David M. Shribman: NH’s relevance in the 2028 election

GILFORD ― Taped on the refrigerator are four pictures of the bear that recently wandered behind Robby Cosgriff's house. On the opposite wall is a plea for contributions of arts and crafts supplies (but please, no yarn!) for the local Boys & Girls Club. On the tables are neatly assembled trays of food: roast beef, turkey, smoked trout, fresh fruit, artichokes. Mixing in the crowd during the proceedings is state Sen. Patrick Long, wearing a T-shirt with a giant flag motif emblazoned with the message "Hate Has No Home Here."

The attraction here is a visit from Ro Khanna, a Democratic congressman from a district 3,145 miles away, and he is speaking about the wealth gap, the Jeffrey Epstein files, the "genocide" being conducted by Israeli forces in Gaza. A first-generation American in khaki trousers and a blue dress shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, he holds forth with passion and conviction.

"The Democrats have to regain the sense of systematic change," he said in an interview later. "If there's one thing we can learn from Donald Trump, it's to be bold."

This is how people still run for president in a country with 343 million people; they talk to six dozen folks in a town with a population of 7,699 in the state that traditionally is the site of the first presidential primary, which in this case is more than 17 months away. This is what Jimmy Carter did, what Bill Clinton did, what Barack Obama did. Hardly anyone knew who they were either.

Mr. Khanna isn't formally running for president, not yet. But he will be, almost surely by next summer. Why else would he have four events scheduled on one day here ― during his at least eighth visit to this state, following earlier forays for town halls, mini debates, party dinners, union breakfasts?

And why else does he have an answer ― fluid, fluent, full of detail ― for every question he gets from this assembly, a group so accustomed to this ritual, so accomplished at this quadrennial task, that four of the first five citizen interrogators posed carefully crafted two-point questions, many with follow-ups, and then their own pointed sermonettes? Those in the White House press room, professionals at this, should be so skilled in the duties of political inquiry.

Earlier this year, Mr. Khanna, along with a group of the sort of MAGA rebels who are the sworn enemies of this crowd ― Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia ― created an uneasy alliance to drive the Trump administration nuts with their insistence the Epstein files be released.

But being a prominent member of the House doesn't make him a household name. And yet he has quietly been building support, and attracting interest, here in the Granite State, as well as in the tucked-away power centers of the Democratic Party that provide money and credibility ― perhaps more of the latter than the former. Soon ― too early for him to make this public, but it's going to happen, according to every subtle indication, invisible to the eyes of civilian activists but clearly apparent to political pros ― he'll have the announced endorsements of the sort of insiders who carry weight in the political world. All this is coming to him earlier than it did for Mr. Carter, who later than this period of his campaign was holed up, for free, in a Dartmouth residence hall, his wife borrowing the rotary telephone of a college junior to help the Carters' daughter, Amy, with her math homework.

Right now, there's more substance than style to the Khanna cavalcade. He's informal, a bit unpolished, substituting the sincere for the shiny. He wins cheers for saying his Epstein crusade will be seen in retrospect as "the first thing that cracked Donald Trump's coalition and began to unravel his presidency." (You can almost hear the people sitting at the circular tables saying to this young man of Hindu faith, still not quite 50 years old, a phrase from 19th-century Yiddish: From your lips to God's ears.)

Heads nod when he speaks of "people who think the rules don't apply to them." (Everyone here knows whom he is talking about.) There's a sense of accord in the room when he embarks on a riff that starts with "What has happened to the United States of America? It's not the country my parents came to." (These people thrilled to entreaties like this when Michael Dukakis and Mr. Obama made them what seems like eons ago but within the living memory of so many of those shaking their gray heads when they hear it again.)

As the great New Hampshire poet has reminded every aspirant since he scratched that line into the consciousness of America, there are miles to go. In this case, many, many miles. Most of them will be bumpy and ― if history, experienced by such presidential-candidate failures as Lamar Alexander and Nikki Haley among the Republicans, Gary Hart and Howard Dean among the Democrats, all of them with high hopes marinated in sweet New Hampshire maple syrup, serves as a guide ― full of road hazards.

No press, no motorcade, no Secret Service, doesn't mean no chance. They are the elements of the loneliness of the long-distance runner. But modest starts don't assure even modest success. Former House Rep. John Delaney of Maryland announced his 2020 candidacy 29 months before the election. You never heard of him either. He campaigned feverishly. He never polled higher than 2% of the vote and left the campaign 12 days before the New Hampshire primary.

"But what the heck," Mr. Khanna seems to be saying ― and he'll surely tell the insiders and funders he's about to meet 51 miles to the south in Manchester, the state's biggest city, that it's worth a try. Everyone connected with Democratic politics agrees with the leitmotif of his "We can't have the same status-quo, incremental politics"; it's an auditory cue in those circles. So is "Medicare for all" and his call for "a new FDR moment."

And, of course, this: "If we offer a new social contract, we can unite this country and inspire this country again. Trump has made the presidency so small. The answer for Democrats is not to go small but to go big." And this: "If we offer a clear vision of economic patriotism, we can move this country ahead." Presidential campaigns have been made of less.

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David M. Shribman is the former executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.