Concord Monitor.Concord,NH

Editorial





Back when President Obama was still Candidate Obama, chances are he didn't field too many questions about the flu, swine or otherwise.

Back when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was still Candidate Clinton, we didn't hear her talking too much about Somali pirates.

And probably not even Mitt Romney was ever asked about the possibility of Chrysler going bankrupt.

Back then, some candidates for president and other federal offices were trying hard to get us to focus on illegal immigration, an issue which rarely makes headlines today. Others were debating the impact of the "surge" in Iraq.

The recent long (long) presidential campaign should provide a lesson in caution to the crop of 2010 political candidates and near-candidates already trying to get New Hampshire voters' attention: It's a long time until Election Day. Your own campaign strategies and talking points will have to change repeatedly between now and then. Voters can be fickle, and their attention spans can be short.

Activity for the 2010 races has already picked up. Democrat Paul Hodes has said he will leave his U.S. House seat to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Judd Gregg. Republican Frank Guinta, the mayor of Manchester, set up an exploratory committee last week to run for Congress in the 1st District. And up in New London, the local Democrats held a meet-the-candidates forum for politicians considering a run for Hodes's seat. The guest list included Concord Rep. John DeJoie, former gubernatorial candidate Mark Fernald, attorney Ann McLane Kuster of Hopkinton and former congressional candidate Katrina Swett of Bow.

Remember the days when one campaign season didn't flow seamlessly into the next?

Long gone, it turns out.

Jumping in quickly has its rewards. Early-bird candidates may successfully block others from running against them and may gain an edge in fundraising. But in political time, the fall of 2010 is still ages from now. Today's fresh face can quickly become tomorrow's old hack. Who knows what New Hampshire will be talking about 18 months from now?

Much as we love a good campaign, our advice to voters is this: It's okay to take this season off and tune in next year. There's plenty of other stuff to worry about in the meantime.