The Race for Talent in the NH Primary

by: Nicholas Gunn

Thu Feb 08, 2007 at 19:16:08 PM EST

In the race for talent, Hillary Clinton seems to be winning:

Sen. Hillary Clinton has chosen NH Dem Party exec. dir Nick Clemons as her state director, capping off an intensive search-and-interview process by snagging the most in-demand operative in the state.

In 2006, Clemons supervised the political and field operation that helped Democrats take over both New Hampshire legislative chambers and gain control of its two House seats. He's in near-daily contact with key county chairs, and knows all the major organizers.

::snip::

Clemons served as the Kerry-Edwards state director in New Hampshire during 2004. He was Sen. John Kerry's field director during the primaries, competing with former Dean state director Karen Hicks. Hicks is now the Clinton campaign's national field director. Both Hicks and Clemons worked for ex-NH Gov. Jeanne Shaheen; Clemons was her field director in '00 and '02.

Click on 'There's More' for the rest.

He's not the only staff that Senator Clinton has hired, however.  Colin Pio, the Campaign Director for the College Democrats of NH, has also signed on.  Colin worked on Governor Lynch's campaign this fall.  Though I don't know what Colin is doing for Senator Clinton, he would particularly good at organizing College Campuses for her.

Barack Obama's Facebook Army of College Students is beginning to reap him benefits as well.  You remember them, the ones who organized a spur of the moment rally with 3,000 college students:

Obama:

But I think there is still a hesitancy on the part of a lot of campaigns because they want to control the process themselves. I'm leaving George Mason University where a group called Students for Barack Obama just organized a 3,000-person rally. We had nothing to do with it. There's no way we could have given the time constraints we were under to organize something that good. But if candidates are willing to loosen the reins a little bit then that encourages people - especially young people - who will have other opportunities for public service to get involved.

A few days ago I received an email from a regional coordinator asking me to apply to be the NH Coordinator for Students for Barack Obama.  He indicated that they were trying to proceed with the hiring process very rapidly, and they wanted my response by Friday.

Well, I guess they are moving rapidly, because on Wednesday I received an email from Anthony Low, who was hired as the NH Coordinator.  He asked me to apply to be a chapter director for my College.

Students for Barack Obama is a group to be reckoned with, they are using internet resources very effectively to organize quickly.  I imagine that similar scenarios are happening in every primary state, if not in every state in the country right now.

I can't know who will win the Primary, but one thing is for certain.  Senators Clinton and Obama are moving at a relentless pace to get ahead in the NH Primary.  They are both winning the early race for talent.

Cross Posted, with some modification, on the Daily Kos.