Election 2020

Presidential campaigns do all they can to make sure their events stay on message: candidates who pivot out of tough questions, campaign staff who keep a tight grip on the microphone while a voter is asking a question. But now, more and more, voters are coming to campaign events with their own bag of tricks. With the help of advocacy groups around the state, they’re getting trained in an art known as birddogging.

There’s an old cliché in politics – who’s the candidate voters would want to have a beer with? It’s a euphemism for likability. But this year, it’s also something New Hampshire voters might actually be able to answer.

Among the challenges facing Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, who announced this week he’s joining the crowded field of Democratic candidates for president, is the fact that he’s not well-known. It’s a fact the North Shore politician is well aware of.

Now that he’s officially launched his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld spent Tuesday campaigning in New Hampshire.

The 2020 Democratic presidential primary will be similar to 2016 in at least one regard: Bernie Sanders is running for the nomination. But political observers say the electoral landscape has changed dramatically since Sanders’ last presidential bid, and not necessarily in ways that favor his latest candidacy.