First in the Nation Primary

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Back to Manchester here, where we've been on the ground for several days. It's actually time to vote. What a great feeling after talking about polling for weeks and months, all the speculation and the prognosticating will not matter by the end of this day. The polls close beginning at seven. They do it a little bit differently in New Hampshire. The final polls will close at eight, and we expect a pretty early call from everyone we're talking to. Here.

That's a really good question. I think when we talk about New England conservative voters, we often think of the flinty Republican from New Hampshire. Sure, And you know it's really I think what it comes to to tonight is a gauge of is this still the party of Donald Trump? He won New Hampshire in twenty sixteen, in twenty twenty, is he going to do it again tonight? And I think if you look at Charlie Baker, the nation's most popular governor at the time, who was a Republican. Despite that,

How they share a lot of folks, right conservatives who work in Boston who've moved to New Hampshire for the more favorable taxes or whatever policy it is that turned the Manoa off in one state or the other. There are a lot of folks who are considered Massachusetts natives or I guess former residents, who are going to be making these decisions here in New Hampshire. So how do you put that all together? Is this the same New Hampshire that elected Donald Trump in twenty sixteen.

I mean, I think if anything, this is even more so the New Hampshire that elected Donald Trump in twenty.

Okay, it's trumpier, is what you mean?

Yeah?

And I think it's also it lends itself to the Trump campaign. The Trump campaign is better organized and better run than it was in twenty sixteen. Even in Iowa, you know, you had the Trump Caucus captain hats that were gold and white, that were an absolute asset that wasn't happening in twenty sixteen. And the same thing is

We'll starts making a wonder if the New Hampshire primary is still the New Hampshire primary.

Yeah, I mean, I think the sentiment here having been on the ground in twenty sixteen, it's a different vibe. Also, that has to do with the Democrats not you know, Joe Biden is not on the ballot this time around, and so there's the whole writing campaign or whatever. Also, many Massachusetts electeds will have a hand in trying to have Joe Biden not suffer an embarrassing defeat.

Yes, right, we'll see how that goes. Yeah, Phillips thinks he can embarrass Joe Biden. That's a whole other storyline here. Yes, sorry, I not at all. While you're with us and you're going to be running headlines on the terminal tonight, right, you need to know this is like, this is the person behind the curtain when you hear the news break later on. Are we going to get an early call?

Listen, I'm no betting woman, However, I think it's very likely that if we see Trump perform the way that we have seen the polls show, I think we're going to get a pretty early call for Trump.

Polls close at eight close, some say eight oh one, you're going to know who won, But we'll find out.

I mean, listen, I'm you know we're going to be liveing p line crosses the terminal.

Absolutely, thanks for joining. Come talk to me sometime in Washington. You're always welcome here. Lauren Tsinski with us here on Balance of Power. I'm Joe Matthew in Manchester and we're going to get an update now on things in the field from Bloomberg's Tyler Kendall, who's been watching the polls since things opened fairly early this morning. Tyler, what are the stakes in this election today?

Hey, Joe, Well, as you've mentioned, voting is well underway. I'm trying to see people walk around downtown Manchester with the eye voted stickers. That's how you know we're in the thick of it. Like you mentioned, polls are going to start closing at seven pm. The last poll's ROLLI remain open until eight pm. Now, to put this into context for you, there are twenty two delegates at stake in New Hampshire tonight, but that's less than one percent

Oh.

Now, I know that both you and I are also going to be watching for the independent vote. This is an open primary and independent voters make up the largest share of New Hampshire voters at thirty nine percent.

Now, the polling and the strategists are.

Telling us that this is the needle that Nikki Hailey is trying to thread with these more moderate independent voters. But we have to remember in twenty sixteen, former President Trump handedly won independence in the twenty sixteen New Hampshire primary. It ultimately helped him win the state by twenty percentage points. Of the New Hampton Republican Party says that that is the narrative. He's going to be watching that these independent voters are former President Trump's to lose.

He's also going to be watching for turnout.

And I can tell you from the voters I've spoken to here on the ground, there's a lot of enthusiasm for getting out tonight, for both for and against the former president.

