By wplog

Published Monday, Jan. 7, 2008 | 8:20 a.m.

Updated Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008 | 2:14 p.m.

CONCORD -- A quick note on New Hampshire voters. Jo and Elliot Mednick of the Salem area told me they get 10 calls a day from campaigns and/or pollsters. Usually they don't answer, but they said it's pretty cool when "Gallup" is what reads on the caller ID, so they sometimes pick up. They said they consider it an important part of living in New Hampshire, part of their birthright of picking the president.

Another voter, Don Doughty, said the same, though a bit more mischeviously. He referred to "spinning" the polls. This voter is sophisticated enough to know that what he tells a pollster will very much help shape the narrative of the campaign and campaign coverage, so he figures out what to say. Another Doughty gem: He'll wait until Tuesday morning, look at the polls, and see which candidate needs his help more: Barack Obama or John McCain. (As an independent, he can vote for anyone he wants.)

Finally, a note on the level of policy knowledge of these people: Doughty, who lives in Atkinson, was carrying around a bunch of white papers. As an electrical engineer, he's concerned about arms control negotiations and their impact on export regulations, as well as an unexplained Obama plan to delay a NASA program. He said it's a sign that Obama's team is green because the NASA thing wasn't fleshed out, and it would hurt Florida, Mississippi, Maryland, Texas and Alabama, which are all big aerospace places with NASA contract work.