I decided to write about the NH Primary in my blog this time. I spent time researching and planning and got ready to write. What a surprise! When I went to the library's blog site, I discovered that someone else had written about the Primary already! I complained to one of my coworkers that I had certainly wasted my time. She said "go ahead and write about it anyway. It's not going to happen again for another four years, and it's here now." So I thought about it, and here goes!

Some things I will not miss when the primary is over are the constant ringing of the phone, the machine full of important messages left by representatives of one candidate or another, and all of the surveys which "will only take a minute of your time and have you considered voting for_ and why haven't you made up your mind yet" or "can we take a minute to try and change your mind".

I've spent time trying to educate myself about the various candidates and their platforms. I don't know who I want to vote for yet, but there is a lot of information out there to help me decide. Since I spend so much time in front of a computer, I turned to the internet for information. Local newspapers were well represented. The Manchester Union Leader - New Hampshire Sunday News maintains a web presence as well as publishing in print. The UnionLeader.com has a primary primer. All types of information about each candidate in both parties can be found here. The fun part is at the bottom of the webpage where two columns, pink and blue, contain links to many of the candidates online sites. There are links to the candidates' MYSPACE and YOUTUBE sites as well as official sites, political sites and personal websites.

The Nashua Telegraph is active on line as well. NH Primary.com has links to candidate pictures and information, candidate appearance schedules, and some NH Primary history. I did notice that some candidates who are no longer in the primary race are still listed on this site, and that candidate profiles seem to come from Wikipedia. Still, parts of this site are current and the primary history does make interesting reading.

The third site, The New Hampshire Primary 2008 is posted by SeaCoast Online, which features the Portsmouth, Exeter and Hampton NH newspapers. Here you can find links to political columns and blogs, updated candidate profiles, campaign appearances, photo galleries and videos.

As I read this over, I'm surprised again. This wasn't what I started out to say, but it's where I ended up. My feeling is that a lot of reading and watching and listening will help you make a much better, more informed decision than letting yourself be pressured into decisions by anonymous voices on the phone.