ATKINSON, N.H. — Ed Prouty's $25 donation to Barack Obama's campaign bought him a telephone call from the Democratic nominee.
Prouty, a longtime Atkinson resident, was the 2-millionth contributor to Obama's campaign last week. The presidential candidate himself came on a conference call Saturday night to thank Prouty for his support and to talk about any issues the heating-and-air-conditioning contractor thought were important.
"There's no end to the list that I feel are problems in the country right now," Prouty said he told Obama.
The two apparently agreed that getting Obama into the White House could solve some of those problems.
But that's not how Prouty was originally leaning — he voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary.
Prouty turned his attention to Obama after Clinton dropped out of the running for president and he found their platforms were very similar, he said. He was on Obama's Web site last week when he saw the drive to reach 2 million donors and decided to open his wallet to a political campaign for the first time in his life.
Prouty, 63, has since had two phone conversations with Obama's campaign and one with the candidate himself. The conversation has been posted on Obama's Web site and on YouTube, he said. Prouty has even been on TV.
"That Andy Warhol's 15 minutes is really stretched out here," he said.
His first call from the campaign was a thank you, and that alone surprised Prouty. But then they asked him to participate in the conference call, he said.
"I called in at 5:20 p.m. on Saturday and we chit-chatted for a little while," Prouty said. "Unbeknownst to me, someone else came on. There was lots of static because he was on an airplane. That was the first time I found out I was going to speak with Barack Obama."
A campaign worker had already gotten information on Prouty's background and passed it along to Obama, who asked him how business was.
Prouty was honest.
"I told him it's the worst it's been in 25 years," he said. "I've never seen it like this."
Prouty told Obama the economy started to affect his business long before the downturn hit the news. For the past three years, he said, fewer people have been building houses or have extra money for improvements. Prouty has felt the pinch ever since.
He also told Obama the environment and the war were top issues on his mind. Prouty said he wants the troops to come home.
Talking to Obama was both exciting and an unexpected honor, Prouty said. He's never won anything so grand.
"I mean, I feel very happy in my life," Prouty said, "but I should go buy a Megabucks ticket."
