Tuesday, January 08, 2008

What’s So Special About New Hampshire?

By Bill Rappleye

Gene asked me what is so special about New Hampshire, and why it gets such attention every Presidential election.  I put that question to the Secretary of State, Bill Gardner, and got an impassioned and detailed response.  He says the democracy here is more vibrant than anywhere else.  More than 400 legislators for a state of one point two million.  He said if California had the same ratio of representation, its legislature would be 12,000 members.  Governors run every two years, many other elected officials have to put themselves before the voters each year.  He cites the venerable tradition of town meetings as another factor in keeping democracy true to its roots of public debate and deliberation.  This longstanding tradition of dialogue and decision, he says, cannot be transferred to another locality.  Turning to the presidential contest, he says New Hampshire is the last chance for an unknown to confound the status quo, the monied interests, and the party bosses; simply by being place where voters expect to engage candidates, and demand straight answers.  It’s where a candidate can create a following, and get out a message, without the enormous sums required to mount a nationwide campaign.  Its power may be getting smaller; even here the campaigns require ever more sophisticated organizations and gigantic fundraising efforts.  But to abandon it would be, in his mind, a defeat for the principles of our democracy.