WOLFEBORO, N.H. — Around 41 minutes into his stump speech, when he would usually wrap up his remarks and head to the next event, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who did not take questions during his last trip to New Hampshire in late June, wanted to try something different.
He had started with his message of "Us, not me," explaining the two reasons why his 2020 campaign has embraced the slogan. The first: a philosophical conviction that "we are all in this together." The second: a practical concern that "nobody, not Bernie Sanders, not any other candidate — no matter how honest or well-intentioned that candidate may be, that candidate cannot do it alone. That president cannot do it alone."
He had continued by needling President Donald Trump, who was scheduled to visit the state for a campaign rally at the SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire later in the week.
"It never ends," he said. "I gather he now believes that Hillary Clinton went into Jeffrey Epstein's cell and hung him. That's the new insight from the president or something like that. Hard to keep up with the lunacy that takes place."
And he had resumed his misleading attacks on the Washington Post, which overshadowed his advocacy for Medicare for All and his emphasis on early childhood education in many media reports of the event. While Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, a frequent target of the Vermont Senator, owns the newspaper, editors and writers attest that the world's richest man allows the newsroom to operate independently.
"I wonder why the Washington Post, which is owned by Jeff Bezos who owns Amazon, doesn't write particularly good articles about me," Sanders said. "I don't know why, but I guess maybe there's a connection."
It was par for the course from Sanders — until around that 41-minute mark when instead of departing for his next stop on the trip through the North Country, he made a proposition to the audience of 350 people in the lakeside resort town of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.
"What I'd like to do is you ask me questions and I'll ask you questions, so let me start me asking you," he said to friendly laughter. "Why is it that we think so conservatively?"
And off the Vermont Senator went in a free-wheeling, flipped town hall, a highly unorthodox two-way question-and-answer session that produced many signature moments from the second-time candidate and showcased his enduring base of support in the Granite State.
"I thought it was awesome," said Keith Simpson, a former co-chair of the Wolfeboro Democrats. "I saw him here four years ago and he didn't do that then. The interaction makes an event that's actually interesting to go to."
Sanders first asked why voters accept legislation like the 2017 tax reform bill that offered the largest benefits to the top quintile of taxpayers. "Where is the outrage?" he said. "Who wants to help me on that? I want you to think about that. Who has some thoughts on that? Yeah, stand up."
A first supporter said that voters have the attitude that "unless it affects me or my property, I don't care." A second posited that "learned helplessness" was to blame. A third agreed with the second, but added "it's also the fact that the rich and the corporations are buying newspapers, the advertising and the politicians."
"Good," Sanders said before complaining that he is never asked about income and wealth inequality by reporters and telling the crowd that media mogul Rupert Murdoch is one of the most powerful people in the world. "Now you ask me a question," he said a couple minutes later.
The question, which asked whether the Vermont Senator would commit to a no-first-use of nuclear weapons policy, was met with a straight-forward, one-sentence response. "I don't believe the United States should start a nuclear war," Sanders said. "Period."
He shrugged, smiled at the crowd and took a second question, which raised the issue of climate change and asked how to "hold the fossil fuel companies accountable." That was when Sanders really hit his stride.
"I'll tell you what, tell you what" he said, throwing the question back at the crowd. "If the scientists tell us that we got 12 years to prevent irreparable damage to this planet and you got a fossil fuel industry that makes tens of billions in profits, you tell me," he asked. "What is your idea? How do we deal with that?"
The responses at first did not please Sanders. "We could grow hemp," one supporter suggested. The Vermont Senator agreed but called for bigger thinking. Another supporter blamed the military and urged "shuttering hundreds and hundreds of the unnecessary bases that we have around the world," but Sanders rebuffed his attempt to change the subject. When a young voter proposed a federal ban on fracking, Sanders burst out.
"Absolutely, but still, you guys are so conservative!" he said. "Come on, we're fighting for the future of the planet here!"
Finally, a supporter standing behind Sanders came up from behind, as the crowd cheered and pointed. Sanders handed over the microphone. "So one, carbon tax and dividend, of course," she said. "Research money to scientists," she annunciated as a second priority. "Now we're getting a little warmer here," Sanders said.
But the supporter who stepped to the front was not done. When Sanders returned to his original question — "what do we do with the fossil fuel industry?" — and another voter suggested research and development in the automobile industry, the supporter, without the microphone at that point, shouted out. "Can the government seize the fossil fuel companies like banks?"
"Well, I wouldn't use the word seize," Sanders replied.
"Not seize, but you know basically, nationalize," she said through laughter, as Sanders moved to a safer story about how he and his wife installed solar panels on their house. "Yes, that's the word nationalize."
The exchange, a highly entertaining back-and-forth at the end of the familiar stump speech, served as a testament to the close relationship between Sanders and his followers. It also showed the give-and-take between Sanders and his supporters about how far left to go in the Democratic primary as voters attempt to pick the best nominee to defeat Trump.
Joe Lake, a first-year teacher in Wolfeboro, placed Sanders in his top three along with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who was scheduled to visit the town on Wednesday. He credited Sanders for changing the conversation in 2016, but remained undecided. "Now the question is whether he is really the right person at the right time for the country," Lake said.
Four years later, Simpson was still convinced. "I already know because he talks about structural change," he said. He did not plan to come out two days later for the candidate who has made "big structural change" one of her slogans. "Elizabeth Warren wants to work with banks," Simpson said. "She's a capitalist. My feelings are capitalism has led us down a bad road."
Simpson said he first got involved with politics through the 2004 campaign of former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and until recently, worked for the town party committee to elect local and national candidates. While he knocked on doors reluctantly for the Clinton campaign in the 2016 general election, he is looking forward to canvassing for Sanders closer to the primary. "I'll be out there in the cold," he said.
He hoped that with the free-wheeling town halls, more voters would start paying attention to the primary, going to events and getting engaged with the Sanders campaign.
This work is made possible by the Russell H. Bostert Memorial Fellowship at Williams College.
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