MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — Thousands of energized supporters of candidates in the 2020 Democratic presidential field transformed Southern New Hampshire University arena into a pressure cooker of swirling campaign anxiety three days before the Feb. 11 New Hampshire primary.
For a party hoping to unite ahead of the general election, fans of contenders vying for the chance to take on President Trump in November were in decidedly different corners for the New Hampshire Democratic party’s annual McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club fundraiser, tensions stoked by tentative results from Iowa’s Democratic caucuses five days earlier.
Unlike previous cattle-call events over the past year, trends usually only reflected in poll numbers came to life, and contempt between rival bases bubbled to the surface.
Some of the 10 Democratic White House hopefuls weren’t scared to swing at each other, despite being more reticent to exchange barbs during a debate the night before. But away from the spotlight of center stage, it was the dynamics of the crowd in the room that revealed the most about the state of the race ahead of next week’s election.
After Pete Buttigieg delivered a now-common stump-speech line arguing that voters don’t have to be “either for a revolution or the status quo,” supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders attempted to drown him out by chanting, “Wall Street Pete,” a reference to the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor’s wealthy campaign donors. When Buttigieg brought up healthcare policy, they shouted, “Medicare for all.”
When Sanders bragged about winning the popular vote in Monday’s Iowa caucuses, a few Buttigieg fans responded with cheers; a reminder that as the results stand now, though riddled with inconsistencies, Buttigieg has a razor-thin lead in the traditional method of counting an Iowa winner, state delegate equivalents, which are used to allocate delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
For the rest of Sanders’s address, the vast majority of backers in every section, but that of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and entrepreneur Andrew Yang, sat in passive-aggressive, steely silence.
As Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the last candidate to speak, walked off the stage, a Warren supporter snubbed her by reaching out to shake the congresswoman’s hand before quickly retracting it so she couldn’t take it.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, who is trying to bounce back after a dismal fourth-place finish in Iowa, deployed a new line about his personal tragedies.
“You know, I’ve lost a lot in my lifetime, like a lot of you have. I lost my wife and daughter in an automobile accident. I lost my son to a long bout with brain cancer when he came home from Iraq. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand by and lose this election to this man,” Biden said, alluding to Trump.
He earned a polite standing ovation from all those in attendance, though his contingent was significantly smaller than that of his leading opponents, a sign of his less-active organizing effort in the state.
High-level campaign staff and VIPs enjoyed a catered dinner on white tablecloth-clad tables on the floor of the arena, a strange contrast from the supporter sections in the stands that turned the venue into a pep rally competition.
Buttigieg supporters, wearing bright yellow, had plastic hand-clapper noisemakers that sounded like the pitter-patter of a rainstorm. Warren fans, donning her signature “liberty green,” bore light-up wristbands that could be activated to flash in sync with blaring music, demonstrating her organizing strength. Sanders backers held campaign signs decorated with white Christmas lights to amplify his name. At one point, Warren supporters attempted to start a “wave,” but it didn’t make it past the neighboring Biden area.
By the time also-ran candidates former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, and Gabbard walked the long blue runway to give their truncated 10-minute stump speeches, the plurality of the audience — many of whom had traveled from interstate — had already dispersed.
“For those who hung around, thank you for hanging around,” Bennet said when he took the stage.
Patrick’s contingent was strong for a late-entry hopeful, with approximately 800 supporters wearing his green and blue merchandise, an indication that focus on top-polling contenders doesn’t tell the whole story about volatility in the race. Hundreds had earlier gathered for a rally with Bennet, along with lauded Democratic strategist James Carville, down the road. Neither candidate appeared on Friday night’s debate stage.
A notable missing presence? Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez. Though he was included in the night’s program, he didn’t speak amid criticism of the party’s handing of Iowa’s disastrous delay and inconsistencies in reported caucus results.
