DURHAM, N.H. – Eric Olsen awoke at 5:30 a.m. and rubbed his eyes. He stretched, showered, and got dressed in shorts and a “Rock for Life” sweatshirt, then walked over to his printer and grabbed directions to restaurants and homes across New Hampshire, preparing himself for the long day ahead.
His University of New Hampshire dorm room featured an array of Republican political paraphernalia. An all-access pass from September’s GOP presidential primary debate, held at the school, hung next to a window, sill lined with various alcohol bottles. The opposite wall featured a foam hand screaming support for presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. The door and minifridge were covered with campaign stickers from several candidates, including the young man’s favorite, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, and above a row of physics and calculus books on the desk hung a large poster of a smiling George W. Bush. “Look at that face. Who couldn’t like the guy?” Olsen asked, grinning.
Hair still wet, Olsen, co-chair of UNH Students for Huckabee, threw on a jacket and headed outside to his white VW bug with a bucket of chalk. The first event of the day would be one he had organized, a 5k with “the Huckster,” and he needed to mark the route. After jacking up this car’s heat to ward off the October chill, he drove around campus, stopping every few blocks to draw arrows on the pavement. “This is really for me,” he said with a laugh. “I’m expected to lead the pack, and it wouldn’t be good if I got lost.” He wondered aloud how many college students would be willing to wake up early on a Saturday morning, and joked that maybe he should have trained a little more for the run, or worn more layers.
Olsen, 21, was once an active member of the Mitt Romney campaign, but defected to the Huckabee team after seeing the latter speak at the UNH debate. He appreciated Huckabee’s down-to-earth persona, and the fact that the candidate stuck around to speak with students after the event. “I was a little disheartened with the Romney campaign,” he said. “I saw him as a product that could be sold, bundled with conservative beliefs… I realized I was loyal more to the organization than the candidate. I never got to know Mitt, and he doesn’t know who I am.”
With Huckabee, he said, he feels like what he says matters. “I asked him personally to come for the run, and he did. Obviously other people made it happen, but it did start with that.”
While Romney and other candidates are ahead in the polls, Olsen said, he feels Huckabee can best relate to individual voters. “The unfortunate thing about the primaries is that you’re forced to play to a very limited audience, the hard right or the hard left, the people who will come out and vote. I see Huckabee as much more practical,” he said. “People like him. People trust him. Because in the end, he really believes in what he says he believes in.”
Huckabee is also much more accessible. While other candidates often send representatives to campus, he visits in person. He’s willing to be interviewed by the school newspaper staff.
Around 7 a.m., a group of Tau Kappa Epsilon pledges raked leaves off the lawn in front of their fraternity house, where the race would begin. Huckabee’s son rushed TKE in college, and the candidate became an honorary member last December. Over the next half hour, a small crowd formed, some people wearing sweats and t-shirts, others dressed in business attire. All wore colorful campaign stickers.
Clad in a skirt and heels, hair clipped back neatly, Olsen’s co-chair fit in more with campaign staffers than her fellow students. Opting not to run, UNH senior Leah Abbott had dressed formally for a mock trial event later that morning. Like Olsen, she found she was a good fit for the Huckabee team after comparing his campaign to other candidates’. Recalling a recent MTV-sponsored event featuring Democratic hopeful John Edwards, she said, “When he came to campus, he answered pre-picked questions from the press,” not from students. “You don’t get the one-on-one opportunity [with other candidates] you get with Huckabee.”
Bart Lucien, a junior from Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I., had volunteered for several Huckabee events around New Hampshire but thought this one was unique. “This is a good idea for involving the community,” he said. “In races I’ve run, the community knew about us because we passed people’s houses. It was easy for them to come out and see us…. This is a great way to get people motivated.”
Ted Goldstein and Peter Darcy, both UNH sophomores, didn’t know much about the candidate before the run. “I wanted to get more involved,” said Goldstein, 19, “and see if I could still do a 5k.”
“I definitely want to be an educated voter,” said Darcy, also 19. “In the last election, we couldn’t vote, but this time, it’s relevant.” While he hadn’t yet chosen a candidate to support, he said he thought it was “really awesome” that so many of them visited UNH. “It’s easy,” he said. “The candidates are coming to me.”
Huckabee arrived at the fraternity around 7:45, dressed in a bright yellow New York City Marathon jacket, black warm-up pants, and a red TKE baseball hat. He greeted Olsen and chatted with the crowd, sharing running stories and thanking them for showing up. He can run an eight-minute mile, he said, but this event wouldn’t be a race. “I just want to remind you, you’re half my age, so be kind,” he said, smiling.
“[A marathon] is a great analogy for a presidential campaign,” he said. “Who’s out front early on means nothing… You need the stamina to keep going, no matter what. It’s my race, my pace, and I gotta prepare and carry out my game.”
After doctors diagnosed Huckabee with adult-onset diabetes in 2003, he started running, and was able to lose more than 110 pounds in the next two years. He is now a strong advocate for preventative health measures.
He completed the route in 29 minutes and 48 seconds, and glared jokingly at Olsen upon the group’s return. “This dude here chose hills,” he said. “Let’s take turns pouring hot coffee on him.”
He posed for a photo with the TKE brothers, and answered additional questions from students. “Why do something boring when I can come run with these guys?” he remarked. It is important that he speak with young people, he said, because the next President’s decisions will affect them more than they will his own generation.
Very satisfied with the turnout, Olsen helped break down the event and drove back to his dorm. While many of the runners planned to take naps to recover from rising so early, he had many more hours of campaigning to look forward to. The day’s schedule included a meet-and-greet at a restaurant in Exeter, a “chowderfest” in Seabrook, and house parties in Bedford and Amherst.
Once again, he showered and changed, this time into a crisp suit and tie, and hopped back in the car. In Exeter, Huckabee enthusiastically greeted him by name and commented on his change in attire. In Seabrook and Amherst, locals confused him for a campaign staffer. Olsen arrived back in Durham after dark, completely worn out but also thoroughly satisfied.
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