"Tom."
"Yes . . . he works -- "
"He works at Southern New Hampshire University. He's the A/V manager there."
"Great."
Later, a man reads a lengthy letter from Marine Lance Cpl. Jesse Braggin, who graduated from Londonderry High School and is now stationed in Iraq. "There you go," Bush says after the man finishes the letter and his microphone is abruptly shut off.
"We love you, President Bush," a woman shouts from the crowd.
"Thank you."
You go to Bush and Kerry events and you find two very different flavors of self-assurance: Kerry's crowds are utterly self-assured that Bush is dangerous, even if they're not quite so sure of their love for Kerry. But Bush's potential for reelection makes them very nervous, and thus big Kerry supporters.
Bush's crowds are utterly self-assured that their love of Bush is the majority view, so there's no use taking Kerry seriously.
Bush is dismissed with derision at Kerry events, Kerry with laughter at Bush's.
Peggy Noonan, the former Reagan and Bush I speechwriter who is advising the Bush-Cheney campaign, says in an e-mail that the confidence of the Bush campaign reflects an entrenched temperament of "American exceptionalism" among many Republicans. Republican conservatives, she says, "are not ambivalent about their country, its meaning, its special and ordained nature. Demos of our era have lost that sureness, or faith. They're not sure what America is anymore, and it shows. Conviction beats ambivalence every time."
In response to a question about Iraq here, Bush misspeaks -- "I think the world would be better off if we did leave" -- but corrects himself quickly ("if we didn't"). He takes one last "question," from a man who says that Kerry is "unworthy" and that he sends a "heartfelt prayer" to the president, and urges him to "stay the course and win the election in '04."
To which Bush says he couldn't conclude on a better note, thanks everyone and leaves to more shrieks and abiding certainty.
"I'm 99.9 percent sure Bush is going to win," Raul Cervantes, of Lebanon, says afterward. In a Bush crowd, this passes for caution.
