As the 2015 New Hampshire Democratic State Convention took place last Saturday, I had the opportunity to travel up to Manchester to watch the three democratic presidential candidates speak. Former Security of State, Hillary Clinton; former Governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley; and Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders, all took the stage with a need to change America’s political and economic system with more progressive values.
The first candidate to speak was former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She began by praising president Obama and the Democratic Party’s work while also differentiating herself: “I am not running for Obama’s third term; I am running for my first term,” Hillary said.  She made this evident by proposing to rebuild the middle class by becoming a small business president that holds corporations accountable for exploitation. Hillary ended with an important observation claiming the next president may have as many as three appointees to the Supreme Court, showing the large influence he or she could potentially have over our federal court.
The second candidate to take the stage was former governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley. His speech was short but to the point, maintaining that America needs new leaders with “Actions not words!” He claimed he is the ideal candidate to do this because of his 15 years of executive experience as mayor and governor while taking real action and providing results for progressive values.
Bernie Sanders came out last with the loudest response of the three candidates. He came out with a passionate call for a political revolution in standing for working Americans and taking on the billionaire class; he asserted himself as being the candidate that does not represent the interests of corporate America and is prepared to take on powerful special interests that hold enormous power over our economy and political life. He loudly stated his democratic socialist polices of universal health care, free higher education, and paid sick leave.
The current NH polls reflect the support and turnout at the convention for these democratic presidential candidates. With Sanders at 46%, Clinton at 30%, and O’Malley at 2%, the attention will now be put on Bernie and Hillary as they go neck to neck to see who the next democratic candidate will be. NH is playing an important role being the first state to hold primaries.