By DPA
Manchester (New Hampshire) : At the Red Arrow dinner, talking politics with the patrons is easy. The 2008 US presidential campaign is on – and little New Hampshire's special role in nominating the two main contenders is under attack as never before.
As host of the nation's first primary vote every four years, the New England state proudly clings to old-style democracy: the hopefuls still meet and greet ordinary citizens on the street, in schools, at house parties or in restaurants like the Red Arrow.
"If we weren't the first primary, politics would change," computer specialist David Chasse, 36, said over dinner at the Manchester eatery on a recent evening.
Change is already well under way, though, in the series of state ballots by which registered Democrats and Republicans will pick their candidates for the Nov 4, 2008 presidential election.
In this year's rush by bigger states to bring forward their primaries, heavyweight California and more than 20 others are poised to vote on Feb 5 in a "Super Tuesday" national primary.
New Hampshire, for decades an almost mythical testing ground, where the presidential field is narrowed down, risks being demoted to a Jan 22 opening act. State officials are worried enough that they may move the state's ballot to December 2007.
Florida, a swing state that helped seal George W. Bush's 2000 victory, is pursuing its own plan to stand out: state lawmakers have plunked its primary on January 29.
Big states, especially in the south and west, have long chafed at the early fixation on New Hampshire, arguing that they deserve more influence on the nominations and reflect US demographics better than the northeaster state of New Hampshire's rural, mostly white population of 1.3 million.
Critics say giving those states more clout favours candidates with the tens of billions of dollars needed for big campaigns and shifts politics still further to television, the internet and large rallies.
New Hampshire, first in the nation with its primary since 1920, tends to level the playing field for big and small names because of its compact size and people's passion for participating in democracy.
"You don't have to be the most famous or have the most money to win the New Hampshire primary," said Bill Gardner, the state official who sets the primary date. "It keeps the American dream alive that anyone can grow up to become president."
Both major parties hold a less formal presidential preference poll in the small Midwestern state of Iowa shortly before New Hampshire. But from 1952 until 1992, no one was elected US president without winning in New Hampshire first.
John F. Kennedy's 1960 run to the White House began in the state, a resurgent Ronald Reagan stopped George H.W. Bush's bid in 1980 and John Kerry rode a New Hampshire victory to the Democratic nomination in 2004. For second-tier candidates, New Hampshire often means a quick end to their presidential hopes.
Gardner, New Hampshire's secretary of state, is an experienced fighter who is obliged by state law to keep his primary first in the nation. Friendly but firm, he's had the job since 1976 and believes New Hampshire tests a candidate's character like no big state can.
"If there was a one-day national primary, it would be all fundraising," he said in a telephone interview. "This way, the average person in a small place has a chance to ask questions."
In 2008, the crush of early contests risks diverting attention from New Hampshire. Candidates will crisscross the country chasing primary votes, which translate into delegates to the national conventions that choose each party's contender to replace President George W. Bush in the White House.
For now, decades of tradition still work in New Hampshire's favour.
From Democratic star Hillary Clinton to Republican hopeful Jim Gilmore, candidates have flocked to campaign in the state since late 2006. Separate televised debates in early June drew all eight Democratic and 10 Republican contenders to Manchester.
No candidate can afford to skip New Hampshire just yet. It's the politically savvy locals who seem to have trouble getting excited full 17 months before the general election.
"Seems like it's more a sound-bite contest," said conservative blogger William Smith, 37. "We're used to it being a lot colder outside when debates are happening."