Democrats and Republicans offered buffets of food and candidates at a pair of political picnics held yesterday in Bow.

The town's Republican committee hosted its first barbecue, serving up chicken and corn while notables, including Congressman Charlie Bass and gubernatorial candidate Jim Coburn, stumped for the dozens of people gathered at the old town hall.

Down the road at the Merrimack County Democrats' annual picnic, a crowd of several hundred ate roast pig and potluck desserts while listening to Gov. John Lynch, congressional candidate Paul Hodes and Mark Warner, the former Virginia governor mulling a bid for the White House.

Most of the candidates kept their speeches brief and breezy to befit the laid-back events, but the afternoon still provided an overview of this falls'races and, in Warner's case, a look ahead to 2008. Warner spent about a half-hour telling the crowd about his unused Harvard law degree, a career as a venture capitalist and his recently ended stint as Virginia's first Democratic governor in 60 years. He's not yet sure if he'll make a bid for the presidency, but if he does, he knows it won't be easy.

"I've become frustrated with the way our party heads and, more importantly, with where our country heads,"he said. "I'm 51 years old and I can't think of a time, in my lifetime, at least, when our nation has faced more problems, more challenges, all of them coming at us simultaneously."

To picnickers' delight, Warner pledged his support for the 2008 presidential primary, saying he'd campaign in New Hampshire no matter when the state holds its election. He praised the state's Democratic lineup and urged them to help win control of Congress.

"Wouldn't it be great if we once again established American's leadership in the world and America was viewed not only as a force that had the strongest military but as the force that led with strongest moral suasions and represented the best of American values all across the world," he said. "Not a place that is about torture, not a place that we reject civil liberties, not a place where we reject our own law."

The picnic was part of a day of joint campaigning by Warner, Lynch and Hodes. Lynch ticked off high points of his first term: preventing the closure of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard; helping families affected by recent flooding and passing legislation Lynch says has improved education and the state's economy.

"I love being governor," he said. "It's all about working with people. If you like working with people, and I do, I think it's the best job in the country."

Hodes started his speech jovially, asking his wife, Peggo, to help the guests sing "Happy Birthday" to former President Bill Clinton, who turned 60 yesterday. Then he grew serious, criticizing Bass's support for President Bush, whom Hodes called an "emperor" and "imperial." He called for developing frugal ways to provide better social services and withdrawing from Iraq.

"We've got to get our people out of that civil war now," he said.

Democrats, he said, must do a better job of challenging Bush.

"A spine is a terrible thing to waste," he said. "And I'm bringing my backbone with me."

Bass, too, delivered a passionate speech to members of his party, praising Republican leaders for low unemployment, economic growth and a lack of terrorist attacks on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001.

"That has taken real leadership by the Republicans in Congress and the President," he said. "This is not about stopping an international criminal element, this is war. . . . If we want to save Western civilization and freedom and liberty for future Americans, this is where it starts, and we cannot allow this sort of element to dominate the world."

Gubernatorial candidate Coburn, a first-term state representative from Windham, was among the last to take the stage at the old town hall, telling the crowd that his life has included many seemingly impossible tasks, such as starting his own business, building a house from scratch and caring for his late wife, who had multiple sclerosis.

Single page