Tyler Kendall, we thank you and we'll meet you a little bit later on on Balance of Power. Tyler will be with us for the duration and that's our plan.

That's right, and right now forty percent of the electorate is unenrolled and they all have the ability to go pull a ballot today. These are good conditions for Nikki Haley to not only pull Republicans and independents that are looking for an alternative to Trump, but there also could be some independents that are looking to an alternative to President Biden, who has snubbed the Grant State for the primary.

So talk to me more about this elusive independent vote. People not from here are hearing about it, these undeclared Who are these people, where are they from? What are the demographics like? Is it what Donald Trump said as that they're kind of Democrats in disguise who want to go in and infiltrate this process with a protest vote. Are these Republicans who are looking for an alternative or is it somewhere in between.

I think they're a little bit of everything. And I think in the age of you know, Biden and Trump, you're seeing more unenrolled voters because people are sick of the extremes on both sides. Most people are in the middle, and it's the extremism that's a big turn off to this political process. So I think that you're seeing people from the left, from the right, and frankly, people that

So talk to me about the narrative here, because I've been here for a few days and I'm hearing that there's disappointment debates were canceled. Not all the network showed up this time. I wonder if you think that feeds into a potentially lower turnout, but also the sense of inevitability. I thought New Hampshire was supposed to be the place that brought surprises.

Well it is, but this is also a state where there's a lot of value in retail politics. Residents expect to see the candidates to be able to shake their hand, ask some questions.

The front runner never even came here, did a couple of rallies right.

And is not doing the type of retail politicking that granted staters expect not to mention even President Biden. I mean, he hasn't step foot in the state since twenty two how about that? So I think that there's but you know, politics is also different now. I think it's not everybody's expecting to meet a candidate and spend time with them, but they're looking for someone that is going to talk to New Hampshire voters, that's going to show that, you know,

So you don't think this is done right. No one's counted a vote yet, and you've got people writing about the inevitable nomination of Donald Trump. Sure.

I mean, not only do Trump Republicans want to see a Trump nomination, but I think Democrats all want to see Trump nomination because I don't think President Biden wants to go up against a more moderate Republican like Nikki Haley.

Yeah. So you do think that that is right that the Biden camp thinks it can beat Donald Trump and would be at risk facing in Nicki Haley, because we've got swing state polling at Bloomberg and we're not the only ones showing that Joe Biden might have a hard time beating Donald Trump too.

Yeah, and it's you know, an unknown Trump is a known quantity for Biden and for Democrats, and Nicki Haley is is different, right, She's an alternative to what we've seen for the past eight years.

How important is this Christian New New endorsement. We talked to the governor over the weekend, the most coveted endorsement in New Hampshire. Has it been a difference maker for her? This was supposed to be Nicki Haley country.

I think it's a good endorsement to have. Chris Nunho is a really popular governor, and again he's appealing to not just Republicans, but he's been supported by voters on all sides, and I think that there's a trust in him in the Granite State that they do take what he says to heart. But you know, it's really interesting, like how much cloud does an endorsement hold these days is an interesting question, and I think part of it is really just that New Hampshire voters like to think for themselves.

Yeah right. We're spending time with Republican strategist Lizzie Geiton here on Bloomberg's balance of power. As I mentioned, you were a spokesperson for Governor Charlie Baker at the time, the most popular governor in the United States of America. Many folks thought he might be the future of the party. How do we get this guy to run for president? But if you had done that, he wouldn't have been able to clear a primary. He may well have won

I think it's hard for any moderate in a primary setting, and I think that goes for both Republicans and Democrats.

I had a problem for democracy.

I think it's a challenge, and I think you know, even for a candidate like Nikki Haley, who you know is certainly looking to get some momentum here in New Hampshire to carry on her margins should always expected to be tight in primaries because she is more of a moderate candidate than you know, some would say Trump is. And then a conservative choice.

Where are you going to be looking tonight? You've helped to run a Senate campaign here in New Hampshire, and you have a sense of geography and demographics. Where should we have our eyes when the polls close?

I think the counties where Governor Kasik did well are wants to watch for Nicki Haley. And you know, I know everyone's saying eight oh one, but yeah, some of the bigger voting precincts will take a little bit more time to come in and I think those will be especially if there's good turnout and there's a lot of independence that go out and vote today, those are going to be where you're going to want to watch for Haley to have some good numbers.

