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0000017a-15d9-d736-a57f-17ff8d8c0001Click on a photo to find stories by candidate:0000017a-15d9-d736-a57f-17ff8d8c0002More Content:Our Voters Guide provides an overview of all you need to know about the 2016 N.H. Presidential Primary.Click here to explore a calendar of candidate visits and other Primary campaign events.Click here for our Money in Politics stories and data interactives.Visit our Where They Stand series for an overview of the candidates' positions on key policy questions.Visit our series Primary Backstage to learn about the people and places that make the N.H. Primary tick.To see NHPR photos from the campaign trail, visit our Primary 2016 album on Flickr.

Far From the Spotlight, Fiorina and Gilmore Say They're Not Giving Up

Sean Hurley
Rod Webber has been visiting candidates and asking them to pray for peace with him.

There were two big winners last night in the New Hampshire primary- and a handful of  losers.  NPHR's Sean Hurley spent some time at the Primary parties of two of the latter, Carly Fiorina and former Virginia Governor, Jim Gilmore.

As the musical act at Fratello's Italian Grill in Manchester, Amanda McCarthy has been strumming her guitar and singing all evening - with no idea that she's been playing for Republican Presidential candidate Jim Gilmore and 15 or so of his supporters. "I went back up after break and I looked over and I was like I don't know if I should be playing?" McCarthy says, "I knew someone important was over there but I didn't know who it was. But the owner didn't say anything so I just kind of kept playing!"

Credit Sean Hurley
Musician Amanda McCarthy from Londonderry.

It's this same lack of recognition, Jim Gilmore says, that's dogged him throughout his presidential bid.  "You really need to find a way to get the message out or people aren't aware of you," he says, acknowledging he hasn't managed to do that.  "Well," he continues, "we had hoped that we would be able to catch fire here and get the presses attention and be in the position to do the debates and make our ideas known and some of that has not come to fruition." 

Though he garnered a statistical 0% of the vote last night, Gilmore says he's not giving up. "I got a plane ticket to South Carolina at 6 o'clock in the morning. And I'm on the ballot in Virginia, I'm on the ballot in South Carolina."

Credit Sean Hurley
Gilmore was joined by 15 to 20 supporters at Fratello's last night.

A few miles down the road at the Derryfield Restaurant, several hundred Carly Fiorina supporters gather in a mid-sized function room. Though Fiorina's numbers aren't looking good, the mood is bright and cheerful..."Carly!  Carly! Carly!" the crowd cheers when Fiorina begins to wade through the crowd.

Credit Sean Hurley
Fiorina with a supporter.

Fiorina walks right by Rod Webber, who has a beer in one hand and, as it turns out, a bouquet of flowers in his pocket.  Webber isn't a Fiorina supporter...not yet.  But he could be. 

It all depends on what Fiorina’s peace prayer is like. "I usually offer them a flower for peace," Webber says, "and say it's a symbolic gesture and in exchange for this flower would you consider saying praying for peace with me now."

Webber doesn't lead these prayers, but instead, he says he asks the candidates to come up with something. "I ask a lot of them and I say 'Listen man, you're the guy running for President, it's what you have to say.'"

Last night he prayed with Ben Carson, and says, "Jeb Bush has accepted multiple times, at least a dozen times.  Lindsey Graham.  Ted Cruz hasn't gone so far as to pray with me, but we've discussed scripture at length."

Webber knows his method is unconventional, but for him it works. "That's one way to go, I don't know if it's the route for everyone, it's what I've chosen," he says.

Carly Fiorina takes the stage and thanks the crowd for being the wind at her back. "You know Frank and I, we have to tell you the truth.  We've kind of fallen in love with New Hampshire," she says.  

Credit Sean Hurley
Fiorina addressing the crowd.

And as her speech winds down, Rod Webber sets his beer bottle on a table, takes the flowers from his pocket and begins to move toward the stage. 

Sean Hurley lives in Thornton with his wife Lois and his son Sam. An award-winning playwright and radio journalist, his fictional “Atoms, Motion & the Void” podcast has aired nationally on NPR and Sirius & XM Satellite radio. When he isn't writing stories or performing on stage, he likes to run in the White Mountains. He can be reached at shurley@nhpr.org.
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