NH: Vote First or Die

Gee,this made me want to move . In the elections I have been part of I gave money and time . Rarely, have I ever gotten what RI residents are getting . Their state reminds me of what America use to be.. It should not be about money . It should be about the truth to our citizens and the qualifications of the man .Why not see a presidential candidate at a ball game, eating breakfast in a cafe . Now if RI could just show the rest of our states how to get back to basics ..I personally want their state to stay 1st . RI leads out , my hope is all will follow . Not voting on the same guy .In how we elect the President of the U.S.A .Putting aside race,gender,faith and party ..Not letting how much money a guy has destroyed the others .Standing together as a free nation using the precious freedom of voting . .Our nation has problems .Wouldn't it be nice to work to solve them . .Electing a President .One we believe will give best. As we elect him praying,supporting and when possible stepping up .Refreshing and Encouraging Rhode Island is ..An .American post card. Thank you for reminding me

We have lost so many things in this country that makes us America, I don't recognize America anymore. So much so that I feel that somewhere, somehow my country ceased to be. But, watching this video reminded me so strongly how things use to be when our democratic process worked. Its all about the constitution. I hope that New Hampshire is always the first. Why couldn't this primary be a microcosm of the real presidential race? New Hampshire's state motto has always been my favorite: Live Free Or Die. This says it all. I would rather risk terrorist attack than give up my constitutional rights. But, the question that is hinted behind the fear of terrorist attack is a bogus question. Its not a question of either/or. It has never been "safe" to live a free life as an American. When did we collectively become such cowards?

While this piece was folksy and talked a bit about the people in NH's primary system, it really didn't give the whole story on what NH's primary system is like.

I worked for a presidential candidate last cycle ('03-'04), in NH, Iowa, Washington, Vermont, and on a 24 state tour. Let me tell you, NH's primary does "Granite Staters" a much bigger favor than it does for America's Democracy.

NH has a whole industry geared to capitalize on candidates from start to end of the primary process. It costs millions and millions of dollars to buy staff, promotion, TV and radio ads, not to mention New Hampshire's home-grown consultants. Most of which has to be bought and paid for with NH companies. -Try to bring in someone from outside, and your campaign will go down in flames. Its a monopoly, and not just on the market share of services.

NH uses it's influence to gain earmarks in Congress, favors from presidents, and political insider status for a disproportionately large number of its citizens. An example of this is while I lived and worked in NH, I lived on a street that housed four former US ambassadors. -NH has more per capita than any state in the nation? Coincidence? No---those are the rewards for unlocking the keys to New Hampshire's primary for candidates.

In the meantime, though, it gives far too much deciding power to citizens who've become professional voters. I had an elderly woman say to me that she wouldn't vote for my candidate until he stayed at her house---again.

You can ignore these points and just come down to this: In no other large scale election does the US allow one region to choose the slate of candidates. Think about it-- would it make sense to only run the primary for your state's Governorship in just one county? Would you be happy on voting from the two choices for governor they gave you?

No, you wouldn't. You'd demand choice. You'd demand access. You'd demand to vote for who you wanted.

-That's why options to strip NH and IA of their "first in the nation" status are important to consider and push for. So that whether the primaries and caucuses are done by region (and by random, so that, say, in 2012 four Southwest states vote first, then four Northeast, etc.), or that two states are randomly chosen for first in the nation status (for a caucus and a primary). --At least then, it'd be more equitable.

Paige: The reason that the NH primary really sparked the memory of what America used to be is that I can remember all the past presidential candidates all going through there. NH people are totally involved and demand that the candidates meet them face to face. This is real politics when the word was a good word. TV and attack ads and debate after debate after debate... this is not good for the process. It breaks it.
In NH the candidates know who works for who. Karl Rove doesn't understand that and neither, I think, does bush, cheney, and crew. Just ask Sheryl Crow and Laurie David . They tried to question Rove about the administrations policy on global warming at the White House Correspondents Association dinner. After spouting off the administrations official stand instead of directly answering their questions, Rove got angry and turned around to ignore them. Sheryl Crow reached over to touch his arm and he yelled, "Don't touch me!"
Crow and David: "You can't speak to us like that, you work for us."
Rove: "I don't work for you; I work for the American people."
Crow: "We are the American people."
Americans, Republicans and Democrats used to know this. They knew they weren't "deciders", they were the representatives of the people.

Tulcak,

I understand the whistfulness for better more "American" times, but if you really knew what happens in New Hampshire and Iowa, I think you'd be appalled.

Certainly, the current state of our campaigns aren't great. Attack ads and ploys by interest groups don't help the process. But neither does a monopoly on democracy like NH and IA have.

We could create a better debate, a more egalitarian voting system, by limiting campaign contributions to public dollars (which could be done for about $3 per person per year---a small price to pay for a clean campaign system), by holding a primary lottery (NH isn't the only place you could have a similar primary environment), and by breaking with the strangle-hold NH and IA have on politicians, policies, and political fundraising in this country.

