First Read : Ron Allen

Men with guns -- outside town hall

Mark Murray — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:45:00 GMT

From NBC's Ron Allen
Outside the event where President Obama will conduct his town hall, there is an anti-Obama protestor with a gun -- a pistol strapped to his lower leg.

The local police chief said it's legal for the man to have a registered handgun -- as long as it is not concealed. What's more, he is on private property, a church yard, which has given him permission to be there.

*** UPDATE *** More on the man with the gun... William Kostric is a married man in his mid 30S who works in sales. He says he moved here to New Hampshire from Arizona about a year ago, because it's a "live free or die" state -- and he thought Arizona was becoming too restrictive with its gun laws.

He's passing out a bookmark that says, "Join the Second Amendment Revolution, the most exciting pro-liberty movement in over 200 years."

He's a Ron Paul supporter, who opposes just about everything Obama, including health care reform.

...(read more)

The motives - and musings - of HRC

Carrie Dann — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:28:00 GMT

From NBC's Ron Allen

SCRANTON, Penn. -- Maybe the reason Hillary Clinton popped up at the final presidential debate was because it was convenient to her New York home. Perhaps, as the joke goes, she was there just in case McCain or Obama couldn't make it. Or maybe -- just maybe -- it was because she's stepping up her efforts to help Barack Obama and Joe Biden win the White House.

With HRC - as we've come to call her - the question of motives often lurks not far from the surface, especially in the aftermath of her bruising and ultimately unsuccessful fight with Obama for the role she once saw as inevitable.

I recently had the chance to interview Clinton after a campaign event in Scranton, PA. As always, she was gracious, charming, and well prepared. The first thing she said, after a very welcoming "Hello Ron," was, "I love your wife's show." (My wife co-hosts a nationally-syndicated morning news program on public radio.)

The cynic in me muttered, "They've prepped her with a great way to disarm the interviewer." But my inner realist countered, "Come on, you're not so important that she needs a file on you. She probably really does listen to the show." After all, it does air in New York. As we chatted on, she made a few observations that only a listener would know, and I realized she was -- in fact -- being sincere.

I felt a bit awkward for thinking otherwise.

...(read more)

'Just 118,000 votes'

Domenico Montanaro — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:33:00 GMT

From NBC's Ron Allen
NEWARK, Ohio -- For two days, Biden rode a bus south, through Eastern Ohio. His route parallels the Ohio River for the most part, along the border with West Virginia and then where it bends a bit West forming the border with Kentucky.

Biden is running a leg of a relay that "Team Obama" has been charting across this prized state with the two nominees and big-name surrogates, like the Clintons, here seven-straight days. Bill, and then Hillary Clinton will each carry the baton separately later this week.

It's obviously a state Obama is trying very hard to win, for perhaps obvious reasons.

In Ohio, the Obama campaign seems somewhat obsessed with numbers, beginning with the 118,000 or so vote John Kerry lost this state by, and therefore, the presidency.

Biden's staff circulated a memo, for example, with some numbers:
-- 89 Ohio offices for Obama
-- 43 miles is the farthest distance any Ohioan lives from an office
-- 13 barns have been painted with Obama logos. (We haven't seen them.)
-- 1900: the last year a presidential candidate visited a place called Georgetown, where Obama dropped by last week.

But in 2008, it’s really all about those 118,000 votes.

...(read more)

Warm-up act

Domenico Montanaro — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:17:00 GMT

From NBC’s Ron Allen
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- When Joe Biden sits down for a few laughs with Jay Leno and Ellen DeGeneres tonight he will already be warmed up.

With a bit of self-deprecating humor, at a campaign office this morning here, Biden said he hoped, "not to make a fool of himself."

Lately, in fact, Biden has been trying out a few "zingers," out on the campaign trail. Much of it has been at the expense of his counterpart Sarah Palin.

Here's a sample of the routine.

Biden is on stage in Delaware recently, feeling comfortable at home, into his stump speech, and he starts to recall his debate with Palin, and that, "she was winking at you all." Then, "at least I think it was a debate," he says, dripping with sarcasm. That sets up Palin's line about how she has been paying attention to Biden's speeches since she was in the second grade. Biden counters with, "Well, I guess just like she can see Russia from Alaska, she can see Delaware from Alaska?" The partisan crowd roars with laughter. "She's got great eyesight," he cracked to keep the laughter going.

...(read more)

Man to man

Domenico Montanaro — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:29:00 GMT

From NBC’s Ron Allen
Here's something Joe Biden said, again, recently. "In my neighborhood, you want to say something about me, look me in the eye and tell me."

The crowd under an outdoor pavilion in Jefferson City, Mo., burst out in applause and rose to its feet.

"Say it to me straight up," Biden bellowed, sounding like a tough kid from Scranton PA might have back in the day.

Biden was criticizing McCain for not looking Obama in the eye at their last debate (or the one before that), and for not leveling some of the "character" attacks in some of his TV ads and stump speeches, like, "Who is the real Barack Obama?"...directly at Obama.