Are you pushing us back on an early call? You think this might take a minute.

It might take a minute. I don't think we're going to be you.

Know, maybe that's the surprise if she's doing better than expected.

Yeah, just we got to wait for some of those bigger returns to come in.

I'm sure would say you saw the Suffolk numbers I started with here, Trump's at sixty percent. Now do you believe it?

I think we got to give it the day. I think it's too early to make anything.

I keep here in New Hampshire people like messing with Polsters. That's why I asked you.

They love We also put a lot of stock and poles these days. And I also would say we have to keep in mind in the past seven days, the landscape of this primary has changed dramatically, with Christi dropping out Vvek and then DeSantis. So even if we are leaning heavily on the polls, there hasn't been that much polling that's just a Haley Trump matchup.

Yeah, that's true enough. And you wonder where those those final DeSantis votes go. I think we know where the Christie votes went based on her trajectory recently. What a great pleasure to see Lizzie Guidon. Thank you so much for coming to talk to us at South End Hill Strategies affirm that you co founded, and I hope everything is well for you, Stanta for this year at Bloomberg. Absolutely.

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We're here to cover the Republican primary of course in New Hampshire, but there is a Democrat traveling the state knocking on doors and trying to make some noise here. That would be Congressman Dean Phillips. He's running against Joe Biden in a primary that doesn't actually matter. Things get a bit complicated here, But after they changed the schedule the objection of by New Hampshire, it led the DNC

Here he is.

I'm simply calling attention to the very danger he's presenting to both his legacy, our party, and the country. To anybody who wishes to prevent another Donald Trump White House administration. We've got to wake up from this delusion that Joe Biden is an electable candidate. All the data show that he's not weakest approval numbers in I think American presidential history, three points below where Donald Trump was at the same point in his presidency, nine points below Barack Obama as

Way above that.

But it's the battleground numbers that I encourage people to take a look at. Eight points down in Georgia. I think it's the same in Michigan. This is a tragedy just waiting to happen. I did not weaken the in fact, to the contrary, I spent the last few years trying to help him, voting for his policies, being a member of House Democratic leadership to promote them. We all know what's going on in Washington. I think I'm just saying

They seem to upset a number of people in your party. I spoke good trouble your colleague Annie Custer at this table over the weekend She called your campaign ill advised and unimpressive, and went on to say that she doesn't know what you're up to here in New Hampshire. So let's get to this because it appears like this would be very difficult for you to win. What are you up to.

I'm up to practicing democracy, and I think elected officials like my colleague Miscuster should be doing the same thing. And this notion to condemn those who would have the audacity to actually do what we are supposed to do in this country I think as appalling. It's one thing that President Biden was looking strong where the country valued his re election, where his numbers were rising, or at least in the forties or fifties, if his battleground numbers

So you're saying, the data is suggesting to you that he's not going to win again.

Well the is anybody who reads it would I can't imagine seeing it and saying that he has a good chance of winning, not to mention, of course, the element of his stage in life. It's real. It's going to be eighty two years old at the next election. I think he'd be eighty six by the end of his next term. There was a Time magazine cover when Bob Dole ran that question whether he was too old at

Sure, they're not actually that far apart in age. Have you seen data though, that suggest you would win? If this is all about data At the end of the day, what do you see?

My point?

Not at this stage because nobody knows me yet, maybe the nice blessing of not being well known as two thirds of the country doesn't hate me yet. And I mean this sincerely. I mean it very sincerely. For my job, that's American politics right now, I will introduce myself to the country.

They will see how hard I work.

Where I show up, I run to the fire, I listen, I do what we do in America. I actually am campaigning, and I think in a matter of months we will have data that does show that I will be able to defeat Donald Trump and Joe Biden won't. If that is different, If somehow Biden miraculously recovers and suddenly is ahead and I'm behind, I will absolutely end this and get behind him. But not until we have data that suggests one or the other. And right now, all I

Let's talk about this contest in New Hampshire. What kind of a margin do you need to pull here to be taken seriously?

