US politics fascinate me and I’m suitably excited about the overdue commencement of the race for the GOP presidential candidate. One wonderful thing about going to school at Dartmouth is that New Hampshire holds a special significance in US politics: it is a swing state and consistently home to the first primary. Read: presidential aspirants need to do well here. Dartmouth is (in my book, at least) the intellectual center of New Hampshire; so, candidates are eager to stop by. Barack Obama came to Hanover at least twice during his presidential campaign, and I’m looking forward to my front row seat for the 2012 contest.
Things kick off this week. Tim Pawlenty, former governor of Minnesota, is coming to Dartmouth on Friday to talk about health policy. Dartmouth is a great place for those interested in healthcare. It carries influence beyond its size in the healthcare debate, owing to DMS, TDI, and the new Center for Health Care Delivery Science. Having Jim Kim as College President doesn’t hurt. My wife, who is a pediatric resident at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth, won a scholarship to go to Washington, D.C. this weekend for the AAP’s legislative conference, where she’ll meet one-on-one with Senators Ayotte and Shaheen, and Congressman Bass. Great opportunities abound here for the healthcare-focused.
As for Governor Pawlenty, I’ll be very interested to hear what he has to say, and will relish the opportunity to see him in person (even if The Economist says he has “no charisma”) as I look forward to seeing many of the candidates; multiple elephants and at least one donkey. Mike Bloomberg came to campus a few months ago and watching him perform was a treat. (He ruled himself out of the Presidential running during his visit on account of the fact that he doesn’t believe he could win – he’s been too honest, apparently!)
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