Recent California Transplant Gets Taste Of Presidential Politics In New Hampshire
(KCBS) - There isn't much evidence of it here in California, but the 2012 presidential campaign is in full swing now, with more Republican candidates throwing their hats in the ring every day.
You'd have to go somewhere like New Hampshire to get a real taste of the campaign's early days, and that's just what one Bay Area man has decided to do.
Brandon Stauber, fed up with California politics, has moved to New Hampshire where he's getting to participate in the 2012 presidential race. He moved from Sonoma, running his wine business online now and becoming one of those influential Granite State voters.
It's only June and the campaign trail's already heating up, with the weather, in New England.
Mitt Romney and half a dozen other Republicans are officially running now, for the right to take on President Obama. KCBS reporter Doug Sovern tagged along with Romney as he shook hands and posed for photos after declaring his candidacy in Stratham, New Hampshire.
"I'd rather win than lose," Romney joked.
KCBS' Doug Sovern Reports:
Just a few hours later, and a few miles away, in Seabrook, New Hampshire, 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin insisted she's still undecided about 2012, and she wasn't here trying to steal Romney's thunder.
"The timing of the visit to New Hampshire worked very well logistically," she said.
Stauber was taking it all in and marveling at his access to the candidates and potential candidates. Stauber pulled up stakes in Sonoma and moved to Exeter, New Hampshire, where there's no state sales tax, no state income tax, the cost of living is lower, and presidential wannabes go door to door.
"I love the fact that you can come here and you can meet one on one with these folks," he said.
Stauber never met a presidential contender in all his years in California - he only saw them on TV. In just nine months in New Hampshire, he's met four.
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