Clinton campaign recruits out-of-staters to pack NH rallies; even paying for everything

[TeamJordan23]

Clinton recruits out-of-staters to pack rally

Reporters who walked into this Nashua high school today were immediately struck by the crowd — there are visibly more people here for Sen. Hillary Clinton than were here for Sen. Barack Obama yesterday in the same location.

The Clinton crowd was loud and boisterous and their foot-stomping was thunderous.

Many of them were also from Massachusetts.

Clinton gave a few minute speech about how she sees the race for 2008 shaping up, then started taking questions. As she did, I noticed dozens of people start streaming out via the back doors.

Of the 7 people I interviewed, three said they had taken advantage of the short drive to come see both Clinton and Obama in the area in advance of the Feb. 5 Massachusetts primary.

But the others said they were Clinton volunteers who came up to canvass on her behalf this weekend.

Serap Sankoh, a biostatistician from Acton, Mass., said she had been actively recruited to attend and wave signs wildly by the Clinton campaign. "I got the telephone calls not last night but the night before and I'm a die-hard supporter, so I made the drive," she said.

Another reporter noticed a charter bus parked outside — and it wasn't part of our traveling motorcade.

Also, one questioner in the audience was from upstate New York and stood to praise Clinton for helping his city. "I want to stand here today proud to say to New Hampshire that our little city … with the help of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is on the verge of a renaissance," he said.

That prompted Clinton to thank the out-of-staters for "spreading the word." She started to say she was impressed by "the numbers of people who have come on their own from New York" and was interrupted by wild cheers. No way to be sure if the applause came from New Hampshire voters or New Yorkers. Clinton added that yesterday she saw a bunch of people from Arkansas.

She said she wanted the crowd to know: "If you honor me with your vote on Tuesday I will work my heart out for you."

UPDATE, 4:20 P.M. -- When the event ended I talked to some of the out-of-staters, including Julia Fuchs, 65 and a recent graduate student. She was about to board one of the buses back to New York after spending two days in the Granite State for Clinton.

"We are crazy about her. We came here to stump for her, they told me where to go," she said. "The campaign paid for everything."

Fuchs also told me that one questioner who asked about student loans during the event was one of the volunteers from New York.

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