HEAT WAVE. Temperatures in New Hampshire reached the low 60s on Election Day, a far cry from the frigid, icy conditions that normally mark the first in the nation primary vote. An already excited electorate turned out to mark the spring-like conditions with a record breaking turnout that was set to exceed half a million voters! The yard signs warning of the dangers of global warming STILL looked odd posted in two feet of remaining snow.

MELT DOWN. Hillary Clinton Campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe says that the Clinton campaign remains poised to go all the way through the primary process and that reports of the campaign being short of needed cash are simply not true. McAuliffe also noted that Hillary has been investigated, examined and vetted more than any other candidate in history and that as Barack Obama assumes the front-runner position he should get the same exhaustive treatment. He did acknowledge that the Clinton campaign must slow down the amazing momentum that Obama has generated before they can even think about stopping it.

MISSING IN ACTION. The Merrimack Restaurant, on Elm Street in Manchester, is generally considered one of the epicenters of New Hampshire political activity. On Monday alone, candidates like Duncan Hunter, Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, and others trooped through, along with media celebrities and political operatives from all the major networks and campaigns, including syndicated radio talk host Neal Boortz and Huckabee campaign manager Chip Saltsman. But on Tuesday the historic restaurant sat completely empty…closed because they had run out of food on Monday!

CELEBRITY SIGHTING. Nashville native James Denton, one of the stars of “Desperate Housewives,” has been stumping in New Hampshire for his candidate of choice John Edwards over the past few days. Sporting a “Steelworkers for Edwards” t-shirt, Denton had plenty of fans wanting a photograph with the down-to-earth actor when he finished a radio interview with a Boston radio station at the Manchester Radisson.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA. It is no surprise that media outlets from across the country have descended upon New Hampshire to cover the candidates and analyze the results. But the media also has a decided international flavor, with Russian, French, Japanese, German, and Australian media among those who have been seen engaging New Hampshire voters in “man on the street” interviews. It is not clear how Vermin Supreme translates in any of those languages.

EXIT STRATEGY. While candidates have spent recent months expressing their undying love and appreciation for New Hampshire voters they will waste absolutely no time vacating the premises as soon as the results roll in Tuesday night. Michigan, Nevada, South Carolina and Florida will immediately attract the undying love and affection of the candidates by midnight. Political love is so fickle.

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January 7, 2007 – Manchester, New Hampshire
PLAYOFF INTENSITY.  The stressful nature of campaigning is becoming more apparent in the final hours leading up to the New Hampshire primary vote. Republican and Democrat candidates alike seem a bit more testy and short-tempered than they were in Iowa a week ago. The compressed schedule of primaries that had campaigns shifting their focus immediately from Iowa to New Hampshire on Friday has something to do with it as late night flights and 20-hour days catch up to staffers and candidates. But it is also because reality has set in: many campaigns are now in the playoff style “one and done” mode. In other words, lose one more and the campaign is likely over. For good. In the NFL the playoffs mean more intensity and harder hits. The same is true in the presidential primary process.

CARNIVAL ATMOSPHERE. Downtown Manchester had a festive feel on Monday. Despite two to three feet of snow on the sidewalks and open spaces, the roads were mostly clear and the weather was a temperate 45 degrees. On some street corners dozens of Obama and Hillary supporters battled it out for prime signage spots, exhorting their supporters and potential voters to honk their horns. On other corners it was the Romney and McCain volunteers who were clamoring for visibility.

One candidate, Vermin Supreme, was parading up and down the street with a boot on his head and a megaphone at his mouth asking the curious onlookers to vote for him on Tuesday in the Republican Primary.  Dennis Kucinich’s volunteers were handing out pocket versions of the Constitution while urging prospective voters to “eat their spinach and vote for Kucinich!” Ron Paul was relying on air power with a plane flying overhead trailing a “Ron Paul for President” banner. Most Granite State residents have seen it all before, and will see it all again in four years.

DID ANYBODY CHECK? A John McCain rally in downtown Manchester late Monday afternoon drew a large, through generally less than enthusiastic, crowd. McCain’s crowds have been big, but lack the rock-star buzz that the Obama events are generating. One man in the McCain crowd was holding an “Azerbijanis for McCain” sign, and he certainly may have been from Azerbijan. But just before McCain took to the stage his volunteers distributed about a dozen “Irish for McCain” signs to anybody willing to take one. Most of them did not appear to be any more Irish than those sporting the “Kiss Me I’m Irish” buttons on St. Patrick’s Day.

MIDNIGHT VOTING. The first votes in the New Hampshire primary will be cast shortly after midnight in tiny Dixville Notch. After the twenty or so votes are cast, representing 100% turnout, the votes will be immediately counted.

But the winner of the Dixville Notch box should not be overly confident. The winner seldom carries the day in New Hampshire on either side of the aisle. In 2004 Wesley Clark won the Dixville Notch balloting, but John Kerry carried the day. And in 2000 Al Gore won the New Hampshire primary but lost Dixville Notch to Bill Bradley.

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With what this woman has done with lamps and ashtrays, why don't we keep irons out of her hands! CLICK HERE.

Though maybe she will need to take in laundry to make ends meet as the cash flow has apparently slowed. CLICK HERE.