Once again, the lore is a tad off, though Barry Goldwater, Ted Kennedy, Walter Mondale, and Bob Dole might not think so. Which is not to deny that this place is weird. The first primary is fun. The hotel lobbies in Manchester and Concord become political kibitzing centers. The restaurants are full of leakers and leakees performing their rituals over expense-account meals.
Locals flock to the hotel bars at night to see the celebrities.
No, not the candidates. Well, despite a study revealing that most New Hampshire primary voters do not meet the candidates in person, the fact is they could if they wanted to. There is hardly a citizen here without a friend or neighbor who hosted a coffee klatch for a candidate. More important, the folks in those other states might not be up to the job. Its 400-member house of representatives provides a representative for every 2,200 adult citizens.