Granite State correspondent Kevin Flynn explains that he may live free or
die, but he doesn’t lurk around firehouses:
We in New Hampshire are linked forever with Iowa because our primary always goes right after their caucus. While we are simpatico with our political cousins there, we really don’t think much of a “caucus.” Probably because a caucus would never work here in a billion years.
There are some good things to come out of Iowa (subscribers to our favorite magazine will likely attest to the majesty of what gets mailed out of Harlan), but the caucus concept is not one of them. Basically, you have to take part in a small group and pledge your support to a candidate, they put up with some arm-twisting for several hours from other caucus-goers who are supporting someone else.
New Hampshire’s one-person, one-vote primary is a much better measure of who has support. We really love the secret ballot because it’s fast and private.
The caucus is WAY too social for us Yankees. We don’t car pool. We don’t have block parties. We don’t even go to Red Cross shelters during natural disasters (we’d rather spend our last dollar on a hotel room than sleep on a cot in a gymnasium with a bunch of strangers).
So, fair voter, consider these things when weighing the significance of who wins in the lead-off states. The democrat and republican who won in Iowa did so because they had the strongest organization, the one that was able to mobilize the most resources, and could entice the most delegates to come to their side.
The democrat and republican who win in New Hampshire will have been picked by a bunch of people who couldn’t wait to get back to their cars.
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