No matter how slick other US Democratic party presidential candidates are, though, none can match the fervor of front runner Howard Dean's campaign. This is nowhere more visible than in the most intimate of New Hampshire traditions: the house party. This is when candidates hold court in a supporter's front room. Polly and Edward Schumaker live in the village of Bow, deep in the woods. It was lunchtime, with the smell of freshly cooked muffins wafting, and 150 people crammed inside the house. "Is this the first time you've heard him speak?" Nora Sanders, a medical student, asked a group of girls. They nodded. "He's amazing," Sanders assured them.
When Dean arrived, he inched his way through the crowd, taking five minutes to negotiate a 3m passageway. He stood on a box in the middle of the dining room and, diverting from his script, asked who had seen him speak before. Half put up their hands. Dean grinned: "It's like going to a Grateful Dead concert. Some new songs are OK, but if I don't do a few of the old favorites you people will be cross."
He segued effortlessly into his usual monologue. His voice rose in anger to make a point, triggering applause, before falling back again. The audience nodded and clapped, responding to questions and prompts like a congregation to their priest. Even some journalists, caught up in the atmosphere, found themselves clapping at the end.
Little of Dean's charisma comes across on television. He appears wooden and curt. But in the Schumakers' living room he is at the top of his game. He needs to be, too. Ed Schumaker is no ordinary voter. He is a former ambassador and an important local figure. He is also "undecided." Holding the party at his house was a calculated move.
Dean uses the same repetitions to great effect. "I am tired of being divided by race. I am tired of being divided by gender. I am tired of being divided by sexual preference. I am tired of being divided by income. I am tired of being divided by religion. I want a country where we are all in it together," he chanted.
He attacked Bush relentlessly but reserved his greatest anger for his rivals. He accused them of peddling "Bush lite," of trying to beat Republicans by trying to be like them. That is not his plan. Dean does not want the middle ground. He ended with a simple appeal. "At the end of the day the power is with you," he said, triggering cheers.
After he'd gone, the four girls filed past Nora Sanders, smiling and squeezing her arm. "That was good stuff," one said breathlessly.
Every serious candidate has a plan. Sharpton, Moseley Braun and Kucinich can be written off. They look for a higher profile, not victory. The others hope to exploit the fractures in the American political landscape. Edwards wants to carry the south. No Democrat can win without it, the southerner says. Lieberman wants to carry the centre. He hopes moderation will win swing voters. For Kerry the plan is to be a traditional liberal. For Gephardt, a union man from Missouri, it is to sweep the midwest. He aims to win Iowa and use that as a launchpad for the battleground states of Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. With all his time being spent in Iowa, Gephardt has sent his daughter, Chrissy, to fight for him in New Hampshire. "The Midwest is probably going to decide the elections. My dad is the only candidate from the Midwest," she said.
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