a day before we left for New Hampshire. "Lieberman said he would fully fund Head Start and increase a child-dependent tax credit and make it refundable. He said he would also invest more in child care training," the paper reported.

After we scanned a few articles on Joe, John, Howard and the General, we walked over to the State House, where an excited crowd again awaited the senator’s arrival. About a half a dozen television news stations were present, fully equipped with their chunky cameras and made-up female reporters in front of them. Molly and I made small talk with one of the correspondents, who made a few mildly funny comments on Lieberman and his lack of punctuality.

Lieberman made a grand entrance with his decorated "Joe Mobile," followed by the "Lieberman Bus" with his grinning face plastered alongside. The cameramen grabbed their cameras off the tripods and rushed over to get some quick footage of Lieberman emerging. He approached the microphone and the cameras flashed in rapid succession, while a band of supporters shook their signs and waved at the cameras in front of them.

Molly and I stood in the background, waiting for the tumult to subside. I watched plumes of my breath escape from my mouth and wondered how so many fans could tolerate the day’s bitter temperatures. Two degrees, the weather report predicted. Luckily warm sun bathed the sides of our faces, and I began to feel less annoyed at Mr. Lieberman’s tardiness.

"People of New Hampshire…" he echoed through the microphone. He spent a few moments igniting the crowd with promises of a better America. It all sounded strangely similar to the speech he gave the day before at the rally. I also noticed several of the same fanatical Lieberman aficionados who made an appearance at yesterday’s events. Molly and I affectionately referred to one of them as Crazy Hat Lady, who wore what appeared to be a homemade jester’s hat with Lieberman stickers and a banner stapled to it. She was among others who attended Lieberman’s events faithfully, and who you could count on seeing them, always a short distance from him when he spoke to audiences.

By attending each event, Molly and I had the opportunity to become familiar with several of Lieberman’s campaign staff. We caught up with Sen. Norm DeMores, who was reelected to the New Hampshire State Senate for five terms, at Milly’s, a local pub in downtown Manchester, where Lieberman was expected to speak again.

We approached DeMores a short time after Lieberman gave his speech to more excited locals. The activity in the bar was escalating, so Molly and I quickly stole a moment with him before he became unapproachable. We asked him what edge he thought Lieberman had over other candidates. DeMores took a sip from the dark lager in his glass and said:

"The edge he has in New Hampshire is his independence, because New Hampshire tends to support independent people. His endorsement by the Manchester Union-Leader and other statewide papers is good because they tend to be middle of the road."

DeMores had to pause to shake hands with a young gentleman, who walked by and mumbled something about congratulations.

Then he continued, "What he’s got going against him in New Hampshire is two neighbors," He was referring to Vermont and Massachusetts, states where tough competitors Howard Dean and John Kerry are from. "If we can come in third," he said, "we can go out of here with a hell of a bang."

The noise in the bar was growing louder, but I was not yet satisfied with our interview. I asked DeMores how he thought Lieberman would do on the national level.

"Because of that same independence and moderate persona," DeMores began,

"I believe he can be receptive to some mid-western or `red’ states. Unlike any other candidate, I think Joe Lieberman can win when he gets out of New England…Dean and Kerry don’t have a prayer. Lieberman’s my guy."

After thinking all this through, I found Demores’ enthusiasm for Lieberman interesting, especially since he had previously endorsed Dick Gephardt -- until he dropped out of the race.

We thanked DeMores and quickly left the bar, where we were stopped by one of Lieberman’s campaign personnel, who seemed to have taken an interest in Molly and me from the beginning. He whispered to us where we could find Lieberman after the left Milly’s, so we hopped in my Celica and drove a few blocks to a hole in the wall pub somewhere in east Manchester.

When we got there, Lieberman was already talking to an elderly couple, so we waited by the bar for a minute. I was eager to ask him about college funding for students whose parents could not afford to pay for school, such as myself. Within a few minutes he was free from the couple and on his way over to us. I was surprised to find that he recognized us from Sunday night at Cahoots.

"University of Rhode Island, right?" he said.

"That’s right!" I said. I quickly congratulated him on his rising popularity in New Hampshire, and he mentioned that he had been to more bars in the last three nights than he had in a year. Then I put the question on the table.

Lieberman had an answer for everything, and touted the fact that he takes "one position" on every issue and is not a "flip-flopper" like he accuses other candidates of being.

"I want to raise the Pell Grants up to $7,700 a year," he said. "Secondly, I want to have the loans come directly from the government, so that banks don’t take any money out of them. Thirdly, I want to make a $10,000 deduction for tuition so it will come out of your taxes," he said.

He went on to talk more about his 30-year record of public service and his willingness to take positions at odds with his own party, such as support for the war in Iraq. He also mentioned his ability to work with republicans such as Arizona Sen. John McCain and how he had been fortunate to become endorsed by nearly 1,000 independent New Hampshire voters. We thanked him for his time and left the bar. I was satisfied.

On the ride home from New Hampshire, I would be thinking about a good lead for my story. Maybe I would mention something about the "Joe Mobile" or the song created for Joe that was sung at several of the bars we went to, or the mobs of political junkies standing in the cold. Or maybe I would tell a story of how it all affected me. Either way, the trip was a blast. Remind me never to get into politics.

If you have questions for Jennifer, you can e-mail her .