Well the trip is over, but the excitement has just begun! Everyone seems to be shocked at the results of the New Hampshire primary, myself included, but I have to admit I was happy. It wasn't the results, necessarily, but rather the fact that the voters made their choice: not the media, not the polls or the expert, but the people, as pointed out by the most recent issue of Time which did a whole special on the New Hampshire primary. I see the media as a double-edged sword: it certainly helps to inform people, but at the same time, I feel it has a significant role in shaping the election that it shouldn't necessarily have. My views towards the media's impact on the election certainly has solidified as a result of our trip up to New Hampshire.
This trip was the trip of a lifetime. I learned so much and had a blast doing it. It challenged me so much as well. Despite my conservative views, I made it a personal goal to go with an open mind and really hear what the candidates had to say, because, personally, I feel that when you close your mind you become part of the problem, not the solution. And, I have to say, I was certainly surprised by the outcome, particularly when it came to Hillary Clinton. I have to come clean and admit I was 100% anti-Hillary before this trip. I bought into the whole "wicked witch of the east" persona and thought that she would have nothing persuasive to say. Yet, at the end of her speech, I was pleasantly surprised. She was smiling and laughing (something I previously thought she was incapable of doing) and made some strong points about her experience and her willingness to go through any test to lead this country. Other candidates, like Obama, and McCain were like that as well.
I want to go into more detail about each candidate and my experiences with them on the trip at a later date. I just wanted to use this first post, after the New Hampshire primary, to consider the fact that maybe we put too much trust in the media and the experts and not ourselves. All the polls said that Obama had a solid lead, and the experts were predicting a significant win for him. Apparently the voters didn't agree. I think the unpredictability of the primaries is what makes it so much fun (and so nail-biting)! I look forward to continuing watching the primary/voting process happen!