Lucy Gellman
Ben & Jerry in the flesh.
Portsmouth N.H. — The Democratic campaign for Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary rolled in to the Portsmouth Book & Bar … in the person of two ice-cream kings from a neighboring state: Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield.
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has promised that rather than a chicken in every pot, he’ll put a scoop of Ben & Jerry’s into everyone’s cone if he is elected president. Cohen and Greenfield co-founded the ice cream company in Burlington, Vermont, where Sanders served as mayor. The duo is now hitting the road for Sanders.
In January, Ben & Jerry’s created Bernie’s Yearning, a spin on mint chocolate chip ice cream that separated a layer of “one percent” dark chocolate from “99 percent” cool mint.
On Thursday’s visit, they brought not Bernie’s Yearning, but a few quarts of chocolate-chip-cookie-dough ice cream along with homemade glow-in-the-dark Bernie signs.
The resident hipsters typing on their computers, browsing books and discussing politics over four-dollar cappuccinos may not have needed to hear the case for the candidate — the coffee shop boarded the Sanders bus back in November, placing signs beside the milk frothers and coffee beans — but Cohen and Greenfield made it anyway, pausing for selfies with ice cream enthusiasts while railing against Wall Street.
“We’ve been constituents of Bernie for 30 years, and we’ve seen his passion, his consistency on the issue of making America work for working people,” said Cohen. “He’s a guy who calls a spade a spade. He’s been fighting the influence of big money in politics, he’s been fighting Wall Street, he’s been fighting big pharma. He’s the only candidate who’s for the people, funded by the people.”
“The political system and the economy is rigged for the benefit of the ultra rich and corporations,” Greenfield added. “We need to take back this country so it’s a democracy that works for everyday people. The only way to do that is to support someone who’s not taking money from these giant corporations and these big industries that essential control our country.”
For Sanders supporters like Della Mae’s Celia Woodsmith, who lives in Portsmouth with her husband, that was enough.
“I’m sold,” she said, smiling as she contemplated buying a light-up Bernie sign from the ice cream duo.
Of course, Cohen and Greenfield were sold too … to the Unilever conglomerate in 2000. When asked if that added a personal or anecdotal angle to their hope that Sanders can take the nomination, Cohen said: “Now, we’re just two guys from Vermont stumping for Bernie.”
A Post-Debate Pitch
Clinton.
Twenty miles to the west in the University Town of Durham, candidate Hillary Clinton made her own visit Thursday night to Three Chimneys Inn, a renovated historic home in Durham.
Around 11:50 p.m., after millions of people across the country had watched her debate with Sanders, Clinton herself turned up at a boozy watch party that her supporters had held in the inn’s basement.
Addressing a cheering crowd of around 200, the candidate took the stage with former Vermont governor and 2000 presidential candidate Howard Dean, asking her most loyal supporters and volunteers for one big final push before Tuesday’s voter hit the polls.
“You have just been the best support system one can imagine,” she said, offering special thanks to a group of 87 “Arkansas Travelers” who had flown up to volunteer until Tuesday in New Hampshire. “This is a very personally meaningful night for me. I’m back in New Hampshire, a state that I love, a state that I’m going to work really hard at even though we know that they favor their neighbors … and to have the strong support that I have on the ground from so many volunteers here in New Hampshire. It is just the best feeling ever. I feel really good about our campaign, and I’m really really proud of all the people. We’re just not going to leave any stone unturned. ”
Teeter.
Jana Teeter, a high school teacher from Dumas, Arkansas, responded with wild applause as Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” came booming back over the speakers.
“I’m feeling great,” she said. “Energized, excited. We’re here for Hillary …. she’s proven herself time and time again. Every issue she stands for is important … she’s Hillary! That’s all you have to say.”
Lucy Gellman and Thomas Breen are spending the week in New Hampshire with canvassers, campaign staffers and volunteers, and candidates. To listen to some of the voices from the Arkansas Travelers mentioned in this article, click on or download the audio above. This is the eighth installment in a Soundcloud playlist of many political voices from the road.
Thomas Breen contributed reporting to this story.