Editor's note: The candidate forum featuring John Delaney has been postponed. Please follow UnionLeader.com and the Community College System of New Hampshire for details when it is rescheduled.
John Delaney, ex-Maryland congressman.
REUTERS FILE PHOTO
MANCHESTER — Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney will take your questions on the economy in a series the New Hampshire Union Leader is cosponsoring with the Community College System of New Hampshire and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses.
The event is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m., Tuesday on the campus of Manchester Community College. Registration is requested at UnionLeader.com/delaney.
The presidential candidate forum is an opportunity for college students, local business owners and residents to listen to the candidates as the event is open to the public
"New Hampshire serves a crucial role in the nominating process as one of the few venues for true retail politics," said Brendan McQuaid, President of the Union Leader. "The New Hampshire Union Leader is proud to support these events for voters to meet candidates face to face. These opportunities help New Hampshire voters, like our readers, to stay among the best informed in the nation.”
Last fall, Delaney, 56, did not seek reelection to the seat he held in the U.S. House of Representatives for three terms from the state of Maryland.
A successful businessman, Delaney early on in the 2020 presidential race visited the first-in-the-nation primary state more than any of his rivals.
As of this week, Delaney has made nearly 150 campaign stops in the state and has attended a similar number of campaign events in Iowa, which holds the first caucus.
He was also the first candidate to open campaign offices and to host town hall forums in both states.
But Delaney has failed to break into the top tier of candidates and due to his low standing in the polls has not qualified for the most recent debates the Democratic National Committee has sponsored.
"I understand running for President is a huge challenge but, you know, I'm ready for it," Delaney said while campaigning here last summer.
Democrat for president John Delaney speaks with Publisher Joseph W. McQuaid at the New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester on Dec. 9, 2019.
DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER
Delaney was the first major candidate to enter the race in July 2017 and also the first one to air television ads.
To date he's spent more than $20 million of his own money on the race and according to published reports his net worth is more than $200 million.
Delaney created two private companies that deal with generating loan capital for businesses in the health care industry.
While on the campaign trail, Delaney has said he's the candidate best equipped to defeat President Trump as he had a record of bipartisan accomplishment while serving on Capitol Hill.
Delaney has said one mistake he made was a failure early on to draw attention to his credentials as a centrist Democrat.
If elected, Delaney said he could get Congress to approve realistic reforms in the area of climate change, tax policy, immigration and education while charging some of his more liberal primary opponents have made "impossible promises" on what they could achieve.
A spokesman for the Republican National Committee mocked Delaney's "Taco Meet & Greet" event in Ashland on Monday.
“Let’s taco-bout John Delaney’s campaign: despite cheesin’ for the cameras for over two years now, his operation has yet to beef up, and is more stale than an old corn shell," said spokesman Nina McLaughlin.
"If he seriously thinks he has a shot at the Presidency, he has a queso delusion.”
