Cameron Ford runs fried up bacon and hash browns at the Country Fare diner in Hopkinton on Wednesday. He said politics has been a hot topic among the regulars sitting at the counter.
“It’s constant,” he said. “We got the TV on. So it’s a constant barrage of political messages that are all over the place.”
Ford said it’s been hard to make up his mind about who to vote for, and he doesn’t expect to decide until Tuesday.
“New Hampshire’s famous for it. Waiting to get to the voting booth,” Ford said. “You step in that booth and say ‘now, what am I going to do?’ And I’m that way.”
Ford served in the Army in the 1970s, and he said the most important issue for him is helping veterans. But he said none of the candidates are really saying what they’ll do to help vets.
“They all say they’re going to fix things. They don’t say how they’re going to do it, and how they’re going to pay for it.”
Every commercial break coming from the TV at the end of the lunch counter sounds the same.
“It’s time to take our country back,” Carly Fiorina proclaims in one ad. The next one says Ted Cruz “calculates his positions for political gain.”
“It’s horrible every year about this time,” said Sam Presutti. “You don’t know who to believe. They’re all lying.”
The one thing Presutti is sure of is he doesn’t want Clinton or Trump in office. But he likes the issues like illegal immigration that Trump’s brought into the campaign discussion. He’s another one who will decide in the voting booth.
“You know, whatever my gut tells me,” he said. “And right now my gut doesn’t tell me any of these guys are worth my vote.”
There are more independent voters in New Hampshire than there are Republicans or Democrats. And some of them, like Scott Parker are struggling with which party to support.
“I’m really, really, really torn,” Parker said. “There’s some things I love about Bernie Sanders. There’s some things I love about Cruz.”
When asked when he’ll decide, Parker laughed.
“I’ve got a week,” he said. “I’ve got a week to choose.”
Two miles away, Heather Robertson, the owner of Bohanan Farms, stood in the rain surrounded by muddy cows and held out bottles that two calves eagerly drank from. She says she’s definitely voting on Tuesday.
“As far as who I’m voting for, I really have no idea yet,” Robertson said.
That’s an almost reflexive response for a lot of people in this town. It’s like they don’t want to commit to a candidate out loud. But if you push a little more, there’s usually someone they’re at least focusing in on. Robertson was impressed by Ted Cruz’s showing in the Iowa caucus.
“I hadn’t considered him, and since Monday I’ve been doing a little more research,” she said. “So I think, maybe he sounds like the stronger candidate.”
Her 21 year old son, Nathan, who also works on the farm, said on the Republican side, he really likes what he calls the “governor’s race” between Christie and Kasich.
“I really like how the two of them improved Obamacare in their states,” he said. “Because that’s important to me, it’s really scary to see people saying they’re going to tear Obacamare up, because you need to start somewhere.”
But he also likes what he hears from Sanders.
“I think those are the three that I’m really considering.
So when will he make up his mind?
”Probably in the ballot box.”
The Town Administrator of Hopkinton, Neal Cass, said it’s not unusual for New Hampshire voters to be undecided.
“But I would say this election cycle, that’s been much more the case,” Cass said. “Maybe because there’s been so many candidates. Maybe because they’re such diverse candidates.”
Also, he said, so many New Hampshire voters aren’t committed to just one party.
“And I think people really take that seriously and look at all sides and tend to vote for the person.”
For his own part, Cass is a registered Democrat. And he said he’s still trying to decide between Sanders and Clinton.
“I have never been undecided this late.”
But he’s still ahead of the game. Unlike many of this town, he said he’ll make up his mind before he walks into the voting booth.
