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But the big population centers are in the south, and 52% of New Hampshire's people live within 50 miles of Boston. That proved a big help to Massachusetts' John Kennedy in 1960, when he got his presidential campaign rolling in high gear by piling up the biggest Democratic primary vote in the state's history. That same factor could help Cabot Lodge, another Bay Stater, make a strong showing.
Senior Citizens. Also unusual is the large number of people who move to New Hampshire when they retire, lured back by memories of skiing in the rugged White Mountains, trout-fishing in the frothy Pemigewasset River and boating along Lake Winnipesaukee. With 11.2% of its population in the 65-or-older bracket, the state has the fourth highest proportion of "senior citizens" in the U.S. (after Missouri, Ne braska and Iowa). And that gives it a sizable bloc of voters who bristle when Barry Goldwater speaks disparagingly of social security benefits.
But New Hampshire also has a large number of men and women who believe that Goldwater's philosophy is the closest thing in U.S. politics to the state's motto: "Live Free or Die." There were enough of them, in fact, to give Barry an overwhelming edge in the early polls —as much as 3 to 1, according to some. Barry also has a formidable array of New Hampshire Republican leaders behind him, including Senator Norris Cotton, the late Senator Styles Bridges' widow Doloris, and the presiding officers of the state house and senate. But his humdrum campaigning has left many voters cold, and his campaign managers now claim that a 45% vote for him would amount to a vast victory.
Rocky, in the meantime, seems to be closing the gap. What worries his backers most is that Lodge, Maggie Smith and even Stassen are more likely to siphon off Rockefeller than Goldwater votes, while Nixon will probably cut into both.
Final Push. This week both Goldwater and Rockefeller planned to campaign hard in the state. Mrs. Smith, who is getting a surprisingly warm response, says she might even risk her remarkable record of attendance at Senate roll calls (she has missed one out of some 1,600) by spending more time campaigning. Harold Stassen? "If you know when he is coming back again," sighed a spokesman at his Manchester headquarters, "you are one up on me."
Eying the polls, all the candidates note fretfully that upwards of 30% of New Hampshire's 100,000-plus Republicans apparently have not yet made up their minds about which candidate will get their votes. When they do, they may make the first big presidential news of Election Year 1964.