December 28. 2007 12:21AM
Most defenders of New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary status cite our unusual attention to candidates and the feasibility of retail politics here as reasons New Hampshire should remain first. Here, it is argued, we are less prone to the influence of mass media and all candidates, well financed or not, are given the opportunity to rise to the occasion.
I call on my fellow Democrats to live up to our claimed sophistication as choosers of who we want to lead our party into the general election and pay attention to a candidate who is neither a media frontrunner or a darling of the best-heeled sect of our party, Sen. Joseph Biden.
Biden has been in the Senate for nearly 35 years and is well respected nationally and internationally. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he garners the international respect essential to rebuilding America's global esteem. Sen. Biden's plans for Iraq and Afghanistan are pragmatic, feasible and prudent. Nationally, he has worked on significant legislation on a wide swath of issues and is as well-versed in education, health care, law enforcement and the military as any one in the nation.
Biden is well respected across party lines and possesses the skill and reputation necessary to heal deep divisions between Democrats and Republicans.
I encourage you all to live up to our status as discretionary voters who pay attention, bypass the glitz of celebrity visits and projections and vote for the most experienced and pragmatic candidate, Sen. Joseph Biden.
ERIC KRATZ TOLBERT
Concord
http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071228/OPINION/712280365/1029/OPINION03