Quotable Quotes
Here's what people are saying in New Hampshire and across the nation regarding the importance of our first-in-the-nation presidential primary:
“Because it's the first primary in the nation, we take care to preserve the American Dream — that any person can grow up to be president, that you at least have a chance.”
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Bill Gardner
New Hampshire Secretary of State
Co-founder of the NH Political Library |
“New Hampshire is not about who chooses, it's about the process. The reason this works is you have people here who spent more time criticizing presidential candidates than any presidential candidates will spend running. And so the quality of the questions, the toughness of the thinking, the dialogue that goes on after we leave here makes New Hampshire a different experience than trying to just have a primary in a large state with a lot of television.”
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Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich
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“Almost no matter what you do, if you move something ahead of New Hampshire, you are, by definition, going to minimize the amount of time for retail, one-on-one, small group politicking, not only in New Hampshire but in Iowa. I think it's something unique in preparing people to be not only better candidates, but to be better Presidents.”
“I made it very clear to the states that were crowding out New Hampshire that I was going to honor the tradition and the history of the first in the nation primary…I think it has been an incredibly important part of the American political process.”
“It is extremely important for some part of the electoral process to permit new ideas and new candidates and fresh blood and new thinking, to revitalize parties and revitalize politics. [New Hampshire], states like mine and others, are the fountains from which change and progress can be made in this country.”
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Senator Gary Hart
1984 Democratic Winner of the NH Primary
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“The new Hampshire primary is a bastion of fairness and justice for the candidates who do not come into this as front-runners, with all the publicity, media and attention.”
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Patrick Buchanan
1996 Republican Winner of the NH Primary
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“The New Hampshire primary makes a valuable and irreplaceable contribution to the presidential nominating process. We have a 50-year tradition of giving all candidates the opportunity to make their case, of demanding candidates move beyond the rope line and photo-op, and forcing presidential candidates to directly answer the hard questions from voters.”
“The New Hampshire Presidential Primary is more important than ever for the sake of our political system.”
Mike McCurry
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Mike McCurry
Former Presidential press secretary
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