I think after ten weeks zero name recognition and starting at zero in the polls four in the twenties tomorrow, that would be extraordinary. But I think what people should really be paying attention to is where does Joe Biden end up tomorrow? Bill Clinton achieved eighty four percent, Barack Obama eighty one percent.

In a writing campaign.

It's a writing campaign with the incumbent president who should be on the ballot. By the way, the unreported story of this whole primary is his rationale for not even appearing on the ballot, his own choice. But we all know there's a writing campaign here. Every member of the cabinet I think, has been up the mayor of Boston, the governor of Massachusetts, A number of my own colleagues have been up here doing the same thing, telling people who write in Biden there's a super pac set up.

There's been reporting on the eve of this primary about a robocall that has been going out to voters an AI generated voice of the president telling them to hold their vote until November. Do you know anything about that? What is your reaction to.

Other than when I just read and I just did read that, which, by the way, I hope you all know the state of New Hampshire. The Attorney General here just sent a letter to the Democratic National Committee a cease and assist for the unlawful suppression of voters. So I don't know who's behind that. I think it's appalling, and I think here's the bigger issue. There was an outside group that also did a bot for Deanis. I think it was called deanbot, which is now taken down.

There was an AI executive order, but it has pretty comprehensive.

It has not done anything to prevent the same thing. Right now, what you just refer to who did it. There's no way to identify right now. There might be an investigation. I'd sure love to know who did it. The notion of suppressing voters, by the way, I want voters to come out and vote. The Democratic National Committee is the only entity of which I'm aware who has been reprimanded for the suppression of voters in this election. And I would ask you to take a look at that letter.

Congressman Dean Philip speaking with us here in Manchester, speaking to the hypocrisy of democracy as he put it in now with White House correspondent Jordan Fabian, who's also with us here in New Hampshire. When you see the final analysis piece drop after this race is called at some point tonight, it'll be Jordan writing it. And it's great to see, sir. Thanks for coming back on Balance of Power. You cover the White House? Did Joe Biden ever call Dean Phillips have forgotten the.

Race, not to our knowledge, and the Biden campaign and the White House have not really even acknowledged this campaign is happening.

Yeah, it seems like it.

Yeah, I mean, look, they want to project this sense of inevitability around Biden's race, that he will be the nominee and that they want to focus all of their attention on their likely opponent, Donald Trump, so they don't want to give Dean Phillips any oxygen here in New Hampshire.

We talked to Congresswoman Any Custer here the other day. She's helping to drive this write in campaign. Can you imagine what it's a writing campaign for a president of the United States. It's been a good generation since that has had to happen here. But could this be an embarrassment for Joe Biden? What if Dean Phillips pulls fifty percent or something.

It won't stop Biden's march to the nomination. As you mentioned earlier, the delegates here aren't going to count in the nominating psychological right, but symbolically it could. If Dean Phillips finishes within five to ten percent, say of Joe Biden, it's not going to look good for Joe Biden, and it could make Joe Biden look weak among the Democratic electorate here and raise questions about his strength among his own party, let alone the general electorate.

So somebody is going to do a victory speech to iother Donald Trump or Nikki Haley, will we hear from the president after that. I support the campaign, I suppose I should.

Say, there are no plans to as part of this arrangement where the Democratic National Committee has picked South Carolina as the first nominating state, they cannot engage in this primary at all. In fact that if they do, I think there's some penalty where they would lose delegates. So they're not going to talk about this at all. This writing campaign that you mentioned, it's being done by unofficially by Biden supporters as a super pac that's behind the effort.

But he can't have his fingerprints on it at the point. That's why we won't get a speech tonight. Exactly. This is remarkable. Here we are in New Hampshire for the first of the nation primary, even though it's not for Democrats, and the White House can't even act like it exists.

Yeah, you know this this race has had just an odd feeling. Joe, isn't that someone who's covered it before? Yeah, you know, both of us. This used to be a hub of activity. Where's the circus? Yes, you look out in the in the lobby here at the Double Tree, and it's a little sleepy.

So Jordan Fabian. This is Bloomberg.

