[Crowd at rally for John Kerry at Nashua South High School. NH 2 days before the Primary in 2004. I like the Norman Rockwell-ian faces here.]

11/03/11 Ladies and Gentleman!! Children Of All Ages! It was announced yesterday that the date has been set. The New Hampshire Primary will be held on Jan. 10, 2012. A Carnival of Buncombe to astound and amaze in sub-zero temps! Anyone interested in seeing American democracy in it’s raw undiluted form should visit New Hampshire in the weeks leading up to their Primary Day. It’s a free for all. Candidates are forced to interact with crowds of voters on a wholesale and retail level and not just hide behind carefully scripted press releases and commercials. Even the most organized campaign machine breaks down at some point.

Here’s a mix of my images from the New Hampshire Primary in 2004 and 2008. You can see a slideshow with more of my 2008 photos here: http://www.lightstalkers.org/images/show/303029

[Senator Barack Obama (D IL) laughs with his wife after she introduces him at a late night rally on the eve of Primary Day in the gym of the Concord High School in Concord, NH. He lost the ’08 Primary the next day to Senator Hillary Clinton (D NY)]

[A heckler supporting Lyndon LaRouche is ejected from a Howard Dean town hall meeting in Manchester, NH in 2004.]

[Senator John McCain’s (R AZ)  Straight Talk Express departs a polling place in Nashua, NH on Primary Day in 2008.]

[Vermin Supreme seeks votes on the streets of Manchester on NH Primary Day 2004.]

[Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney greets voters at Broad Street Elementary School in Nashua, NH on Primary Day 2008.]