Tales from town halls

Adventures with advocacy groups
Die-hard advocates representing various causes trail the candidates wherever they go, especially in New Hampshire. None has been more persistent than the members of the Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana, pushing to legalize the drug. Romney dismisses them firmly, arguing medical marijuana is a "pathway to drug use." At a house party in New Hampshire, Giuliani answered that he has talked to his wife, a nurse, and consulted experts at the FDA, who told him there are other, more effective pain relievers.

At a house party a few weeks ago, McCain realized the question was coming -- "Oh my God, here we go again" -- before a student pressed him to clarify his views on medical marijuana. "How could I clarify?" he complained. "I've said it a thousand times! I'm against it." Finally McCain growled that the student was "trying to embarrass me on this issue. Thank you very much."

Obama seemed to be on the fence when asked about medical marijuana last weekend. He noted that his mother died painfully of cancer and said he would consult scientists and doctors about whether marijuana provides uniquely effective pain relief. But he mused that legalizing it as medicine might lead to abuse, such as, "I was feeling really tense, so I needed a joint."

In New Hampshire, the candidates can count on seeing an AARP member who will ask a long question about Social Security. There is usually someone from the Carbon Coalition, which urges its members to ask "carefully-crafted and specific questions about how they would address human-caused global warming."

The One Campaign, a global anti-poverty group funded by U2's Bono and the Gates Foundation, is omnipresent, and one of its volunteers, former Marine Michael Castaldo, shows up to nearly every event clad in his black One t-shirt. He rarely asks questions, but he has managed to have his picture taken with almost every candidate. He now takes a blown-up copy of each photo to events, asking each candidate to sign it.

Linda Douglass compiled this story with information from NBC News/National Journal campaign reporters Adam Aigner-Treworgy, Aswini Anburajan, Matt Berger, Carrie Dann, Athena Jones, Mike Memoli, Erin McPike and Tricia Miller.

Picking the president: The candidates Click to visit that candidate's MSNBC page or click the XML symbol for an RSS feed. John McCain                Barack Obama

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