When New Hampshire designed the quarter commemorating their state, they chose to venerate a much-beloved rock formation on Cannon Mountain that once overlooked the town of Franconia before it collapsed in 2003. Prior to its collapse, however, it was a well-known New Hampshire attraction because its craggy ledges, viewed in profile, resembled the face of a firm-jawed, resolute elderly man. Hence the popular nickname, "Old Man Of The Mountain."
It seems awfully fitting, then, that during last night's coverage of the New Hampshire Primary -- an affair that yielded a quick result, little drama, and few surprises -- the bulk of the excitement was delivered by two elder statesmen, former Granite State Gov.John Sununu and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who's been running with New Hampshire's "Live Free Or Die" motto since the start of his career.
Paul worked hard to steal his fellow contenders' thunder last night by opting out of the standard post-result speech and instead delivering a long oration on monetary policy and libertarianism, as if to remind his ardent supporters of the reasons they had chosen to cast their vote for him, just a few hours before he started talking. And Sununu stole the show on the pundit and commentary side, hurling crotchety quips and acid-laced barbs all around the MSNBC studio.
Our own Ben Craw has woven together the highlights of each man's night to form a sort of dialogue, in the hopes that we can convince Sununu and Paul to team up with former Georgia Senator and celebrated duellist Zell Miller for some sort of awesome septuagenarian buddy comedy.
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