Interns for John Delaney hustled out of Atkinson Community Center and to their cars with signs and donuts at 9:15 Tuesday morning. They didn’t have time to waste. Their candidate, who’s in the back of a crowded field of Democrats vying for the presidency in 2020, had just wrapped up his first event of the day, and the next, Delaney’s 100th in New Hampshire, was about to start.
“I just got to chain myself to the mast and get to the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary,” said Delaney, who is polling at 0.2% nationally, according to Real Clear Politics. “I think those voters will be a little different.”
No candidate has held half as many New Hampshire events as Delaney. By sundown Tuesday, the former U.S. Representative from Maryland will have logged 102 appearances in the Granite State. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has the second-most at 38.
“We feel good. What’s working in my campaign is that in Iowa and New Hampshire, we’ve got good reception, we’ve got good teams,” Delaney said, as aides folded tables in the community center. “For a candidate like me who’s running on real solutions and not impossible promises, you can’t win the social media primary ... Twitter is not the Democratic Party ... my message is to a broader cut of the Democratic Party.”
Other candidates are running on “real solutions” too. Like Delaney, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana also claim middle-America moderate Democrat status. Delaney thinks his background in business makes him different.
“I’m the only one who’s started businesses and created jobs and has experience in government and business,” Delaney said, walking to his car and heading toward event No. 100. “I’m not just talking about moderation for the sake of moderation. I think about it in terms of problem solving.”
Even though he’s pounded pavement in the Granite State, Delaney has struggled to gain traction in an increasingly progressive party. He criticized the DNC’s debate requirements for that, claiming they’ve forced candidates to pander to potential donors, who he described as often wealthy, progressive New Yorkers and Californians.
“This is one of the stories I think people will be writing in 2020: the Democratic Party went very left because candidates had to get on the debate stage,” said Delaney, who pledged in March to donate $2 to charity for every $1 donated to his campaign. “It’s like a car accident you see right in front of your eyes in slow motion,” he said.
Delaney is driving forward with his early-state strategy. He has 20 events in the Granite State this week, including two barbecues and two parades. At his 100th event – a conversation about moral issues with local religious leaders at Nashua’s Temple Beth Abraham – Delaney wore a kippah and talked about slavery, opportunity and reparations.
State Rep. Michael Pedersen of Nashua, who said Delaney and Sen. Kamala Harris were his two favorite candidates, sat among the 70-person crowd gathered inside the temple.
“I think when he gets in front of people and they hear him, it really helps. He’s doesn’t do flashy stuff,” said Pedersen, who was seeing Delaney for the second time. “If an individual voter bothers to listen, he makes a lot of sense.”
With voters greeted, interviews done, Delaney was headed to Concord next for No. 101.