Campaign trail heats up amid July Fourth celebrations
Every four years, Independence Day marks an unofficial start to the presidential campaign season. The weekend offers candidates an opportunity for some old-fashioned politicking in the earliest voting states, and a chance to hit the airwaves, reports CBS News correspondent Julianna Goldman.
The hopefuls spent time on the campaign trail, making speeches in the key states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
They made the rounds, hitting every Sunday show and pounding the pavement.
From traditional handshakes to the not-so-traditional selfies, candidates clamored for that crucial face time.
Democrats Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley, along with Republican Bobby Jindal, spent the fourth in Iowa.
But most of the 2016 flock fanned out across New Hampshire, the nation's first primary state.
"This is America at its best. I've had like 10 hot dogs already," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush brought the heat, throwing pitches and taking pictures with supporters.
Up north, another parade featured New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
Their host was 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, who invited the Christie family and the Rubios for a sleepover the night before at his family lake house.
"We stayed up late last night, chatting, it was very fun," Ann Romney said.
As for advice for his houseguests, Mitt had none.
"These guys will make their own mistakes," he said. "Hopefully, they wont follow mine."
At the other end of the state, Hillary Clinton marched in a parade, capitalizing on dozens of photo-ops with beauty queens and babies. She even made funny faces.
But one set of pictures may have overshadowed them all. The Clinton team pulled out a rope and used it to pen in reporters, keeping the media from getting too close to the Democratic front-runner.
Clinton's campaign said the press became too disruptive during the parade and they didn't want reporters to get in the way of voters and the candidate.