'Tis the season for lots of things - including politics. If you have caught a news report lately, you may have noticed the increase in references to political candidates and the New Hampshire Primary. One projected date for the New Hampshire Primary has been mentioned as January 22, 2008. The number of individuals creating presidential exploratory committees grows daily. The number of states trying to find a way around New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation status is growing as well.

If you are a newcomer to New Hampshire or if you will be an eligible voter in January 2008, you may find yourself feeling confused by or uninformed about the whole concept of a first-in-the-nation primary. The library has several books which will help to explain the background of the New Hampshire primary. Two of these books were authored by Hugh Gregg, a former Republican governor of New Hampshire, Why New Hampshire published in 2003 and A Tall State Revisited published in 1993. For more background information, try Primary Politics by Charles Brereton, a writer living in New Hampshire since 1970. Although his book The New Hampshire Primary and the American Electoral Process ends with the 1996 election, Niall Palmer provides a most thoughtful and thought-provoking discussion of the new Hampshire primary and its influence on the electoral process. Another discussion of the primary and its background can be found on the website for the state of New Hampshire

If you are looking for current information on the candidates and the political situation, the choices are unlimited. Keep in mind, however, that many of the political websites will display opinions slanted toward one party or candidate and away from the rest. WMUR, Channel 9 news, maintains a political webpage which will contain current and unbiased information. Those candidates, or potential candidates, currently in the U.S. Senate maintain websites which will provide their views and accomplishments. Among the Democrats, that would incude Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama . Among the Republicans, that would include Sam Brownback and John McCain. Other possible candidates have their websites as well. You can find information on John Edwards through his One America Committee. Tom Vilsack can be located through the state of Iowa website. Rudolph Giuliani has a website called Solutions America which features his viewpoints and travels across America. Information about Mitt Romney can be located on the website for the state of Massachusetts. Another website worth a look is RealClearPolitics. RCP features newspaper columns, magazine articles and web writeups on all aspects of American politics.

If you have any other suggestions for good political websites, be sure to let me know and I'll include them in a later update!