Anne Northup Speaks

This is clearly Anne's crowd in her hometown. Hardcore supporters of the Governor were conspicuous in not standing when she was introduced. There may be meaningful policy differences between the candidates, but on this first night of head-to-head speechmaking, it appears the campaign will be about other things. Among the three, Governor Fletcher spoke with the most energy. Northup's speech sounds much less like a campaign speech, but her theme is her background and her conservatism and principles. It seems like she is going out of her way not to throw red meat to what is clearly her crowd. No applause lines. One subtle swipe she has made twice is that Republicans must hold onto the Governor's Mansion or risk being overcome by big spending, over-regulating and over-taxing Democrats.