Sunshine and 'Good Candidates' Bring Out Hordes of New Hampshire Voters

CONCORD, N.H. — An unseasonably warm day and two hot races brought New Hampshire's famously independent voters to the presidential primary polls in heavy volume on Tuesday.

"It's such a nice day, I think I'll stroll over and vote," Michael Evans, a Manchester area water supply deliveryman, said as temperatures touched into the 60s.

Lines formed early in the day and supporters of various candidates toted signs at busy intersections as primary fever permeated the state.

At a Concord polling place, many voters said they were pleased with the list of candidates from which they could choose, a list that made it tough for some to decide.

When asked when she made up her mind, retired nurse's aide Iris Hodgdon pointed back into the Concord church where she had just voted.

"I had two choices in mind when I went in there," said Hodgdon, an independent who opted for Republican John McCain over Democrat Barack Obama.

"I kind of just got in there and decided I'll try McCain. He knows a lot about the wars and he has been in there for quite a few years so I made up my mind when I got in there," she said.

Though siding with McCain's experience, Hodgdon also liked Obama's relative youth.

"He is new. He has got some good ideas and I just think he might get something new in there," she said.

So how does Hodgdon vote in November if it's McCain versus Obama?

"I couldn't tell you," she said.

Don LaPlante of Concord, a state employee, also was an undecided independent until Tuesday morning, when he voted for Hillary Clinton. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards was his second choice, and GOP candidates were not on his radar this year even though he has backed some in the past.

"Republicans have been there, most of them, a long time and they've put us in enough debt," he said.

Like several voters who cast ballots at Concord's West Congregational Church, LaPlante said he was impressed with his choices.

Husband and wife George and Marian Alley, both retirees, split their votes.

She, a Democrat, backed Obama, athough she also likes Clinton.

"This was hard this time," she said, noting she usually has little difficulty picking a favorite candidate.

"I liked them all, for the most part," she added.

Why Obama?

"One thing is it's about time to see someone of his race" in the White House, she said.

Husband George, an independent, said there were "three good choices" on the Democratic side, the primary in which he decided to vote, though he also likes McCain. He wound up backing Clinton.

"She's been around Washington enough. And I hate to say this, but she has a good guide," Alley said, referring to former President Clinton.

Joyce Butterworth, a state hospital nurse, used her status as an independent to game the system. She voted for McCain but in November will back whomever the Democrats nominate.

"I would like to see somebody that's viable in the Republicans also run and there are a couple of candidates that absolutely turn my stomach in the Republican Party that I would not want to see nominated," she said, identifying those as Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani.

Despite her McCain vote, Butterworth is hoping Obama winds up as president.

"He's brilliant," she said. "I also think Hillary is very smart but that she represents division and I would really like to see the country united."

"I can't stand this red state, blue state, this us versus them," Butterworth said. "We have so many issues we have to address and deal with realistically, thoughtfully and intellectually rather than you suck, he sucks."

During morning traffic, supporters of many of the candidates packed all four corners of a major Concord intersection near the state Capitol, waving signs and encouraging motorists to honk their support.

At a Manchester polling place, GOP candidates Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee crossed paths before dawn.

"See you in South Carolina," Giuliani told Huckabee.

"OK," Huckabee replied, "see you there."

By the time they met, both already trailed McCain, the GOP favorite in the northern New Hampshire hamlet of Dixville Notch, where all 17 registered voters turned out for the town tradition of casting their ballots shortly after midnight.

Of the seven GOP votes, McCain got four, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney got two and Giuliani got one.

On the Democratic side, Obama won Dixville North by taking seven votes to two for Edwards and one for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.