Thousands Gather in New Hampshire in Anticipation of Jay's Announcement

Several thousand supporters of the Jay Leno for President campaign gathered in Manchester, New Hampshire Saturday afternoon in anticipation of the announcement millions have been waiting for since the campaign was first launched earlier this year.

As one of the first states traditionally visited by presidential candidates, New Hampshire was the logical choice for a formal declaration of Jay Leno's candidacy, if he decided to enter the race. So it was no surprise that the square in the middle of downtown Manchester filled quickly when it was learned that an announcement might be in the works.

"We really expected that Jay would use this gathering of intelligent, good-looking supporters to announce his candidacy," said Jay Leno for President campaign chairman Howard Lester. "All the media was already there after reporting on the visits to New Hampshire by other Republican and Democratic hopefuls, so we didn't have to do very much to prepare, except send out a few e-mails. What a great day for the campaign."

A series of local politicians spoke about their interest in the Jay Leno for President campaign and their desire to ride whatever coat-tails might be available. Said one unidentified state representative, "I didn't even know there was a campaign to try to draft Jay Leno as a candidate. If I had, I wouldn't have spoken so enthusiastically about Barack Obama when he was here."

Indeed, a number of local dignitaries were surprised by the large turnout. "When the first couple of hundred people set up their lawn chairs on the square, I thought something really special must be going on," remarked one local politico. "And when the crowd grew to thousands, I realized it was going to be big."

It's not clear whether Jay Leno actually knew about the Manchester crowd or whether he had planned to attend. "We figure Jay's tracking the campaign's progress on a pretty regular basis, so he'd know probably know about it." said Howard Lester. "We naturally figured he'd be there to announce his candidacy, and so did lots of other people."

When the news came late in the afternoon that Jay Leno would not be there, the Jay Leno for President campaign implemented a contingency plan they had for just such a situation. "We asked a guy who looks a lot like Jay to tell the crowd that the real Jay Leno was still in California and wouldn't be there," Lester explained. "Nobody seemed too disappointed and, after he did about ten minutes of some pretty good Jay Leno impersonations, the crowd gave him a standing ovation. Once again, Jay Leno didn't show up and it didn't bother anyone. Now that's support!"

As the highly enthusiastic crowd dispersed from the square, the popularity of the Jay Leno for President campaign appeared greater than ever. "This was amazing," said one Jay supporter, while heads nodded in agreement all around her. "We knew Jay hasn't acknowledged our campaign yet and might not show up. But that doesn't bother us. After all, it's Jay Leno! He knows what he's doing. If he doesn't announce his candidacy here in New Hampshire, we know he'll do it somewhere else. When you love Jay, things like that just don't matter."

Other Jay Leno for President rallies in several primary states are also planning for appearances by Jay, and no one appears too concerned about whether or not he'll actually attend any of them. Said one Midwest rally organizer, "We're there for Jay whether he's there or not. How many presidential candidates have ever been able to say that about their supporters?"