In 2004, while campaigning for re-election in New Hampshire, President George W. Bush asked a Granite State resident if he had his support come Election Day. The voter famously replied that he only had met the president three times and still was undecided.

That’s quintessential New Hampshire.

Here, we have unfettered access to those running for the nation’s top office. We have house parties, where candidates come into our living rooms for what amounts to one-on-one conversations. We get knocks on our door, only to discover a presidential hopeful on the other side. We gather for a meal at a local eatery and sometimes welcome an office-seeker into our circle of family and friends to break bread.

Candidates, indeed, invest a great deal of time in New Hampshire leading up to the first-in-the-nation primary. Their campaigns stimulate the local economy and the candidates themselves virtually operate like members of the U.S. Postal Service. Like mail carriers, presidential hopefuls the past few days having been trudging through snow, battling freezing rain and braving slick sidewalks and roads to reach voters and get their campaign message out to the masses, one person at a time.

That dedication to New Hampshire has been on full display leading up to primary Election Day, with candidates and their supporters making multiple appearances in little shops, on Main Street and at rallies in Nashua and throughout the region.

Greater Nashua and all of New Hampshire are fortunate to be a part of something so special that it shapes the future of our country.

No matter a voter’s political affiliation, it’s hard not to applaud the efforts of the presidential primary’s slate of candidates. They have stumped for the past year in New Hampshire at small fairs and festivals, community gatherings, church events and parades so we may learn what they believe it will take to move America forward and benefit our fellow countrymen from coast to coast.

We truly thank all the candidates for their investment of time and care throughout this primary process. It’s never easy to put yourself out there on a national platform. However, these men and women are doing so with a belief that they can make a difference in the lives of millions of people.

Come Tuesday, New Hampshire’s collective, educated voice will be heard. Our election results will set the tone for who will become each party’s frontrunner and who will have the opportunity to lead the greatest nation in the world.

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