Hi Everyone,

Last weekend was a whirlwind, a perfect storm of Richardson events. We kicked off the weekend with an outdoor House Party here in Manchester. Gov. Richardson arrived and mingled speaking with everyone one on one before speaking to the crowd. There is nothing more important than meeting voters face to face and he hit a homerun.

Meanwhile, a group of enthusiastic volunteers were up bright and early to wave signs and cheer Gov. Richardson into the New Hampshire Democratic Party State Convention. A Richardson table was set up at the convention with literature, bumper stickers, signs and sign-up sheets. When the Governor arrived he was escorted to the stage by State Representatives that support Gov. Richardson. A large group of supporters followed with banners and signs. The Governor gave a fantastic speech and the crowd erupted. It was a mad house, even by New Hampshire standards...

Gov. Richardson was then whisked away for a walk down Union Street. He was accompanied by elected officials many of whom are leaders of the Latino community in Manchester. He went into businesses and homes where he helped put up signs in windows and lawns. He then stopped by Don Quixote Restaurant where he spoke to the crowd. After the event Gov. Richardson was rushed to the airport to fly to Iowa while we mobilized our troops for the next day's events.

Volunteers came in to make totems and homemade signs for visibility at St. Anselm College…the site of the debate. Two of the best signs were: "Gov. Bill Richardson; a green diplomat that balances budgets" and "Bill Richardson, Congressman Richardson, Ambassador Richardson, Secretary Richardson, Governor Richardson, PRESIDENT RICHARDSON!". While people in the office were making signs, a covert sign operation was going on to plaster the route to the debate site with yard signs on supporters lawns and banners on buildings.

Volunteers were in the office and ready to go the next day even though it was rainy and cold. First out were the Special Forces. Fourteen volunteers that each held a letter that spelled out "overqualified?" They stood along the road on the way to the debate site. By this time CNN had already declared us the winners of The Sign War. About 100 pumped up volunteers carpooled to the site and made a huge entrance to "the pit", yelling chants and waving totems.

During this time we turned our office from volunteer send off location to party central. We set up rooms for food, drink and debate watching. We had five TV's all-together, one for the Yankee/Red Sox game (this is New England…). Volunteers put up posters, signs and decorations to celebrate our Grand Opening and to welcome the Governor and First Lady. The volunteers returned a little cold, a lot wet but extremely excited. We warmed them up with hot coffee, food and drink. Then the debate…

During the debate our office was packed. We even turned the game to WMUR. Every room was filled with supporters cheering and chatting. After the debate there was a feedback session led by three prominent State Representatives. It was great to have so many people exchanging thoughts and ideas. As the session was winding down the First Lady walked into the room. She spoke to the volunteers and thanked them for their hard work and dedication. As she left we got a call saying Gov. Richardson was 10 minutes away.

Everyone sprang into action. Signs and banners were grabbed off the wall and people lined the inside of the office spilling out onto the sidewalk. Gov. Richardson pulled up to supporters chanting and music blaring. He was greeted with cheers, congratulation and flashing cameras. He shook everyone's hand and thanked the crowd. Talk about energizing our base!

We here in New Hampshire would like to thank the steering committee, State Representatives and of course our volunteers for all of the hard work, time and effort they put into this past weekend. They made the weekend a success; we couldn't have done it without them.

Dan, Kevin and Jamie, Your New Hampshire Team

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