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Welcome to Bloomberg Balance of Power on Bloomberg TV and Radio and on YouTube. Kaylee, great to see you here in Manchester with hours left to actual holes closing here, it's a staggered pole. Is that like a laddered poll as we would call it in Washington? Most close at seven, the rest close at eight. Yeah, we'll see if we get an early call.

Well, yeah, how close to eight pm could we get that call? Keeping in mind that in Iowa took about half an hour, the caucuses weren't even actually over, and it was called for Trump. He had a very commanding lead in Iowa. Essentially, the Associated Press and other networks made the estimation that there was no way any other

Week, especially with people still in line. Potentially it's a different animal, to your point than caucusing. But we're really kind of obsessing over this new Suffolk number here and deeply curious to hear what Frank Luntz has to say about it. I've been looking forward to this conversation. We last spoke with Frank. Of course, famed Polster now at fil the firm that he runs here as a consultant. It's great to see you, and glad we got through both of these cold states together. It's almost over.

Well, you can hear from my voice unfortunately, and I apologize for those listening to me, but it's still better than watching me. In Iowa, we knew that Trump was right at the majority, and that was key, and we could not call whether or not Haley was going to come in second or third. Now with a two person race, we know that Trump has I know that Trump has a majority. I have no doubt about that. The question is is the gap ten percent or more?

And by majority you mean he'll secure at least fifty percent.

That's correct, and it's a ratio that I'm looking for if it's less than ten percent, she can make the case that she should stay in if it's more than ten percent. When she put a lot of time into here, she put a lot of effort, a lot of money into it. She had the governor following with her in every stop that they went, and he was very powerful. I don't know how you continue a campaign when the next state is South Carolina, her state, and she's losing it by big numbers.

Her campaign sent out a memo today and I'm not sure sure if you've seen it, but essentially saying, everybody stay calm, We're staying in this race. They signed off on the letter with see y'all in South Carolina. Seems to be an indication we're going there regardless on February twenty fourth. But our campaign manager pointed out in that memo on Super Tuesday, eleven of the sixteen states are

Yes, there is, But here's the problem. That world exists here in New Hampshire. And if you can pull it off here in New Hampshire, why should you be able to pull it off in Super Tuesday. That's why the margin is so important. I'm not looking at winners or losers tonight. I believe I know what's going to happen, But the margin is everything.

This sixty percent number in the Suffolk poll is getting a lot of attention. It's the first time that Donald Trump has hit that level. Are those Ron de Santis voters who are being added to the pile. How does he continue to gain It's not like he's not going doors, are doing anything different.

Well, he's not knocking on doors, He's simply running these rallies. They get a lot of attention. First you lose the veik and all of his votes go to Trump. Actually, even before that, you lose Chris Christi. The expectation was that two thirds of his vote, maybe three quarters, would end up with Nikki Haley. That does not seem to

Well.

One of those for candidates who backed Trump was South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, who was appointed to the Senate by Nikki Haley more than a decade ago. Christ and you knew the governor, and of course a Hailey surrogate told us that it was just disrespectful, but ultimately he thought it didn't matter. So that is it that endorsements matter if you don't get them, not if you do. Is that essentially what you're saying.

That's a great question. They matter when there's so many of them. There are so many Congressmen, so many senators that have endorsed Trump in the last ten days, so many people from South Carolina even came up here. The current governor of South Carolina did a speech at the rally that I think we all attended a few days ago. That's significant because it sends a sign and those undecided

Spending time with Frank Lunza on Bloomberg TV and talk to us about the New Hampshire primary. What was such an important part of the process for so many years seems to have been downgraded into I don't even know what we're calling this now. The lack of attendance that we're seeing, the lack of excitement, the lack of carnival atmosphere, and what appears to be a sense of inevitability in the state that's supposed to bring surprises.

So I remember this set, I remember other sets back four years ago. You couldn't get into the hotel right you're you're fifty feet away from the lobby. Here, it's empty, there's no way to get a table. It's going on, there's no one standing up. There's still candidates walking through, there's still governors, senators, but the intensity isn't there. First because the Democrats don't really have a primary. I bought a hat that says right in Joe Biden. Nobody wanted

Were trying to arbitrage saying how much do you buy the hat for? What are you trying to sell it for?

