LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE, N.H. — Eight presidential hopefuls will be charging around the back roads and country lanes of this state in the next few days, intent on wooing a stalwart Yankee voting bloc as Labor Day looms.
“Mitt. Now he was delightful, even when that Matt what’s-his-name was interviewing him down at Hart’s Turkey Farm. I was really impressed,” said Phyllis Hamblet, owner and proprietress of Y Landing, a small boatyard and grocery on the shores of the big lake.
She meant Republican Mitt Romney, who has a splendid summer home here, and NBC “Today” host Matt Lauer, who recently fired questions at the former Massachusetts governor during a live broadcast from a hallowed nearby restaurant that serves Thanksgiving dinner 365 days a year.
The locals, Mrs. Hamblet said, are eager to rub shoulders with the candidates.
“I saw John McCain in Gilford Village. He’s aged some. But we all have. And I heard Rudy Guiliani ended up at Heath’s hardware store in Center Harbor. It’s exciting. There is nothing — nothing — like that real face-to-face meeting and that genuine handshake to get the point across, even these days,” she said.
New Hampshire holds the nation’s first presidential primary, while Iowa traditionally holds the nation’s first caucuses. Voters in both states say it’s a fair trade that candidates asking for votes have to spend enough time shaking hands and answering questions for folks to know what they’re about.
Indeed, the town hall, diner and village green continue to be the vigorous destination of choice among White House contenders, no matter how sophisticated their outreach.
Among Democrats, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and first husband in waiting Bill Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut will all be scattered across the state over the holiday.
The Republican presence includes Messrs. Romney and McCain, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado. The rest of the GOP candidates will arrive by Tuesday for a Sept. 5 debate to be staged at the University of New Hampshire and nationally televised.
“Our voters are used to candidates and celebrity. They like it. Our local businesses love the entourages, the press along for the ride,” said Brendan Smith, associate editor of the Weirs Times, a weekly paper headquartered a few blocks from Weirs Beach, home of a vintage boardwalk and famed for caramel corn and a rollicking biker bar.
“But politics is the same old song and dance. The candidates are still saying what they think people want to hear, just changing the words on their template from town to town,” Mr. Smith observed. “But if we lose our standing in the primaries, that’s going to hurt. We’re nervous about it.”
Florida, Michigan, South Carolina and Florida hope to usurp New Hampshire’s longtime status as home of the earliest presidential primary by moving up their own dates.
“It would be sad if we lost out. We’ve always been first in the voting,” said Mrs. Hamblet, pausing to greet her grandson, who had come in to purchase chocolate milk.
“It stands to reason that as a smaller state, we’ve still got a real logistical advantage,” she said. “The candidates can’t get to know voters in a state the size of Florida. Here, you have a room of 50 people. Down there, it’s more like 500. Where’s that going to get them?”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.