One strutted on stage with the peacock swagger of a rock star. The other held a small meeting in a museum and apologised for being a “policy wonk and a nerdball”.
The two leading candidates to be the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump and Jeb Bush, arrived in New Hampshire, a crucial early primary state, this week. In terms of style, they could not have been more different.
Mr Trump, a billionaire former reality TV star who has never held public office, attracted more than 2,000 fans to a rowdy, carnival-type gathering where he was cheered like a gladiator. Mr Bush, who would like to be the third American president in his family in two generations, spoke to about 120 voters at the Historical Society of Cheshire County, a picturesque museum in the small town of Keene. The setting was deliberately intimate — but Mr Bush is struggling in the polls, and a quick chat with the crowd suggested why.
“I think his father and his brother did enough damage to this country,” said Jim McConnell, a local government worker. “I couldn’t even consider supporting another Bush.”
John Byrnes, 78, a retired police officer, said that he admired Mr Bush’s record as governor of Florida, but what he had seen on television had not convinced him that he had the makings of a president. “I kinda like how Donald Trump has shaken things up.”
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Mr Bush began with a blizzard of acronyms and statistics. “I’m going to give you the whole loaf of bread, I’m afraid,” he said at one point, a warning that he was about deliver a ten-minute answer to a question on immigration.
He admitted later that he had wept while ordering executions as governor of Florida. “Not like sobbing crying — but there are some really difficult decisions you need to make in public life.”
The evening before, Mr Trump had appeared at what was supposed to be a similar “town hall” event. The crowd was revved up by rock music, and as they waited for the tycoon, some started to chant: “Trump! Trump! Trump!”
A member of the audience asked if Mr Trump had any new policy detail to share, but he demurred. “I’m going to give you wonderful policy positions,” he promised. He would not share them, however, because it was important to be “flexible”.
These were two very different approaches to campaigning and, for the moment, at least, Mr Trump’s is winning. In New Hampshire he is leading the polls with 24 per cent of the Republican vote.
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Mr Bush trails in second place, at 11 per cent. This was not anticipated: New Hampshire was supposed to welcome his centrist brand of establishment Republicanism. His campaign had been dubbed the “Death Star” because it has so much money and talent on board.
Mr Bush’s staff insist that it is too early for polls to be meaningful. In a state such as New Hampshire, there is no alternative to meeting voters in intimate settings, they add.
There is no denying, though, that Mr Trump is getting under Mr Bush’s skin. “There’s a big difference between Donald Trump and me,” he told reporters as he left the museum. “I’m a proven conservative with a record. He isn’t.”
Eventually, Republicans would see through Mr Trump, he promised — but even as he promised to be patient, it sounded like the moment could not come soon enough for Mr Bush.
“I’m going to be the guy that they’re going to vote for. And it’s a long haul, man,” he said.