CONCORD, N.H. — Forget Iowa.
The real excitement starts here today, as New Hampshire voters take their turn in the national spotlight.
Take, for example, Cy Wheeler of Concord. He was expecting his candidate — Democrat Barack Obama, senator from Illinois — to come out of Iowa strongly and do well in New Hampshire.
“I think he’s the guy to do a fine job,” said Wheeler.
He was among New Hampshire voters looking forward to their state taking over the nation’s attention in presidential politics with its primaries on Jan. 8. On Thursday evening, the Iowa caucuses gave the nation its first glance at how the candidates fare in a vote.
In the Democratic race, Obama took the lead followed closely by North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Joe Seago, a student at the City University of New York volunteering for Obama’s campaign in New Hampshire, celebrated Obama’s victory at Concord’s The Barley House. The Iowa victory “energizes everyone and everything about why I’m here,” said Seago.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee finished first in the Republican contest. He was followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
“I suspect it’d be very helpful for our campaign, here in New Hampshire and other states, to have a victory,” said Periklis Karoutas, field manager for the Huckabee campaign in New Hampshire. “I mean we won. Victory’s a good thing.” The win in Iowa would not change Huckabee’s strategy in New Hampshire, Karoutas said. “We’re still going to do what we planned to do,” he said.
In New Hampshire, the candidates are now arriving for the five day run-up to the balloting next Tuesday.
On Main Street in Concord on Thursday, Barry Laughton of Laconia was excited for both the Iowa and New Hampshire races. He is a strong supporter of John Edwards for the Democratic nomination. Laughton expressed optimism about Edwards’ chances in New Hampshire after Edwards ran here in 2004.
“He really connects with the people of New Hampshire,” said Laughton.
For Bridgitte Cook, the New Hampshire primary scene is nothing new.
She’s lived in Dunbarton, a Concord suburb, for 21 years. She wasn’t planning to sit down and watch the Iowa caucuses. But she would have the news from Iowa “on in the background,” she said, to follow the results. She plans to vote in the Democratic primary next week.
“You get the chance to meet any candidate you want up here,” Cook said.
Richard Soulle of Concord is an independent but this time he will vote in the Democratic primary. He was just not sure for whom yet. The Iowa race would be another opportunity to learn more about the candidates, he said, but not the only basis for his decision. He didn’t plan to watch the Iowa coverage but will follow up on the results. Soulle will be basing his decision mostly on what he sees in New Hampshire.
“I am interested more in, naturally, the feeling I get about the individual,” Soulle said.
Marisa McGrath was excited for both next week’s primaries and the Iowa caucuses. She has been following the candidates every night and planned to follow what happens in Iowa closely. She will be voting in the Democratic primary next week. She declined to name her preferred candidate.
But McGrath, originally from Italy and a long-time resident of Concord, is especially interested this year. She is passionate about the primary season. “I love it,” McGrath said.
And the candidates, she said, seem more down to earth. “This year is the best I’ve seen in a long time,” McGrath. “You know politics, they always use big words. But this year, they talk like normal people.”
(Liam Migdail-Smith, a sophomore in magazine journalism, is covering the New Hampshire primary for The Westerly Sun of Rhode Island.)
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