Obama campaign returns to New Hampshire

By Gordon Fraser
Staff writer

May 10, 2008 12:12 am

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The candidate won't be coming, but Barack Obama's campaign is returning to the Granite State in an effort to gear up for the general election this fall.

Obama volunteers are meeting at Nashua Public Library at 10 a.m. today, starting a voter registration drive in the area.

"I think, symbolically, it's very good for him to gear up for the general (election)," said Andy Smith, a pollster and political scientist at the University of New Hampshire.

While the Granite State — which only has four electoral votes — has trended more Democratic in recent years, Republican John McCain is intensely popular here, Smith said.

McCain won the Republican primary in New Hampshire in 2000 and 2008. Obama lost here in January to Hillary Clinton, 39 percent to 36 percent.

And a UNH poll released earlier this month showed McCain beating Obama here by 6 percentage points in a general election match-up.

"New Hampshire certainly looks to be a battleground state in November, assuming a competitive general election," said Dante Scala, another political scientist at UNH.

But Obama's primary battles aren't over, with rival Hillary Clinton favored in West Virginia May 13 and Kentucky May 20 in most polls. Despite that, Scala and Smith agreed Obama needs to start looking toward a general election fight.

Obama's New Hampshire voter drive is part of a 50-state program, which the campaign is calling Vote for Change.

But David Scanlan, deputy secretary of state, said voter drives in New Hampshire have to be run differently than those in other states.

"We're exempt from the National Voter Registration Act," Scanlan said.

That means voter drives have to be nonpartisan — Obama volunteers can identify themselves, but can't turn away residents who would like to sign up but acknowledge they will vote Republican.

Beyond that, signing up voters is more difficult than in other states, Scanlan said.

In most states, new voters simply have to fill out a card, which volunteers can bring to a supervisor of the checklist. In New Hampshire, the voter must appear in person to register in most cases, Scanlan said.

Despite the restrictions, though, Smith and Scala both agreed that Obama needs to take action now and make his presence felt in New Hampshire.

"Given the fact that Obama might have problems in places like Pennsylvania and Ohio, you might want to give some attention to New Hampshire. 'Cause, who knows, you might need those four (Electoral College) votes," Scala said.

The number of voters in presidential elections here has climbed since Al Gore ran against George W. Bush in 2000. That year, 569,081 people voted. In the 2004 general election, 676,227 voted.