There's a better way, a more authentically American way to elect a president. The founders never wanted a state or a group of people to have so much control over who we elect as president. The New Hampshire primary (while quaint to outsiders) is just as unhealthy for the nation as attack ads and push polls---but with the cover of cute coffee shops and charming old folks.

I live in NH, have almost all my life [nearly 50 years now] and I'm in favor of having a lottery system, which would break the primary system into - let's say for sake of argument, 8 distinct dates for primaries. Each date would have a selection of both small and large States, selected at random.

NH does not reflect the country as a whole: our population of people with ethnic backgrounds such as blacks, Latinos and Asians is much lower than the nation. We are one of the richest per capita States in the nation, we have no sales or income tax.

NH has no magical place at the top of the key - it was just being lucky in a particular place at a particular time that makes the State 'first in the nation'.

It's a conceit we have to grow out of, for the sake of the nation at large.

Boy New Hampshire, that sure is nice that you get to meet and greet the candidates. Newsflash, how about you let us join in for a change? It is not fair to the rest of the country that New Hampshire gets to decide who the presidential candidates are for the rest of the country in every election. We should be represented too. Why not cycle through the states alphabetically, taking turns, like we should have learned in grade school? But noooo, New Hampshire has to always be first. Fuck New Hampshire. We want our interests represented too.

Somewhat one sided, but very well done piece. In my opinion it makes sense for the first few states to be small (for exactly the reasons outlined in the pod). It's the electoral college that really needs to changed in order to fix this process. I'm from CA, and the fact that my vote is worth 1/60 of someone in Wyoming is ridiculous. Could be an interesting follow up pod.

Good piece, when are we going to see something on current about Ron Paul? I couldnt help but noticing that when the camera scanned the crowd all of the people holding up signs were supporting him. This seems to be a reoccuring theme at all of the debates that I have seen televised yet the mainstream media is doing its best to ignore the fact that he seems to have the most ardent supporters of any canidate. Regardless of people's opinion of his views, I think that the amount of dedication his supporters have to him is a story in itself... Lets see it!

with all due respect to NH, this is much ado about nothing. New Hampshire is no better or worse than any other state to be first. in fact, our system is so screwed up, why isn't there a national primary day or at least regionals? I know it makes you feel better to think NH is special, but it isn't. Sorry.

If everyone wants a shot at being first let them have it. I live in Manchester NH and every three years this place turns into a damned circus. I shouldn't have to get up on a Sunday morning worrying about whether or not I can grab breakfast at my normal place because of the constant barrage of presidential hopefuls walking through the place glad handing the locals while fox, cnn and company set up their tripods in my drive in the hopes of getting the best shot. I would love it if traffic did not come to a standstill right outside my door because of some ginormous tour bus stopped in the middle of the street with no place to park. I am shocked to look outside my window onto my ghetto neighborhood only to see far too many luxury vehicles with out of state plates taking up all the space with their owners in nice sports coats not paying any mind while they talk on their damned cell phones and look at the locals dumbfounded while they're looking for a place to park in their own neighborhood. No more do I want to see election signs littering our public spaces a year before we are even set to vote. You want this aggravation so badly...but once you experience it you may sing a different tune. I love my home town and state. But I am very aware of how little impact we have over the whole election. Why not rotate. Hell...give it to Alaska or Hawaii. Let's make this shit interesting......

to drumsnbeer... yes I am sure that it sucks that you have to alter your daily routine for a few days to allow the media and politicians to invade your town, but you are wrong that it has little impact on the whole election. NH is often the place where people either come up from the bottom of the pack or drop out. I admit that I wouldnt be happy if it happened in my neighborhood, but it is necessary to try and maintain any diversity among the canidates. However, if you are content with the current top candidates and their vision for this country (Romney, Giuliani, Clinton and Obama) and would prefer a two party system that spits out 2 or 3 canidates that are carbon copies of each other, than maybe NH primary isnt necessary. But if you feel like many other Americans that they are choosing between two varities of the same rotten fruit, support your state and the NH primaries!

I don't really have much to add to this about NH.

But am I the only one who's concerned that Barack Obama didn't seem to know what Current TV was?

When are people going to wake up and demand that our whole electoral process be changed? We do NOT have representation of, by, or for the people and why should just a few states get to decide the candidates for the rest of the states' electoral college reps? (Please tell me you DO know that the "people" don't really elect their President?). I'm originally from NH too so can sympathize with the locals who aren't thrilled about it and the ones who wisely recognize that it's not as big an influence as they think it is (or Iowa. Remember, Reagan lost the primary in Iowa but won the nomination); rather it's a HUGE money and influence maker for the state of NH..

Leena, I was struck too by the fact that Obama did not even know about Current TV given that he tries to present himself as the youth vote candidate and the change candidate. I'd say it proves he's pretty out of touch. Anyone with a TV and their finger on the pulse of modern day American life knows about Current TV....even my mother who is in her's 70's (I turned her on to it). Now I wonder what else he doesn't know about modern technology (which afterall is at the root of Google's Current network), and that is so fundamental to our culture and the world going forward.

Nicely done. This is a well produced pod. Good work.