Looking for that winter vacation destination?
May we suggest New Hampshire? Or Iowa?
Our colleague Christopher Reynolds weighs in today in the Travel section on his experiences rubbing elbows with the politically famous and near-famous in New Hampshire. The story digs into what it's like to be a political tourist in the caucus and primary hotspots -- where the action will only get heavier between now and mid-January. As Reynolds writes:
"In four days of racing around southern New Hampshire in early September with no press pass or campaign connections, I shook the hands of eight presidential candidates -- an orgy of access that in California would have taken weeks and cost a fortune in campaign contributions....
"It's easy to forget, given the way candidates raise money behind closed doors in Southern California, that any American can step into the middle of all this patriotism, pandering, drama, debate, stagecraft and statecraft. But we can, and the show runs in New Hampshire for the next three or four months, depending on the primary election date that the state chooses."
People in both states take pride in the retail politics they attract, and the general sense among the locals is if you haven't met the next president of the United States, then you haven't been trying (unless you're intentionally avoiding them, which could have a certain appeal, too).
So book your trips now. And let us know if you find any frequent-voter programs to sign up for.
-- Scott Martelle
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Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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