Wait-and-see mode at Graham's office

[FightinNewDem]

Politicsnh has been holding a death vigil over at the Graham headquarters all day. Here's the status as of 4:30 on Friday afternoon:


By SAM YOUNGMAN

PoliticsNH.com


Oct. 3 -- After a long lunch, the staff at Sen. Bob Graham's New Hampshire office unlocked the doors and went back to work.

But given this week's events at Team Graham, it appears to be only a matter of time before the Manchester doors are locked for good.

Though Graham has repeatedly said that he is going full speed ahead, the common sense is that the campaign, behind low third quarter estimates and the resignation of press secretary Jamal Simmons, will focus entirely on Iowa, focus on South Carolina or throw in the towel altogether...


http://www.politicsnh.com/archives/pindell/2003/october/Grahamspeopleinwait-and-seemode.shtml


I have talked to people active i Graham's campaign, and they sense it's only a matter of time before they pack it in, at least in New Hampshire. The whole situation is causing fits for the campaigns most likely to scoop up Graham's NH supporters (Clark, Kerry and Lieberman), since they can't overtly court Graham backers until Bob himself makes a decision.

[davidinalameda]

1. shame

we need for him to run for re-election now!

He'll get every Dem candidate down there to campaign for him.

[dolstein]

2. Bob Graham -- Dead Man Walking

Sorry to sound harsh. Hey, I like the guy. I was one of the people who was hoping he'd get into the race. I had no idea he'd turn out to be such a lousy candidate.

But I honestly think Graham's kidding himself if he thinks he can pull off some miracle here. He's so far behind the other candidates in fundraising it's not even funny. And his fundraising problems just got a lot worse after the initial reports that he was dropping out. And more staffers are likely to jump ship in the weeks to come.

[FightinNewDem]

3. Been down this road

In 1987, I worked as a field staffer for Joe Biden's ill-fated presidential campaign. Those of us who were the young "true believers" on the staff wanted Joe to stay in the race and fight; unfortunately, the Beltway/Manhattan political-media groupthink had already set in and erased any hope of reviving the campaign. It's a miserable experience to endure, and my heart goes out to the twentysomethings who have been busting tail for Graham in Manchester and Des Moines.

Now, let me tell you, the Lieberman campaign is the only campaign with a new bar right in the same building as HQ...

[izzie]

4. He has voted right for us but does not seem to run good.

Good man but I am not sure why we stay away from this man. Maybe it is Fa?

[FightinNewDem]

5. Squeezed out

Bob Graham seems to be everyone's second or third choice, a safe fall back but nobody's first pick.

The red-meat anti-war ultrapartisans chose Dean.
The centrists lined up with Lieberman and Edwards.
The insiders went with Kerry or Gephardt.
Clark froze some people who might have eventually drifted to Graham.

The people in NH Graham did pick up were largely quality folks, mainstream moderately liberal Dems, but he simply hasn't found enough of them to push himself into contention.

[dolstein]

6. Do you think things would have been different . . . .

if he had gotten into the race earlier?