So, today in Lisbon, Ohio, when Biden sat down for a cheeseburger at the Steel Trolley Diner, and began answering a few questions from the traveling press corps, for the first time since way back in September, it seemed like a good time to ask whether he -- "Straight up" -- has contacted his old friend McCain to give him a piece of his mind?

...(read more)

Obama-Biden try to shrink the margins

Domenico Montanaro — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:09:00 GMT

From NBC's Ron Allen

LIBERTY, Mo. -- Two female co-workers were standing in the crowd outside the "By the Book Cafe" here as Joe Biden stopped by. Neither woman wanted to give her name.

"We're supposed to be non-partisan" and apolitical, the two civil servants with jobs in city government politely explained.

They did reveal, however, that one of them supported Barack Obama, and the other John McCain.

Video: Speaking in Missouri, Joe Biden takes on Sarah Palin's one-liners and John McCain's "lurching" from one economic proposal to another.

It was a proper metaphor for this part of the "Show Me" state, Clay County, a suburb of Kansas City. While the town of Liberty is pretty Republican, the county's partisan divide is split almost evenly. It's a contentious swing area in perhaps the most bellwether of states.

Al Gore won by a single vote here. George Bush came back and won it by almost seven percentage points four years later.

...(read more)

Sounding less like a campaign?

Domenico Montanaro — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:04:00 GMT

From NBC's Ron Allen
Did we get off the bus at the wrong stop? Did something happen we didn't hear about as we flew a couple of hours from D.C. to South Dakota?

We're on the campaign trail with Sen. Clinton, but you really have to listen very closely here at the Jones family farm in Aberdeen to hear any hint she's fighting for the Democratic nomination.

Maybe we're getting a bit ahead of things, maybe its just the place and time, maybe its that we're all looking for clues about her intentions, but the vibe feels different.

Clinton began her remarks talking about how great it is that South Dakota is going to vote, and how important those votes will be. But what followed was a detailed talk about farming and rural issues, not why she's still in the race, nor much of her usual stump speech.

No mention of the delegate math, recent endorsements in the news, nor how much "we need a fighter" in the White House.

Clinton talked a lot about why she supports the Farm Bill that just passed the Congress and that President Bush has threatened to veto.

...(read more)

What might Hillary do?

Domenico Montanaro — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:02:00 GMT

From NBC's Ron Allen
These days, it can feel a bit strange being in the Hillary Clinton press caravan.

The morning newspaper headlines scream about how she should cash it all in, how the race is over. Magazine covers proclaim Barack Obama the winner. We all read the polls. We all do the math. We all think we're pretty smart.

It can feel a bit odd to carry those newspapers and all of those thoughts onto her press plane and watch her cheerfully appear there up front, ready to take on another day, never showing any hint of doubt. Nothing at all suggests it's not just yet another day on the long march to the nomination.

But while watching her, questioning her, and listening to her give speech after speech to crowds of passionate supporters, you can't help but wonder what is she really thinking? Only she, and perhaps a few people very close, know.

She has to be upset, disappointed, anyone would be but angry? How would you feel if you had your eyes on a promotion at the office, had worked real hard, had the experience, had paid the dues, and then someone younger and less experienced, someone you'd given advice to, mentored a bit, came along and ruined your dream?

...(read more)

Hillary's problem with African Americans?

Domenico Montanaro — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:27:00 GMT

From NBC's Ron Allen
There was a very interesting discussion on the flight back to D.C. from Indianapolis. By the time we landed, the Clinton campaign was proclaiming, "We shocked the world" by winning Indiana. "A win is a win," was the rallying cry, as the margin narrowed.

Meanwhile, the Clinton press team did everything possible to minimize Barack Obama's win in North Carolina. He has a "built-in advantage" there, they said. It was a state where they knew the "demographics" were going to be tough, referring the state’s African-American community. Turns out, his margin overall was greater than her's in Pennsylvania.

But Clinton's aides continue to argue she's the stronger nominee, because she continues to do well with the most important voters, crucial swing voters, who will make the difference in a race with John McCain in November, blue-collar and working-class voters, most of whom are white.

But how does a candidate claim to be the strongest and most electable nominee, when that candidate has very little support with some of the Democratic Party's most loyal followers, African-American voters? Wouldn't it be fair to say that ignoring that "demographic" tends to marginalize the significance of those voters, who also historically have felt somewhat taken for granted by Democrats?

...(read more)

Clinton speaks to the press

Mark Murray — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:24:00 GMT

From NBC's Ron Allen and NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
In a press conference aboard the flight from Cleveland to Columbus, Clinton wanted to talk about the campaign's upcoming economic summit meeting in Zanesville -- which will focus "not only on problems, but solutions" in Ohio where the economy is "unbelievably important."

"Inflation is up, prices of everything are going up," she said. "We are sliding into a recession." When asked what's the major difference between herself and Obama on the economy, Clinton replied with "experience," "specifics..." And she then outlined her plan for a moratorium on foreclosures and a freeze on subprime adjustable mortgages.

Regarding last night's debate, Clinton said she "drew some good contrasts" with Obama. "I was really pleased by it. I thought that once again we drew some good contrasts and obviously I was pleased to talk about issues that I, you know, care a lot about and know something about and thought that that came across."

...(read more)