New Hampshire and South Carolina celebrate at Grits and Granite Ball
Gritsandgranite
New Hampshire Union Leader
Jillian Jorgensen and Aoife Connors
Boston University Washington News Service
Jan. 21, 2009
WASHINGTON – What do grits and granite have in common? An unofficial inaugural ball, it turns out.
The New Hampshire Democratic Party and the South Carolina Democratic Party partnered to throw the Grits and Granite Ball Tuesday night at the Officers’ Club at Fort Myer, Va., celebrating the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
The ball, organized because the two state parties have bonded over their early presidential primaries, drew about 1,500 people from South Carolina, where grits are a breakfast food staple, and New Hampshire, the Granite State.
“I think as partners, as has been mentioned, we’ve really been able to set the tone for the way the presidential primary process should be,” said New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch. “Because of our partnership, not only do we help to make the candidates better candidates, but hopefully help to make them better presidents of the United States.”
The ball was not one of the official inaugural balls, sanctioned by the Presidential Inaugural Committee and attended by the Obamas. Guests spent the evening listening to an array of different musical performers and moving from room to room in the spacious Officers’ Club. Politicians and state residents also tasted a variety of hot and cold dishes, including a large wild salmon, and hand-made desserts.
U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., the House majority whip, said Obama’s victory would allow “all of our children to believe with sincerity that they can grow up and be anything that they want to be.”
“I used to tell my students that when I taught school, and quite frankly, I didn’t really believe it when I was saying it. But I believe it now,” he said.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., told the crowd about her own personal connection to South Carolina: her oldest grandson was born there while Shaheen’s daughter was studying law and her son-in-law was serving in the Air Force.
She also spoke about attending a dinner Monday night and sitting next to a member of the Nigerian parliament.
“We were talking about the election, and he said to us, ‘Only in America. This election reinforced for those of us around the world what we always believed about America.’ And for me, I felt exactly the same way,” she told the crowd.
The mood at the ball was jovial and victorious.
U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter said that while South Carolinians knew Clyburn as their hard-working member of Congress, she knew the majority whip best for his way of getting Democrats to the floor to vote.
“He’s the one who brings the good food in and bribes us to show up,” she said.
She ribbed Clyburn for his propensity to explain Southern food to other representatives, and added that she would not be taking any New Hampshire cuisine to the House of Representatives.
“Lobster costs a little bit more than grits,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H., praised Obama’s inauguration speech.
“Our president is a philosopher and a poet who is able to speak in ways that inspire all the citizens of America and the world to action, to join together, to rise to the challenges that this century poses,” Hodes said.
Ray Buckley, the chair of the state Democratic Party, noted throughout the night the prevalence of women in New Hampshire’s congressional delegation and state legislature.
“I think what’s important for New Hampshire is that everybody ran not as a woman, not talking about issues that affect women, but recognizing that issues that affect women are issues that affect everybody, and that we’re there to represent, to try and make a difference for the people of New Hampshire,” Shaheen said.
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