Candidates from both parties are campaigning in the New Hampshire presidential primary these days, and voters are increasingly paying attention and making decisions about who to support.
This campaign season, NHPR is talking to as many voters as we can about what they think about the future of the country and what they want to see from the candidates. Producers Jackie Harris and Michelle Liu have been going out talking to voters, and here’s some of what they’ve heard recently.
This is the first in what will be periodic check-ins with New Hampshire voters ahead of the 2024 presidential primary.
Cheryl Bourassa, Concord: I’m a registered Democrat. I want them to figure out how to work together. If you don’t learn to compromise, holy cow, how will we ever begin to address everything that’s going wrong right now? Migration, right? You gotta work together to find a solution to that. You got to be realistic and understand how interconnected issues are – that climate [is] driving migration.
Nancy Stollak, Rumney: I'd like to see a spirit of cooperation – who is willing to work with the other party and not just automatically say that that side is wrong because they're not my party. And they seem to be out for either their own personal good or aims or just getting their way.
Producer: Is there an example that really stands out to you about that?
Nancy Stollak: Well, again, the recent talks about the budget issues – that's not cooperating. And every time they have to renegotiate the budget, we go through this in recent years. So I'd like to see that, ‘Okay we work together before the deadline and we come up with a solution.’
Producer: Are there any candidates that are standing out to you right now that you're interested in?
Nancy Stollak: I'm waiting for the amount of people to, you know, get narrowed down a little. Because you lean one way and then something new happens and it totally changes your opinion of that person.
Jules Stollak, Rumney: And one of the issues is that, you've got a plethora of candidates on the Republican side who run from almost reasonable to totally unreasonable, and you really don't have a true primary race on the Democratic side.
Sebastian Paradise, Laconia: I really don't think the two party system is working anymore. And it needs to be diminished because the right is so far right, and the left is so far left that it's pulling the country apart in two, and it's separating everyone, everyone's beliefs. And it's just kind of destroying our country as a whole.
Craig Jones, Hollis: The primary issue is always going to be the economy. But I think the number one issue for me is to not vote for Trump just because [of] what he's done in his background. And the criminal activity I do believe is real. It's kind of “anybody but Trump.” I’m traditionally a Republican, but I would vote for a Democrat over Republican based on anybody but Trump.
Ayi D’almeida, Concord: I’ve always remained independent so I vote based on values and someone who can actually get things done, not a party.
Producer: Do you plan to vote in the 2024 election?
Ayi D’almeida: I want to. It all depends on who is the candidate. And I can tell you honestly, if it comes down to Joe Biden and Trump, unfortunately I probably will not be voting. Because I don’t think those two represent the values that I hold.
Abigail Dedean, Meredith: I'm trying to keep my options open because I'm trying to choose the lesser of evils. I guess that's one way to put it. Because of course, there's not always going to be a candidate that meets everything that I want. But at the same time, I would rather vote for something that matters, than just not vote at all because they don't meet what I want.
