1/26/2004

At the Soda Shoppe

Democrats speak to supporters in small town

Grace Dobush
Daily Kent Stater

LACONIA, N.H. — The Soda Shoppe in Laconia, N.H., has seen more than its share of Democratic candidates recently.

Sen. Joe Lieberman visited the diner last week, Sen. John Edwards stopped by for the second time Saturday, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich popped in yesterday as locals looked on over their pancakes and maple syrup.

Laconia is a typical New England town of about 16,000 people. Right down the street from the Soda Shoppe are the empty Colonial Theater and Bloom’s Variety.

On Saturday, throngs of Edwards supporters clustered around street corners by the Soda Shoppe, holding signs in the bitter cold. Inside the shelter of the Soda Shoppe, there were close to 200 supporters, members of the media and curious locals.

Packs of reporters pushed their way into the inner circle, the red, U-shaped lunch counter. Reporters and correspondents from NPR, local TV stations and newspapers, and even two men from German public radio station ARD were there.

Edwards’ campaign assistants kept the press updated on when he was arriving. When Edwards finally came, he was greeted by the applause of everyone who was packed in the diner. “Think we can get more people in here?” he joked.

He stood at the round end of the bar and proclaimed that “we live in an America where there are two different Americas.” Throughout the rest of his speech he kept focusing on issues he said his competitors don’t address, such as race, AIDS and the 35 million Americans living in poverty.

He made a few self-comparisons between himself and Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy and said multiple times that he will not attack other candidates.

Tina Jarosch, 31, a social worker, and Sandra Kurt, 42, an engineer, both from Akron, have a tradition of coming up for the New Hampshire primary. They said they had seen Sen. John Kerry at a rally earlier that morning.

Kurt said New Hampshire’s size makes it better than Iowa for traveling around and catching the brunt of the excitement.

Jarosch agreed. “It’s so exciting to be in a room of people who are so revved up,” she said.

People stood outside the windows, peering in and holding up Edwards signs. A man held up a sign to the window that read, “Abe Lincoln was a trial lawyer” at one point, and many people in the diner saw it and began laughing.

Edwards noticed and pretended to be mad: “Hey, quit reading the signs, you gotta listen to me!”

Sarah Thomason, 9, from Alabama, came with her mother, Larisa, to New Hampshire for the primary.

“So far I like what’s-his-name,” Sarah said. Her mother reminded her of Edwards’ name.

“He’s just like Bill — nice and friendly.” Sarah said.

Yesterday there was not only standing room, but even empty seats at the Soda Shoppe. A half-dozen Kucinich supporters stood outside as locals ate their breakfast in peace inside. Only a few reporters and photographers were there. When Kucinich came in, he and his entourage went to a smaller back room, leaving the diners in peace.

He took off his shoes and stepped up on a chair and joked about the single-digit temperatures, saying that in Cleveland, “We have picnics on days like this.”

He focused on Iraq for most all of his speech, which seemed more like a quiet discussion over coffee than a rally cry. People in the audience chipped in on occasion, calling him by his first name.

Kucinich claimed all other Democratic candidates aside from Rev. Al Sharpton promoted the idea that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Kucinich read quotes from his competition off of his personal digital assistant supporting his arguments for about 10 minutes.

“I am going to take this issue and run with it all the way to the convention,” he said.

E-mail: gdobush@kent.edu