I bought it for nine bucks, tried to sell it for nineteen bucks, and I go And by the way, then I don't think Bloomberg's ever gonna vite me on because you want people who make money, not people.

Who lose money. And so there's.

Nothing on the Democratic side and on the Republican side. The feeling is that the decision has been made. And I will tell you this, I've never been to a rally like Donald Trump's. Here I had to stand out line for forty five minutes. It was snowing, it was cold as heack, and nobody left that line. They were willing to wait until the end. There were people still wind up that couldn't get into the big that's significant. Now Nikki Haley has big rallies, but nothing like that, and the intensity.

Donald Trump spoke for over an hour and a half.

Nobody left everybody laughed at jokes, everybody participated.

There is a passion to his supporters.

Yeah, and we've seen that in poling. They are far more enthusiastic to show up for him. More of their votes are for him rather than against Nikki Haley. That's not necessarily the case for Haley. A lot of those votes are cast for her because they're against Trump more than they are for her. So it gets to the turnout question on the point of how much enthusiasm Trump

Absolutely, I'm not convinced that this is going to be a record turnout.

In fact, I actually believe that it will not.

Does not sound unlikely based on what you.

Just said, because those who've decided are participating in those who don't have a candidate in this race, because normally there's four or five six candidates right now, now there are only two. So I think that depresses turnout. But the thing I want to raise with you, because viewers are always trying to look into the future, is that there are a lot of people who do not like Joe Biden, do not like Donald Trump. And if Trump wins by ten points tomorrow, the conversation's going to be

Boy, we're gonna get into the No Labels conversation.

Well, we had that conversation with Dean Phillips yesterday and.

He says he's not running, but we've heard a lot of interesting names who have gotten phone calls. There was even reporting that Nikki Haley is on their radar. If she doesn't put this together in New Hampshire, does she get a call from No Labels?

She'll probably get a call because she's been willing to run against the establishment. The game for No Labels is that they're even less establishment than Donald Trump. And it's not just about ideology. It's not just about being in the center. It's also how you carry yourself. The three attributes the American people looking for right now. Number one is results, Number two is accountability, and number three a detailed plan of action. I'm not sure that describes either

I wonder how you look at the data we've seen on third parties or just on the idea that people would like an alternative to Trump and Biden. It's more than two thirds say they don't want either of these men to be president of the United States. Again, the number is significantly lower though, when people are asked if they would support a third party candidate. So just dissatisfaction with these two candidates doesn't necessarily mean that they would

So we know that that number seventy percent that does not like either candidate, we know that two thirds want to vote will at least seriously consider another candidate. And we know that forty six percent now actually want to vote against Trump and Biden. That's a really large voter pool. Ross Proka nineteen percent in nineteen ninety two. I believe a third party candidate, a genuine third party candidate, starts with twenty percent of the vote. All they need to

More or more. They become real players.

And to get into the debates, you need fifteen percent of the vote. And I have no doubt that a true independent candidacy candidate that has those attributes will garner fifteen percent of the vote.

And you wonder if Donald Trump shows up for a three way debate, that'll be an interesting one.

Assuming he's cycle.

Yeah, he is the nominee. We were fascinated to learn Frank Lunson in Iowa that immigration was the top issue for Republican voters above the economy.

What is it here? Same thing here.

We are up closer to the Canadian border again, and immigration is the number one.

Rations and national issue.

And with immigration, it's a fear of crime, it's a fear of violence, it's a fear of drugs, ventanyl. Immigration is a sign that we've lost control. So don't look at it as immigration.

They're from.

Look at what America is losing in the process. And that's the genesism, immigration, Do we have control of our borders? Do we have control of our citizenry? And where's what does his indicate for America going forward?

Well, we know that the immigration issue is one that a lot of voters aren't satisfied with the performance of President Biden or even Congress for that matter, on the issue of the border. Just on the subject of the incumbent president, though obviously we mentioned Dean Phillips, who is on the ballot here in New Hampshire, the incumbent president is not and there is a writing campaign for him.

And I apologize for coughing, but you just upset me and so now you're getting the physical reaction.

We've waited too long. Yes, this is a problem.

