First-in-the-Nation Primary

 
The New Hampshire Republican Primary election will be held on Tuesday, January 10, 2012.  It is almost all one hears about on the television news.

Last night, I drove to Manchester with two purposes.

First, I visited my good friend Col. William R. (Bill) Benoit in the Catholic Medical Center, where he is recovering from Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation (an arthroscopic heart surgery).  Bill is an Army fixed-wing and helicopter pilot who retired from the U.S. Army in 1981 after serving for 28 years, then taught operations management at Plymouth State University for another 22 years.  He is an amazing guy, and I am happy to report that I found him last night in remarkably good spirits, and looking forward to a complete recovery.

Then, I went over to the political "sign-waving" rally outside of the auditorium at St. Anselm College in Manchester, where the Saturday evening candidates' debate would be held.  It was my first such event since 1960, when I heard a speech in Skokie, Illinois by Richard Nixon.  I found it interesting, and met some good folks, but it was not my favorite kind of a gathering, and I doubt I shall attend another (at least not for another 52 years).