I went to the Merrimack County Democrats Annual Barbecue and Potluck Picnic today, mainly to hear invited guest Bernie Sanders.

Besides the speech by Sanders, there were speeches by state Democratic chairman Ray Buckley and by former US House Rep and 2012 candidate Carole Shea-Porter.  There was also a speech by Sylvia Larson, former New Hampshire Senate President.   Annie Kuster – who is running to unseat Charlie Bass for the other House seat - couldn’t make it due to a competing family event.   (Bass narrowly defeated her in a close race in 2010, notable since Democrats were trounced in the other two big races.)   I believe there were a couple of other speakers, but I left a little bit early because a wave of thunderstorms was beginning to move through.   And I had really only come to hear Sanders.

There were about 75 people in attendance, by my count, mostly long-time party activists and officials.  I can’t say I came away with a very definite sense of what people were feeling.  I didn’t know many people there, and I only talked to a handful of the people in attendance.  Those few I talked to seemed to feel the same way I did, and some expressed a dispirited sense that no matter what we do, there is no way to break through the wall of concentrated wealth and lobbying that surrounds and guards Washington.

 Bernie Sanders was riveting, I thought, thundering against Wall Street recklessness and unpunished criminality, the declining condition of working class and middle class America, the ghastly real unemployment rate, the export of manufacturing jobs from the US, the cozy relationship of both parties with big business, the threatened future of America’s young people, and the outrageous inequality in the country.  His message was that Americans are very angry, and that it is necessary to listen to why there are angry and then put forward a clear progressive agenda that shows working people we are on their side.  He defended his vote against the deficit reduction package, and sounded a very loud warning alarm about the upcoming super-committee deliberations, where everything is on the table.   He expressed strong disapproval of the Obama administration’s positions and approach on several of the issues facing the country, and emphasized that for Democrats who disapprove of Obama’s direction it is very important that they communicate that disapproval to the White House in no uncertain terms.  There is no question that his message was very warmly and enthusiastically received by the crowd, despite the fact that these were all partisan Democrats and party people.

The content and tone of his speech were no different than the speeches I’m sure many of you have seen him give on the Senate floor.   However, he used a few non-collegial “damns”, which got a rise out of the crowd.  His message built up to a concluding patriotic appeal for progressive activism, which gave me a lump in my throat.

Here are just a few random observations about the event:

New Hampshire Democrats have adopted the term, “Tea Stater” to refer to the combination of the Tea Party and the Free Staters, the two overlapping components of the radical anti-government right in New Hampshire.  For those of you who don’t know anything about the Free State movement, I’ll leave it to you to look them up on the web.  But they have targeted and invaded my state on behalf of their radical libertarian agenda, and I don’t mind telling you I wish they would all pick up go back where they came from.

The speakers made several mentions of FDR, and used quotes from FDR.   Democrats seem to be turning increasingly to FDR as their source of political inspiration, and their model of activist government.

There is a very strong fear of the radical right among Democrats, and a unifying desire to defeat them in 2012.  Nevertheless, none of the speakers I listened to made any mention whatsoever of the presidential race or the presidential primary.  The official symbols of the Obama campaign were all around, with the new light blue 2012 Obama signs posted up all over.   But other than the critical points Sanders made about Obama in his speech, I do not recall any of the speakers mentioning Obama’s name even once.   I got the impression that since the speakers were trying to fire people up for the 2012 campaigns, nobody wanted to mention Obama, since reference to him is now a buzz kill.  Democrats still seem happy to be Democrats, and are eager to get to work on Congressional  and local races, but the sense that there is a vacuum at the top of the party was palpable.

When he was talking about the need for infrastructure spending, and promoting it as the best way to get Americans back to work, Sanders recalled his time as mayor of Burlington. Vermont.  He said one thing you learn in that job is that if you don’t fix crumbling roads, or sewer systems or bridges, they don’t get better all by themselves.

Sanders is really angry about the major effort underway to dismantle Head Start, the EPA, Social Security and Medicare, and other key progressive programs.  He is clearly gearing up to tear into those who make moves to cut those programs during the super-committee negotiations.

As critical as he was of Obama, Sanders reserved his choicest fury for Republicans.  He railed against Republican hypocrisy on the deficit, given their eager support for spending fortunes on wars, and for the dramatic increase in military spending over the past decade.

The atmosphere was, I thought, more subdued that you would expect at an event like this.   There were very few young people in attendance.   The crowd was about 90% boomer-aged I would say – 55 to 65.  I don’t think the latter is very surprising, since this was a party and fund-raising event, mainly for veteran activists.   The big issue now for boomers, I think, is protecting Social Security and Medicare.

Yes, Sanders does smile.  He has a strong handshake and a large hand.  He’s a bit taller than I realized, and conveys a very powerful impression at the podium, despite his 69 years.

At the state level in New Hampshire, there is well-warranted optimism about turning back the right wing tide.  The radical Tea Party candidates who won in 2010 have dramatically overplayed their hand in New Hampshire and scared the bejeezus out of people, and it is widely believed many of the wingers who were elected in 2010 will be defeated next year.

The emphasis at the event seemed to be on grass roots activism and revival, not supporting the White House’s agenda.  Nobody said anything like, “We must help President Obama get four more years and finish the job.”  Of course, these were almost all party loyalists – so I’m sure they are all going to vote for Obama next year.  But right now it feels like that will be out of duty, not enthusiasm.