It's going to become a crisis, and I'm going to get this out if it kills me. We have to study this, We have to figure this out because people are going to start to change their votes and change their behavior if they can't even trust what they're being told. And that's what's happening right now. We already have given up on politics. We've given up on so much in the news medium, and now that we have AI that's having a negative impact. This should scare every viewer, every listener,

Thanks for being with us again. We want to hear from you as we move on to South Carolina, but we appreciate your view. Frank, Let's always here on Bloomberg. It's good to see you in New Hamplet.

It's an honor to be on this show.

Thank you, sir. I'm Joe Matthew alongside Kaylee Lions as we drive forward with more voices from New Hampshire.

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I'm Joe Matthew alongside Kaylee Lions as we bring you special coverage from New Hampshire. It's Primary day. Voting is underway and there's been a lot of door knocking over the past couple of days, certainly for Nicky Haley on Behalf of the Americans for Prosperity. This group AFP has been knocking on tens of thousands of doors to try to make a difference in a race that appears to be leaning towards Donald Trump. And we're going to speak now with someone who's been right in the middle of it,

Well, it's and county.

We're still knocking on doors because we understand New Hampshire is an unusually engaged electorate who really is going to continue to listen and open to change their mind right until they walk in and place that ballad.

So I think we're up over one hundred thousand.

I know we've made like almost six hundred and fifty thousand contacts in New Hampshire to talk to folks about Nicki Haley and why she's the only candidate that can beat Joe Biden. So we've certainly been out there. We've got almost I think two hundred people canvassing the state and really making that case to voters.

Well, how many of those door knocks than Tracy do you think are actually going to turn into votes in a polling booth? I know Americans for Prosperity has had suggested that there would be a higher turnout than we heard, even from New Hampshire. Secretary of State David Scanlon told Joe yesterday three hundred and twenty two thousand is what he expects. Do you expect still that it will be higher based on what you're seeing early on, Well.

We're expecting in the Secretary of State then clear they're expecting a record turnout. So I don't know how much higher you can get than a record turnout. But look, we got involved and we decided to endorse the Kye Haley and really engage in a presidential primary for the first time ever because.

We knew we could make a difference.

We've seen from the data that we've collected I think six million voters we've collected critical data about and these are voters that we know are maybe have voted in a general but maybe not a primary. We have several different strategies, but we understood that this is somewhere we can make it differs.

And we've heard from voters loud and clear they weren't happy with the choice between Biden and Trump.

So we've had we go and have those conversations, hear from them, and.

I mean, we're seeing momentum.

And what was interesting in terms of a lot of the folks we've talked to is they were responsive SNICKI Haley. They wanted to learn more about her policy and two thirds of even Trump voters and this is kind of nationally. We found understood he had electability and baggage issues, so we saw a real opportunity there to make a difference and really change the trajectory in our country.

I want to know what happens when you knock on doors in an environment like this in a twenty twenty four campaign, when there's such a lack of trust and institutions, there's so much division vitriol when it comes to people's views on politics, and you're knocking on someone's door to give them the pitch on a candidate, what do you tend to receive when the door opens.

Well, look, obviously different people are more kind of open to this communication. But what's interesting about AFP is because we have a permanent grassroots organization, a lot of these folks in New Hampshire, they understand we've been on the ground, we've been fighting for policies, we've been engaged on the issues, so that I think also gives us a leg up.

Do you fully expect we only have about a minute left, but to take this effort to South Carolina, Tracy, We're already.

In South Carolina. We've been in South Carolina in some of these other early states for money.

You'll stay there no matter the result.

Today, we're as long as there's a path, a clear path, or a path for her nomination, we're absolutely going to be engaged.

Nikka Haley has.

Been clear she's got an ad by launching in South Carolina tomorrow, So New Hampshire is important. But what again, what makes our organization unique is we have the ability to play the long game and the resources to say in this thing.

And we didn't expect this to end in January.

That's been obviously something that national medias like to talk up.

I feel like there's this there's this eagerness to put a bow on this thing right out of Iowa. But that was never our expectation.

All right, Tracy, thank you so much for joining us today. We appreciated Tracy Schmidt joining us as a spokesperson for AFP Action