In New Hampshire, Health Care Is On Voters' Minds

By Jonathan Finer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 27, 2004; Page A05

MANCHESTER, N.H., Jan. 26 -- Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) asked almost every voter he met here this month, in diners, schools and union halls, "What issue should be my top priority?"

The vast majority, he said, chose the same issue as Greg Bryar, owner of Belknap Tire in Laconia. "I take care of all the health insurance for my employees and their families, but the premiums have gone up 27 percent in two years," Bryar told the presidential candidate. "If this keeps happening, I won't be in business much longer. Something has to be done."

New Hampshire voters are an ever-shifting demographic. A steady flow of migrants from neighboring Massachusetts and farther south make up more than half of the state's population and help make New Hampshire (population just over 1.2 million) the fastest-growing state in New England. They have also made it among the wealthiest and best-educated -- though still one of the whitest -- in the country.

Health care (22 percent) topped the list of issues considered critical by voters in a recent University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll, ahead of both the economy (16 percent) and the war in Iraq (10 percent). Health care also was deemed most important by voters in a Pew Foundation survey conducted last month.

more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50538-2004Jan26.html

issue...it's not new....they just don't cover issues in any detail and expect voters to "be informed".

Newsflash...not all Americans are Du'ers.

Thank you media.