Perhaps a stupid question, but just gotta ask.... (Littleton: tax, live in)

[DareToDream]

I will be the first to admit I am not well versed in politics - never have been and probably never will be! That being said.......We live in Littleton and have had numerous candidates come through town. When we lived in NYS, we lived in a much more populated area and never had any candidate come through town (other than maybe someone running for governor). The population in Littleton is much less, yet it seems almost every week someone is making a stop here in town.

I guess the question is, why do so many come through here? Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of them stopping in the smaller towns/areas and giving the people a chance to see them and "read" their body language, etc., in person, but I just don't understand why

Their party affiliation doesn't seem to matter, we've had both Rep. and Dem. come through. I also haven't seen a lot of "advanced notice" about them being in town, either. As an example, Sunday night, I caught a "blurb" on the TV news that Barack Obama would be in Littleton, but didn't catch what time. I hadn't seen anything in the weekly paper or the Caledonian (although I may have missed it). Yesterday morning, we were out early and sure enough, in the middle of town around 8:30 there he was. The same thing happened when John McCain was in town. Again, I may have missed some kind of "advanced notice", I don't always read the papers all the way through, or watch all of the news.

I guess I just have a hard time "wrapping my mind" around why they stop here. Can anyone shed some light on this?

[GregW]

First in the Nation Primary - makes NH a very important place to campaign. Great Fun because you can actually meet some of these people.

[DareToDream]

You know, I wondered if this was the reason, but it still blew me away that they were stopping HERE! I do like to see them in person, even if I don't get to actually meet them.

[southward bound]

Don't expect a lot of advance publicity or notice unless you are part of an ingroup such as a volunteer for some candidate. The news travels in those circles that so-and-so will be in town. For some reason (and I don't understand it) it's like the candidates don't want to let the public know in advance. Maybe they're afraid of being mobbed?

Which one would you like to mob? Even when I knew they were coming, I didn't always go out to see them. Most of the time I just happened to be someplace where they just made a surprise visit.

[DareToDream]

I wondered about that as well - having to be in some "inner circle" to know when they would pop in There were certainly a lot of people around yesterday and tons of police, etc., so word got out somehow!

At this point, I don't have anyone I would like to "mob"...hmmm, that could be taken a couple of ways, couldn't it...either "for" them or "against" them.

[GregW]

I have been in the "inner circle" and never got the word most of the time. For some reason campaign scheduling is very difficult and the candidates sometimes have no control. With this high level of uncertainty the news medial never get a chance to distribute the information due to the delay time in publishing.

If you have access to the internet most campaigns have their up to date schedules posted. Snide comment, as I are one - this does not apply to most Democratic campaigns - we only try to be organized.

[nhyrnut]

Here is a couple links for you New Hampshire Republican State Committee for the Republicans this site is very up to date.
Unfortunately the State democratic web site is not. Guess they don't want people to see how they do things. But this link is OK for the Democrats. Don't really know how how accurate it is. But when they can't keep there web site up and running they have to suffer with what they get. If it comes on line before the next tax increase, I will post the link. lol Any way try PoliticsNH.com | New Hampshire's On line Political News Network oh just in case I forget, the link for the Democrats is www.nh-democrates.org (broken link) That way no one can say I'm predigest against the TAX and Spend Liberal SOB's. LOL If that upset anyone it is called dry humor. Get over it. I believe if you go to The Democratic Party it is the national site with links to state sites. Pointless though as all they do is trash the other party. But hey far is far, so on that note I will also provide the link for the NH Voice which is a truth telling GOP Paper not associated with the NH GOP But is a republican paper for NH. the link is New Hampshire's Republican Voice that way you can get both sides of the story of NH politics and make up your own mind. wink

[JMX]

Presidential candidates campaign a lot in NH because they want a good result in the first-in-the-nation primary. That generates buzz for them and gives them some momentum going into subsequent primaries.

[DareToDream]

Thanks for all the input everyone! At least now I understand all the stops here I'll check out the links when I have the time to spend reading the sites. Thanks again!

[countrylv22]

Hello WINDCHIMES03561!

I was watching a bit of a CNN report, and they mentioned why NH is SUCH a key state, because of the State having the first primaries this coming up week(Tuesday & Thursday) and why you are seeing so many candidates just around the corner. And they also mentioned how New Hampshire & Iowa are the only TWO states where they still do
"RETAIL POLITICS" and where it still works! Going to the local diners, donut shops, walking on Main Street, etc. and sitting with people, shaking people's hands,etc.
It seems that in other states massive advertising is better for them, however with NH & IOWA, this is what works! It sounded interesting!
So this weekend coming up should be a fun one for all you there! ENJOY!

Have a nice one!
Countrylv22

Originally Posted by windchimes03561

I will be the first to admit I am not well versed in politics - never have been and probably never will be! That being said.......We live in Littleton and have had numerous candidates come through town. When we lived in NYS, we lived in a much more populated area and never had any candidate come through town (other than maybe someone running for governor). The population in Littleton is much less, yet it seems almost every week someone is making a stop here in town.

I guess the question is, why do so many come through here? Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of them stopping in the smaller towns/areas and giving the people a chance to see them and "read" their body language, etc., in person, but I just don't understand why

Their party affiliation doesn't seem to matter, we've had both Rep. and Dem. come through. I also haven't seen a lot of "advanced notice" about them being in town, either. As an example, Sunday night, I caught a "blurb" on the TV news that Barack Obama would be in Littleton, but didn't catch what time. I hadn't seen anything in the weekly paper or the Caledonian (although I may have missed it). Yesterday morning, we were out early and sure enough, in the middle of town around 8:30 there he was. The same thing happened when John McCain was in town. Again, I may have missed some kind of "advanced notice", I don't always read the papers all the way through, or watch all of the news.

I guess I just have a hard time "wrapping my mind" around why they stop here. Can anyone shed some light on this?