The Democratic debate on December 19 (8pm, ABC) will be held at St. Anselm College, a small Catholic school in Manchester, New Hampshire. St. Anselm has been a mainstay in presidential campaigns for the past 50 years. The school has been the backdrop to some of the most memorable campaign moments in US history including the time JFK joked that he forgot his Richard Nixon button, and the time Hillary and Barack joked about being likable. “You’re likable enough,” said the future president to his future Secretary of State. We’re about to see.
St. Anselm is very proud of its presidential election history. It houses a gallery of memorabilia including the champagne glass that Ronald Reagan used to toast with after he won the big Reagan/Bush Nashua-Telegraph debate. Neil Levesque, executive director of Saint Anselm’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics and Political Library, says big money controls campaigns in other states but “not here in New Hampshire. Money does not equal votes in New Hampshire.” The Democratic Debate airs December 19 at 8pm on ABC.
