In the incredible schedule jostling going on this cycle (at this point, I almost expect some state to lock down "first" status by declaring, "Primary Today!"), it seems to me that one of the most important factors of the famous New Hampshire primary is getting lost in the shuffle. It's an element unique to the Granite State, and it underlies our conviction that New Hampshire is the state that can make Ron Paul.

Yes, yes, traditionally New Hampshire goes first. That's very important, but crucial to the real value of our primary is the way politics happens in this little corner of the country. The presidential race here is not a media-driven affair; it's not enough for the candidates to blow out the air waves and then descend once or twice for a painfully staged speech or photo-op. As voters in a small state with a tradition of personal, local, argumentative politics, we expect to meet these people--to ask them questions, get answers, and respond (with civility) as we see fit. The glory of the "first in the nation New Hampshire primary" has been the elevation of our way of evaluating candidates--of giving voters in states too large for this sort of thing a chance to experience it through the media before they vote. Best of all, we have been able to give an early boost to the candidate who can hold his own without script approval.

I don't know how much longer this will last. With every state racing to have an early primary on the mistaken assumption that being first is all that matters, candidates may very well start treating New Hampshire like it's just any other state with electoral votes. And the election--the choice of the people--will suffer for it.

But, right now, we've still got it, and this is the year when it matters most. New Hampshire will have the nation's first primary in this election, and our process has the unparalleled potential to raise up the right candidate, to take an honest and responsible man and put him in the national spotlight.

This state has the potential to make Ron Paul the Republican front-runner for 2008. If we choose him, the national media will have to cover him, they will have to interview him, and they will have to take him seriously. No amount of money, no number of ads, could possibly do for his candidacy what we, the voters, can do for it here. All we have to do is be Ron Paul's campaign, and sell this state on a principled man. This is New Hampshire; selling honesty shouldn't be hard.